After a very relaxed breakfast we set off to explore the streets of Trinidad, I think I had expected something similar to Cienfuegos but it is actually quite different. Trinidad is famous as a place where the pirates used to stay and do business but it is actually quite a way from the sea. We set off to walk around the town, first heading up to the Church of Santa Ana, this is actually on the edge of town and it derelict but was built in 1812 although I am not sure when it stopped being a church I would suspect it was probably around the time of the revolution. There is a nice square behind the church and the bell tower still has bells in it although obviously they do not chime any more! We walked round the back of the church where a number of people had brought their birds out to hang in cages in the trees, there were also a couple of very nice looking houses which I think in busier times are probably used as the bed and breakfast type of accommodation we walked back down to the square which was once home to a Spanish prison from 1844 but now houses a brewery that was setup by the Cubans in association with the Austrians who came over to show them how to brew beer, we then set off up one of the back streets to try and find the Central square. For once we seem to be in the right place at the right time as Trinidad is in the middle of an international food festival which seems to mean that a lot of the restaurants had ‘stalls’ in the market square, most are selling alcohol but some also provide food and music so a great place to stop for lunch. However before stopping for lunch we went off in search of the three museums that are on the must see list. The corner of the square is dominated by the Church of the Holy Trinity in Trinidad or Iglesia Parraquial de la Santisma Trinidad, this was completed in 1892 but was built on the site of a 17th century church that was destroyed by a cyclone. We didn’t go in but it has a carved wooden alter and a statue that was originally intended for Mexico but the ship that carried it from Spain kept being driven back ashore due to strong winds, eventually the captain decided to leave this behind and managed to successfully make the journey to Mexico, this caused the locals to believe this was a sign and therefore the statue became a figure of worship. From here we walked round the square a couple of times looking for the other museums but they are not big fans of signs here it would seem! We went in the Galeria de Arte Universal Benito Ortiz which was a mansion from 1809 built for Ortiz de Zuniga who was a former slave trader who later became the major of Trinidad. This is now a gallery where local artists show their work but the rooms still have a number of paintings on the wall and ceilings and the balcony has a great view of the square. We walked all round the building then left and went back out into the square where we found the museum of architecture which is a brown colour building but the guide book says is blue! We didn’t bother going in but continued our exploration and eventually found the Museo Romantico which is actually the house of the Borrell family, built in 1812 the upper floor rooms contain furniture and crockery that once belonged to the Borrell family. The rooms are quite spectacular and this time we even managed to avoid the ‘helpful’ room guides that for a fee will point out things in the room you should look at. One of the most impressive things was the kitchen, on the fist floor it had a number of hobs, an oven and the walls were decorated with earthenware tiles. By the time we had finished walking round the house we were in need of a break so we walked up the steps to the music bar where a Cuban band were playing outside and we sat and had a couple of beers, we had intended to eat as well but they didn’t have anything we fancied so after a bit more of a walk round we found a restaurant that we liked the look of and stoped there for lunch. This was opposite a stall that was setting up probably ready for this evening but seemed to involve them testing that the beer was cold enough a few times and inflating snowman! We had a very nice lunch in the centre of the square and it was only when the sun moved round that we decided we would move on. By this time it was actually mid afternoon so we walked around a few more streets back to the hotel where we had a milkshake before heading to the room to relax before heading out again this evening.
