On our first trip to Cuba, we fondly recall Trinidad as our favorite city. After this visit, it remains our top choice. What has changed is the number of rooms now available on AirBnB, as well as the diversity of restaurants, the loss of the horse-drawn carts delivering bottled milk, and many more tourists.

In Trinidad, we stayed at a spacious and elegant Casa Particular. This was a beautiful colonial in the heart of town located within 2 blocks of the main square. The owners have a rock band (lower-left) called Duo Cofradia, and were away in Havana recording their new CD. The sister was taking care of the home and us, and made huge and delicious breakfasts each morning.  One decoration in the house that we loved were the two sets of photos shown on top, above.  Black and white narrow slices of the eyes of local Cubans.

As in most of the Cuban cities we visited other than Havana, bicycles are a primary means of transportation for most people. The man in the center image above, apparently just returned from the bay, where he had an impressive day of fishing.  I was not sure if he was taking them home, or to a market to sell.

Our tour guide again hired some Classic American cars to model for us, both at sunrise in Trinidad Old Town (top row) and later at sunset on the beach (center and bottom-left).

While waiting for sunset for the Classic Car shoot, we wandered around the beach.  The weather throughout Cuba has been hot (at least it seemed that way to us, though the Cubans were complaining that it was cold…), and the beach was a pleasant place to be with a gentle breeze. That night however, many swore at the no-seeums that bit them, and I can personally attest to five itchy bites on one hand.

We also had lunch at Casa Hacienda at the Manaca-Iznaga Estate (upper row), where some members climbed partway up the observation tower.

At lunch, this band named Manacanabo gave us a private session, and were quite good. (see video at the end for a short sampling of their performance)

We saw more men smoking cigars and other men leading their donkeys around in Trinidad than anywhere else in Cuba.  This was how these models earned their living, though. There were also several men walking around with strings of garlic around their necks (right-third down) selling garlic door-to-door.

Once again, horses were a very common form of everyday transportation here in Trinidad.  The center image above seemed comical with a bicyclist holding onto a horse-drawn taxi to hitch a ride.

We had many photo sessions for both sunrises and sunsets throughout our Cuba tour. We got up by 5:30 AM to capture the city before the people and traffic got in the way of our photos. In Trinidad, we found a rooftop that provided breathtaking views of the city (top-right, center, and entire left column) one evening, and we stayed to capture some “blue hour” images, after the sun has set.

Let’s end with a typical street scene in Trinidad.  Almost looks like a scene out of the “Old West” in the US. Cobblestone streets, brightly colored adobe homes built right next to each other. Some in better exterior color condition than others.  But right in the center… yep, a horse is drinking from a water trough in front of the house.

In many ways, Cuba seems like a look back into history.  Avoid the fancy high-rises of Havana, and the modern European and Asian cars that are now used by the upper-class wealthy Cubans, and you find the everyday back streets, where time seems to have stood still.

Mangcanabo Plays at Trinidad Restaurant from Burt Johnson on Vimeo.

While we were having lunch one day, this group came and performed traditional Cuban music for our table.  I enjoyed them enough that I bought a CD from them. (Note: The Vimeo link says this was in Havana. When I was collecting the videos for this blog, I goofed.  This group actually came to us in Trinidad…)