Consider Cuba’s Black Market before you Order Food
You won't find beer and lobster in Cuba's independently-run paladares, where locals are often forced to turn to the black market for basics.
Cienfuegos
Notes from the road
Cienfuegos is referred to as “the Paris of the Caribbean”. That’s a stretch.
Cuba’s Perla de la Sur (Pearl of the South) was settled by French immigrants in the early 19th century and developed in neoclassical style. You’d stop here for a night or so if you dig colonial architecture or are interested in its history as a trade centre for sugar cane, tobacco, coffee and mangos.
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Set on a natural bay, Cienfuegos’ centre has been Unesco World Heritage listed since 2005. Its main hub is Parque Jose Marti, a square surrounded by pastel-hued buildings of interest with stunning domes, archways and mosaic work. There’s even a mini replica of the Arc de Triomphe.
The best vantage point is from the top of the spiral staircase of Palacio Ferrer, a powder-blue palace built by a wealthy sugar baron in the early 1900s. For 2 CUC you can look out across the square and imagine what it must have been like rich and important a century ago in Latin America.
Personally, I prefer hanging out with locals who pump music and flirt as the sun sets over the malecon, or eat ice cream at Coppelia (the state-run chain founded by Fidel Castro) with the enthusiasm of someone who’s been living off prison gruel. Fried street snacks are also fun here, especially churros; snakes of dough piped into hot oil, cut with scissors and stormed with sugar before being served in a paper cone for 10 CUP (about $0.50 AUD).
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