Trinidad, Cuba - an explosion of color

Iglesia Parroquial de la Santísima Trinidad (Church of the Holy Trinity), Plaza Mayor, Trinidad.

I wrote about Trinidad in my previous post. Although the setting worked well with black and white film (like much of Cuba), the tropical colors and brilliant Caribbean light really do justice to color photography. The following vignettes around town are from a Fuji X-E1 digital camera.

Calle Cristo, near the Plaza Mayor.

Hanging around in the evening, Eliope Paz.

Hanging around, and on the phone.

Hanging around, also on the phone

On the way downtown.

More water heading downtown on Santo Domingo.

Avoiding the water on Santo Domingo.

How to avoid the water: drive in a Lada.

We were surprised how wet the streets were in the evening. It was more than puddles but rather gushing streams. Was it from leaking mains? People washing their porches and balconies? We never learned, but it made for wonderful reflections.

The Dulcinea Cafe and Internet shop.

We found an old-fashioned Internet Cafe. This was the type of place with older PCs along a table, and you paid the nice lady at the desk a modest fee for an hour of service. The connection was slow, so I assume it was some sort of dial-up via phone lines. We had no restrictions on email or web pages. I have no idea if this policy applied to tourists only. You could also buy ice cream and pastries.

Quiet in Rosario.

The domino champions. They avoided the running water.

View from the top - the Palacio Cantero

Selfie from the Top.

The tower at the Palacio Cantero was popular with school groups. As I noted before, the school kids wear neat uniforms, they are well-behaved, and are alert and intelligent. Education has certainly been emphasized by the government. If we could do as well in USA....

Trinidad, Cuba - the Perfect Spanish Colonial Town

View from Plaza Santa Ana

Trinidad is one of those impossibly interesting towns if you like old architecture, cobblestone streets, and a sleepy ambience. Lonely Planet said it better than I could:

Trinidad is one-of-a-kind, a perfectly preserved Spanish colonial settlement where the clocks stopped in 1850 and – apart from a zombie invasion of tourists – have yet to restart. Huge sugar fortunes amassed in nearby Valle de los Ingenios during the early 19th century created the illustrious colonial-style mansions bedecked with Italian frescoes, Wedgwood china and French chandeliers.

Calle Santa Ana

We spent a few nights in a Casa Particulare - a private home that takes in visitors. It was Hostel Casa Gil on Eliope Paz (Virgia), near the Plaza Santa Ana. Addresses are a bit confusing because many streets in Trinidad have two names. Is one the one is historic and common name while the other is newer and official? I bet the postman has fun.

As we found in other towns, in late afternoon, people sit out and enjoy each other's company. Social interaction happens out in the streets.

At the Plaza Major.

As Lonely Planet noted, the tourist Zombie invasion was in full force. We did not see many Americans, but saw plenty of Europeans and Canadians. The chubby ladies in the photograph above were Germans.

Calle Santa Ana

Trinidad is a visual treat, and it appears to be resisting the inexorable influence of the developers more successfully than Havana. Still, if you are interested, visit soon.

I took these photographs on Kodak Tri-X 400 film with my Leica M2 rangefinder camera (with 35mm and 50mm Summicron lenses). The film was developed in HC-110 developer and scanned with a Plustek 7600i scanner.