Matanzas, Cuba

An “Accidental Tourist” Pit Stop

During an outing to Varadero Beach, we drove through the port city of Matanzas. The harbor is vast and the town is really more of a small city. You could see large ships at anchor in deep blue waters. We didn’t stop because of our desire to get to the beach. But, I did notice a couple of old bridges that I’d hoped to capture on the way back if time allowed.

The Parade

Fortunately, time did allow. The people in our car (there were two) briefly stopped in the downtown area of Matanzas, and we were surprised. Little did we know that we would find ourselves in the middle of a parade!  Keep in mind this was a Sunday evening after 6pm. A quick reminder we were not in America. This was awesome. Taking photos, I quickly found myself in the midst of people marching, singing and on stilts. One of the people (on stilts and wearing a mask) kept rubbing my bald, sunburnt head! They were having fun with the camera-toting tourist! And I was perfectly fine with it.

The Bridge

As the parade came to a conclusion, Harold and I scurried off to find those bridges. The style of construction reminded me of a bridge I photographed in New Braunfels over Thanksgiving Weekend. These are the things in Cuba I will likely remember the most. Not the classic Havana or the chic’ Varadero Beach but where the real people live, work and play. Matanzas, Cuba.

It was 30 amazing minutes. Priceless.