Loving the Dance and Spanish Lessons at Our Cuban Resort

We love the palm trees at our beautiful resort!

After the traditional lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sun and sand on the beach.











With the breezes blowing in my face and the soothing sounds of the waves whispering ashore every few minutes, it was peaceful, relaxing and a total fantastic experience!

Our Cuban resort beach near Trinidad Del Mar

My husband was bitten by mosquitoes and he was having a severe reaction to these bites.
He went to the resort clinic and was given some cream for his numerous bites on his legs.
Next time we'll need to remember to wear long pants in the evening to avoid these bites!

One of my favorite activities in Cuba is the daily dance lesson at our resort.

There are lots to do at the resort. Our favorite activities are our Spanish lessons at 10am and another one at 3:30pm as well as the salsa dance lesson at 5pm.

Our dance instructor taught us how to wiggle our hips!

 Claudia is the entertainment coordinator, who also happens to be our Spanish and dancing instructor.

She is very good, being patient and gentle. She also knows how to teach and to build up our skills based on what we have learned from the the previous lessons.

This time she taught us some new moves so that we could put what we have learned together and make a complete dance repertoire out of the steps!

C. is an excellent instructor in both dancing and Spanish!

For our Spanish lesson, I have found that it works really well for me when I write down the things I wish to communicate with the resort staff and ask Claudia to teach us how to say these sentences in Spanish.

It is a practical approach to learning Spanish for me.

We are having fun and learning a lot in Cuba!

After the dance lesson, we usually go for dinner and watch a post dinner show in the theatre area.

This evening's show was excellent! The team of six dancers performed some western as well as local dances in colourful costumes. It was entertaining indeed!

R.T.
Learning a lot at a Cuban Resort
Trinidad Del Mar
Near Trinidad, Cuba

A Fun Traditional Cuban Beach Lunch at Memories Trinidad Del Mar Resort

Day 4

We are enjoying sunny warm weather and beautiful beaches in Cuba!

We are enjoying sunny days, warm weather and great beaches in Cuba!

Our  resort prepared a traditional Cuban lunch for guests on the beach.

The resort prepared a traditional Cuban lunch for guests on the beach!

The aroma of the BBQ pigs prepared for our traditional Cuban lunch was wonderful! 

Getting ready for a delicious lunch on the beach!

The aroma of the BBQ meat was wonderful!

We could smell the food from our resort as the pigs were being roasted on a pit a few hours prior to the 12p.m. lunch time.














We sat together with Louisa, unfortunately her husband, Costa was not feeling well and could not join us.

Two other couples also joined us.

There was entertainment by resort dancers before the lunch

Before lunch, we were entertained by the resort dancers.





















The resort chefs and staff worked hard to prepare a beautiful lunch for us.

There were plenty of salad, chicken, BBQ food., dessert and drinks.

The weather was beautiful for an outdoor beach lunch.

The staff served us with wine and cold beverages providing us with excellent service!

The wait staff provided us with excellent service

.
After we enjoyed the delicious traditional Cuban lunch, the guests were asked to join in for a friendly competition game

Time for some friendly competition!

I was invited to joined the competition; I never refused any invitation. The drummer of the band played a short tune on his drum and each of the participants was asked  to reproduce the same tune on the drum.

My turn on the drum to reproduce the same beats and sound

There were four participants. I was the second one in the group. I tried my best to play the tune and enjoyed myself doing it.

At the end, the audience was asked to show their vote by their applause. I was voted the best out of the four !

Louisa & the resort dancers at the beach lunch

However, the drummer of the band was the one who decided on the winner and Grace, another participant was declared the winner of the competition. She was awarded a bottle of wine.

A lovely Cuban lunch on the beach!

Dale came up to me later and whispered at my ear:" You should have won!'

Winning isn't everything. We all had fun and I didn't mind it at all.

R.T.
Resort at Trinidad Del Mar
Cuba

Learning the Cuban Slaves' Past at a Sugar Mill Ruin, Trinidad, Cuba

We are vacationing in central Cuba!

We joined a one day guided excursion to Trinidad, Cuba.

Cobble stone street in Trinidad, Cuba

In the morning, we strolled on the cobbled streets of the main streets of Trinidad, a UNESCO heritage and culture site.

Our visit included the Church of Trinity, sampling a popular local drink at a popular cafe bar and a few other places around the Main Square area.

We had a lunch stop at the Plaza Mayor restaurant.

We enjoyed a buffet lunch at  a restaurant at Plaza Mayor

We welcome this rest break in an outdoor buffet lunch outdoors with Barbara and Roger, a couple from our group.















While enjoying lunch, we were serenaded by a musical group of three. This happens a lot in Cuba when we dine in restaurants.
Cuban music is lively!















We enjoyed our Cuban lunch. However, with only 10 minutes to browse around at the market place right by the restaurant after lunch, we did not see many of the stalls..

I wish we had more time there shopping for some souvenirs.

However, our schedule was tight and we needed to continue touring other sites.

We visited San Isidro, Museo de Sitio where the ruins of the sugar mill and factory are located.

The bell would sound when a slave escaped from the plantation.

The first building we saw was the bell tower that sounded the alarm whenever a slave tried to escape on this sugar plantation.

Site of the sugar mill factory, Trinidad, Cuba

We learned about the old machine used to extract the cane juice from sugar canes.

The machine was so poorly made that the slaves operating the machine lost their hands and arms easily. Later on when a new machine was used, this problem was resolved.














We visited the sugar mill owner's manor, in close proximity of  the
bell tower.

The plantation owner's manor

The owner's place was a spacious palatial manor served by numerous house slaves on the plantation.

















It was a stark contrast between the owner's manor comparing to the very crammed quarter where his slaves lived. It was a cubicle measured at 4m x 4m and the entire slave family lived there.

A map of the old sugar mills in the area

The sugar production industry was not without competition. In fact the sugar beets and other sugar mills competition gradually became too strong and the sugar plantation was no longer profitable with keeping all the slaves needed for the work.

Therefore, salves were set free in 1865. ( The reason for freeing the slaves in Cuba was not due to human rights or political reason, but an economic one instead.)

The tour guide explaining the history of the sugar mill to us.

But not having jobs and with nowhere to go, many slaves continued to stay and work at their sugar plantations.

However, since the sugar could only be harvested during a certain period of time in the year, the former slaves could only stay at their plantations during these work periods.

Instead of having free room and board when they were slaves,  the former slaves were charged for rent by the plantation owners during these months.

With no money to pay for their room and board, many former slaves owed debts to their former owners and ended up working the rest of the time paying them off!














I was not familiar with the numerous slaves brought over to Cuba to work in the sugar plantations.

I had a good history lesson about the European influence and the contributions made by African slaves in the island countries.








After visiting the sugar mill ruins. the bus took us to a lookout point.

We went up to a look out point after visiting the sugar mill ruins

We had some refreshments at the cafe overlooking the sugar mill valley.

We had an excellent view overlooking the sugar mills valley.

Our last stop was the El Alfarero pottery house.

The master potter demonstrated his craft

The master potter came out to welcome us and  demonstrated his craft in front of us with ease and proficiency.

Within a few minutes, he produced a miniature hat and a small clay pot!

The El Alfarero pottery house, Trinidad, Cuba

This pottery house has been around for a long time.

Pottery workers craving designs on the pots before the firing process.

Many pots, lamps and housewares have been produced in this house for years. I bought a beautiful blue candle holder for my room. I was surprised to find that the price I paid for this candle holder was the same back at the shop at our resort!

Main Square, Trinidad, Cuba

It was a full day of activities and the tour was worth it as we got to see many places in Trinidad!

We were so tired at the end of the day that we fell shortly asleep after dinner and missed the evening entertainment.


R.T.
A Day Tour in Trinidad
Cuba