English versionHello friends, this time I will share with you my trip to one of the most interesting tourist places in Cuba, the Valle de los Ingenios, declared World Heritage Site in 1988 and located about 14 km northeast of the colonial city of Trinidad, Central Cuba. Here one goes back to colonial times, being one of the largest sugar producing regions at that time, between the 17th-19th centuries this plain was the area where wealthy families settled to promote the sugar industry on a large scale. Without further ado, let's start our tour.After an hour crossing the Escambray mountain massif we arrive at about 2:00 pm at this site. Initially, we receive an interesting introductory talk from our dear tour guide.

English version Hello dear traveller community!! I haven't been posting for a while due to work, but it has been a very good period since I have been able to collect new travel experiences to share with you. This time we will start with a trip to one of the most beautiful places of the Cuban geography, the National Park “Valle de Viñales”, located in the province of Pinar del Río and about 184 km west of Havana. In 1999 it was designated a national park of Cuba and in December of the same year it was declared Natural Patrimony of Humanity by UNESCO. It is a place where you can enjoy an environment of incomparable beauty, as well as the great native diversity of the area. As this trip is part of a fieldwork that aimed to visit relevant sites of the geology of Cuba I will give you interesting elements of geological character, I hope you like it. The trip started in Havana and took about 2 and a half hours along the Havana-Pinar del Rio highway and then we turned north to enter the Guaniguanico mountain range, the main mountain system of the region, in which Viñales is located. The first point is the Hotel “Los Jazmines” from where you can see the valley of Viñales in all its splendour.

English version Hello dear traveller community!! I haven't been posting for a while due to work, but it has been a very good period since I have been able to collect new travel experiences to share with you. This time we will start with a trip to one of the most beautiful places of the Cuban geography, the National Park “Valle de Viñales”, located in the province of Pinar del Río and about 184 km west of Havana. In 1999 it was designated a national park of Cuba and in December of the same year it was declared Natural Patrimony of Humanity by UNESCO. It is a place where you can enjoy an environment of incomparable beauty, as well as the great native diversity of the area. As this trip is part of a fieldwork that aimed to visit relevant sites of the geology of Cuba I will give you interesting elements of geological character, I hope you like it. The trip started in Havana and took about 2 and a half hours along the Havana-Pinar del Rio highway and then we turned north to enter the Guaniguanico mountain range, the main mountain system of the region, in which Viñales is located. The first point is the Hotel “Los Jazmines” from where you can see the valley of Viñales in all its splendour.

English version Hello friends, this time I invite you to visit a site located next to the Castillo de la Real Fuerza, which I mentioned to you last week. Its name alludes to the fact that it was the official residence of 65 Spanish captains general who governed the island during the colonial era. This palace, now an interesting museum, was begun in 1776 on the block occupied by the Parroquial Mayor parish church, on the west side of the Plaza de Armas. This construction is considered a significant work of civil architecture of the 18th century, in a sober baroque style. It was designed by the engineer Antonio Fernández de Trevejos, under the direction of the Captain General Marqués de la Torre, and inaugurated by Luis de las Casas in 1791. It housed the Public Prison until 1834. It was the headquarters of the American interventionist government between 1899 and 1902, and of the government of the Republic of Cuba until 1920. The Mayor's Office of Havana also held uninterrupted sessions in its halls for some 176 years. Since 1938 it has been the seat of the Office of the City Historian. Currently, only the first floor is open to the public due to restoration work. In this museum we will be able to see valuable collections related to the history and culture of Havana throughout its almost five centuries.

English version Hello travellers. This time I invite you to visit the Castillo de la Real Fuerza, located in the historic centre of the legendary Havana, next to the Plaza de Armas. This fortress is one of the infrastructures that constituted the defensive system of the city at a time when pirate and corsair attacks were in vogue. This construction is considered an outstanding exponent of the military architecture of the times of Spanish colonial rule in the Caribbean region. Its construction began in 1558 under the direction of the engineer Bartolomé Sánchez and lasted almost two decades. In 1762, when Havana was taken by the English army, the fortification withstood the attack despite its location further inland from the entrance channel to the bay. From then on it proved its effectiveness as one of the organisational centres of the city's defence, making it, together with the Morro Castle, one of the main bastions in that battle. After intensive restoration work in 2008, it was inaugurated as a museum with valuable exhibits. From an architectural point of view, it is striking for its perfect symmetry, which was characteristic of the 16th century renaissance. Seen from the ground plan, it has the shape of a square divided into nine equal parts topped by four bastions, inside which there is an inner courtyard. These four bastions were also the watch and attack points. I was struck by the thickness of the blocks with which this fortress was built, as well as the perfection of the cuts and how they fit perfectly into each other. The construction is surrounded by a moat filled with sea water and its access is by means of wooden bridges, which was a strategic system against the possible attack of enemy troops.

English version Hello community of travellers. Walking through the cathedral square in Havana, I had the opportunity to visit the Museum of Colonial Art, where we can learn about the colonial life of Havana from the inside. It exhibits objects that belonged to the Bayona family and other prominent families of the time. This building was built in 1720 by order of Lieutenant Colonel Don Luis Chacón, who was Captain General and Governor of Cuba, and from 1726 he began to live in this mansion. Later it was the residence of the Counts of Bayona, a noble family who lived in the building until the middle of the 19th century. In 1969, it became a museum. The building has two floors and its simple façade with few decorations is reminiscent of the old Castilian mansions of that period, however, it has characteristic elements of colonial architecture that make this building unique. The museum has a varied collection of everyday objects, ceramics, crockery, furniture, handicrafts, etc. They come from some of the most outstanding old families of the colony.