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Parque Leoncio Vidal

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Joel
Joel
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3 out of 5
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Parque Leoncio Vidal

  • November 7, 2000
  • Rated 3 of 5 by Joel from Hasselt, Limburg, Belgium
Parque Leoncio Vidal

As we walked on to Parque Leoncio Vidal it becomes clear that Santa Clara is an energetic city. A large number of bicy-taxis and horse-drawn carriages as well as motor-drawn carriages operate on the Rafael Tristá. During the break of the secondary school, which is located next to the pedestrianized town square, Parque Vidal hums with chatter of children. The enjoyable atmosphere is due to the fact that it's permanently full with people and kids racing around the promenade, whilst their elders stick to the benches underneath the towering palms. I visited the opulently furnished Museo de Artes Decoratives in the corner of the square, one of the older buildings around. In La Marquesina (Parque Vidal esq. Máximo Gómez), a bar in the corner of Teatro La Caridad, we met two deaf-and-dumb men. We drank a mojito and had a conversation expressing ourselves through sign language or should I say gestures. They were funny and could make everything very clear and understandable. Give these guys a television show and they will make a lot of people laugh. Meanwhile, an old, bespectacled man with a large cigar came in and asked us if we would like to pay for his coffee. In Cuba it often happened that someone asked us for a pen, a t-shirt or something to drink. When we finished our drinks we walked through Santa Clara's main shopping street, Indepencia, which leads to the Monumento a la Toma del Tren Blindado, the city's most significant and renowned event. This open-air museum shows some derailed carriages from the attack on an armoured train in 1958. This clash, led by Che Guevara, was to be one of the last military encounters of the revolutionary war. The tale of the against-the-odds victory is more spectacular than this legendary place. Do not expect to be occupied more than ten minutes. On our way back to the hotel we stopped in a basement cafeteria - some kind of local McDonald's - to order some sandwiches. We also bought two fried chickens and drinks for the deaf-and-dumb men who had accompanied us the whole afternoon. They accepted the gifts with many thanks...

From journal Hasta siempre Commandante

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