The Bay of Pigs

On Wednesday we headed out of Havana to the southern shore to the Bay of Pigs stopping along the way at the little village called Batey Soplillar. It is the site of a famous Christmas Eve dinner that Fidel Castro shared with two local, charcoal producing families the first year after the Revolution. So there’s a tiny, little museum set up there memorializing this event. It was a simple dinner with the families but it held great significance to the country as a demonstration of Castro’s commitment to the poor.

The Bay of Pigs museum was just a small little two room building chronically the 72 hours of the invasion and Cuba’s victory over the invading mercenaries. As is often the case, the result of the attempt ended up being the complete opposite of the intent. Whereas the United States’ backed invasion hoped to overthrow Castro and to weaken his support amongst the general populace, in fact, the invasion (and the victory) only made the people more resolute and determined to preserve their new government. Viva la Revolucion!

Wednesday night we stayed in the World Heritage Site town of Cienfuegos.  Dinner was on our own, so Michael and I and another couple took the opportunity to stretch our legs by walking along the boardwalk into town and ate a nice dinner at a rooftop restaurant all decked out with Christmas decorations.

Oh and if you ever wondered where maracas come from…apparently they grow on trees.