Santiago de Cuba - this is where things kicked off for Fidel and his mates - rather disastrously as it turned out - on the 26th July 1953 - he led a attack on several military sites in Santiago but it all went wrong and Castro and his followers were captured Many were tortured and executed while Fidel and his brother Raul (now in charge here) were tried and sentenced to jail. However the whole episode raised huge awareness and support for Castro - the seeds of Revolution were sewn and although he was exiled to Mexico a few years later he returned in 1956 and after 3 years of guerilla warfare with Che at his side he kicked out the dictator Batista and the Cuban Socialist state was born.
I planned a couple of days here - a museum day and a day at the Spanish fortress on the edge of town
Museum day - you really thought you could plan that McAllister? A. Nothing in Cuba goes to plan B. Especially where museums are concerned
My first choice you guessed it - closed for repair - never mind onto my second choice - closed on Mondays - for my third choice I consult Lonely Planet - I read that most museums are closed on Monday so I decide to wait til the next day and go then - I find out that my third choice had been open after all! Plus my second choice wasn't just closed on Monday it is actually closed for...repair.
One of the museums that was closed was the Bacardi - its a kind of a dirty word in Cuba - they left after the revolution after Fidel nationalised his distillery - there's even rumours that they finance anti Cuban activity in the US - as a result you can't buy Bacardi here - Havana Club rules!
As you. an used I did get to the Fort although the firing of the canons at sunset was cancelled as the 'muchaco esta enfermo' another Cuban phenomenon - when someone gets 'ill' things grind to a halt - no one does their job it only starts happening again when they get better!
Santiago is also a bit of a music town - I met up with some couchsurfers and we went to a couple of Cuban Son venues
Of course Couchsurfing - for those uninitiated its where you stay at a total strangers house in a strange town - sounds weird I know but its great - no can do in Cuba - Fidel thinks if we stay overnight with a Cuban we will brainwash them into making a break for Miami So its illegal and they can get fined - only licenced Casa Particulares (B&B) can take in a foreigner Costs a fair bit plus they have to pay a monthly fee as well to the State
Talking of money there is this weird system of money in Cuba - 2 currencies There are National Pesos and Convertible Pesos - there are 24 Nationals to one Convertible
Some things you need to pay in Convertibles for like buses and accommodation and a lot of restaurants and bars but you can pay for street food ice creams etc in Nationals .
Cubans working for the state are paid in Nationals - they might earn 750 (£20) per month - 25 (65p) a day - the cheapest beer is 10 (25p) a bottle almost half a days wages - its like someone on minimum wage paying £25 for a beer - so there is an obsession with earning Convertibles - and who has those - us of course! Makes for an interesting dynamic - has its benefits though as Cuba is very safe - anything that would harm tourism would be very bad for the Cuban economy.
Well enough of the history and economic lessons let's move on to the End of Cuba....
