Cuba - Santiago de Cuba part 2

This post continues to describe our adventures in Santiago de Cuba. I selected most of these photos because I like the images. I did not purposely develop a narrative about the history or importance of the locations. The images themselves will speak to our Road Scholar experiences.


We visited the Performing Arts School of Santiago de Cuba where selected students at all grade levels receive the regular Cuban curriculum plus intensive study in the performing arts. We were struck by the size, the scope, and the intensity of the school. We were greeted with a fascinating mural inside the entry hall which captures the spirit of the school.

We were given high quality musical performances. All students showed an intense commitment and gave very musical performances.

We also saw a dance class which also revealed the high level of commitment of the students.

Later, in a different studio in Santiago de Cuba, we were given an Afro-American dance performance.

Outside Santiago, we visited a small museum devoted to the Cuban-Spanish-American War. There we learned about the Cuban interpretation of the people's centuries-old struggle for freedom and dignity.

Outside of Santiago, we visited an artists' colony. However, my best photos there focused on the surroundings.

Note the Sierra Maestra mountains in the background. This was the area from which Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and their troops staged their successful 1959 revolution against the Batista regime.

This is my favourite image in this post.

This was a house in the artists' colony.

Santiago's memorial to Che Guevara was located across the street from our hotel, the Melia Santiago.

Truck transport serves as an alternative to buses in the city.