Cienfuegos is a nice little town, a bit sleepy but almost hustler-free. It was founded by a frenchman, and the influences of French colonial architecture can be seen all over the place. This is the theater:
They have a big boulevard, the Prado, going all the way out to a small peninsula called Punta Gorda. On both sides, there are old houses supported by column after column. Have a look:
But the most interesting part of this day was another kind of sight. I was walking around for a bit in the evening when I stumbled upon some kind of socialist propaganda event on the central square. Under the watchful eyes of the statute of 19th century independence hero José Martí, there were a few rows of seats filled mostly with schoolkids (our kids belonging to some socialist youth organization, maybe?). In front of them, there were a couple of microphones where kids took turns reciting socialist propaganda (one finished with "Viva la revolución!" - and then everybody else said "Viva!", followed by a few other slogans that I didn't quite understand; another finished her speech with "Fidel!"), or singing songs that everybody seemed to know and where Cuba seemed to be the most common word. A TV camera and a journalist interviewing the performing kids were also there. Probably a story for the local news - something like "see how much our kids love socialism". Very interesting to see!
They have a big boulevard, the Prado, going all the way out to a small peninsula called Punta Gorda. On both sides, there are old houses supported by column after column. Have a look:
But the most interesting part of this day was another kind of sight. I was walking around for a bit in the evening when I stumbled upon some kind of socialist propaganda event on the central square. Under the watchful eyes of the statute of 19th century independence hero José Martí, there were a few rows of seats filled mostly with schoolkids (our kids belonging to some socialist youth organization, maybe?). In front of them, there were a couple of microphones where kids took turns reciting socialist propaganda (one finished with "Viva la revolución!" - and then everybody else said "Viva!", followed by a few other slogans that I didn't quite understand; another finished her speech with "Fidel!"), or singing songs that everybody seemed to know and where Cuba seemed to be the most common word. A TV camera and a journalist interviewing the performing kids were also there. Probably a story for the local news - something like "see how much our kids love socialism". Very interesting to see!
