Song and sin in Santiago de Cuba

View from El Morro. 

It's easy to get into mischief in Santiago de Cuba.   Closer to Haiti and the Dominican Republic than it is to Havana, this city on Cuba's rugged south coast is famous for its July Carnival and the earthy Caribbean street party atmosphere that pervades year round.

La Casa de la Trova.

Son, salsa--just about every Cuban music genre originated in Santiago's narrow alleys. From Afro-Cuban drumming in Parque Cespedes to traditional trovador sessions at the Casa de la Trova, music is everywhere, harmonies rising like cigar smoke on just about every street corner.
Also on every street corner, Santiago's notorious jineteros hustling everything from black market tobacco and questionable cash exchange to steamy rum-soaked encounters with one or more of the world's savviest chicas.
You think you're well travelled.  You think you're immune to being played.  But unlike the sabre-wielding pirates who used to assail this coast, today's jinateros are typically Cuban: congenial, courteous, even sweet.  At some point you'll find you've been hustled, even if you don't realize it until a week later.
"Taxi?  No?  A dollar anyway, then?"  "Can I have your shirt? Some soap? Shampoo?"

Taxis congregate at the Cathedral.

If it all gets too much, the terrace of the Casa Granda Hotel provides a refuge, reasonably-priced drinks and a ringside seat to the street theatre playing out below.
Jinateros are not always to be avoided, though, and chatting up the right one (and many speak some English) can help streamline/maximize your experience.  If you've come to Cuba on an all-inclusive package, chances are your resort is an hour out of town.  Trying to get back to the resort late at night in an ancient Bel-Air on hairpin rural roads by no more than the light of the silvery moon is not recommended, especially after half a dozen mojitos.

So how to do Santiago on Saturday night?  Cover your resort wristband (if you're wearing one) with a bracelet or cheap watch, head for Parque Cespedes and hire a jinetero for 5 CUC to show you around several central casas particulares until you find one you like.  With the average casa particulare (the Cuban equivalent of a B&B) going for about 25 CUC, staying off the resort for a night or two works out less expensive than taking taxis back and forth.  If you're uncomfortable not having a reservation ahead of time, your resort can book a casa particulare for you.
Things have improved for Cubans since the desperate days of the "special period" when it was achingly obvious that people did not have enough to eat.  I'm happy to report that overweight Cubans are no longer a rarity, although the two-currency system has created serious inequalities.  You don't have to give a CUC or "dollar" to every rummy who asks (unless you want to get swarmed), but if someone does a genuine service, please tip.  Except for long cab rides, prices for most things (beer or coffee on the terrace of the Casa Granda about 1.50 CUC, a painting at Galeria Santiago between 20 and 30 CUC) are low so a little extra tipping won't break your budget.  Be sure to carry coins and small bills so you can spread the wealth around a little at a time, above all to the musicians.  Buy their homemade CDs, pay for a favorite song.  They, above all, create the Santiago experience.

Changing Sicily

A wedding near Marsala.

Greek temple at Segesta.

Having married into a Sicilian family and visiting the island often enough to consider it my second home, I still succumb to Stendhal syndrome within an hour or two of arrival, a willing victim of its beauty and exoticism.
At the crossroads of the Mediterranean but on the fringe of Europe (it's closer to Africa than Rome), Sicily's history is a mosaic of light and shadow, complex patterns of repeated invasion, dark violence and dazzling cultural brilliance.
Highlights this year: taking the funicular at sunset up to cloud-bound Erice, watching scarab beetles stitch their way across the dunes at Paradiso nature preserve, visiting Segesta in the rain, staring in awe at the Byzantine mosaics (c. 1140 AD) of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo, exploring the Etna Coast and the baroque town of Acireale.
High above the ocean on the eastern side of the island, Acireale makes a great base for exploring this area which features large in Greek mythology as the home of the cyclops Polyphemus who, blinded by Ulysses, hurled rocks after his departing ship. Huge "monster" with a single, red-gushing eye...gee, sounds like a volcano! Mt. Etna's lava has reached the sea many times and the Riviera dei Ciclopi's dramatic coastline of contorted rocks and black sand makes it a popular resort area. The Etna Coast CVB has a great website with many accommodation links. We stayed at the Santa Tecla Palace and savored its saltwater infinity pool and delicious buffets. A great pick in the centre of town is the Michelin-starred Hotel Maugeri; their restaurant specializes in traditional Sicilian dishes featuring local seafood. You don't have to be staying there to eat there, but if it's Carnival season (Feb/Mar) you'll want to. The Maugeri is right on the procession route.

Papier mache carnival float elements begin with clay sculpture.

From traditional puppet theatre to exuberant Carnevale celebrations that draw 800,000 visitors every year, I'll be writing about Acireale's attractions on Examiner.com over the winter. Visiting the carnival float workshops - meeting the artists and seeing how they create the massive floats from not much more than wire, clay and papier mache - was one of my top travel experiences ever.
Despite touring pleasures and joy on the family front (a wedding, a new baby), I was in tears several times by changes evident on the island since my last visit. More bare hillsides, their vineyards torn out (the government is paying people not to produce), increased signage (some for road safety, much of it for advertising) interfering with classic vistas in some spots, protective fences around monuments (a good thing and necessary, as are admission fees for their upkeep, but it wasn't that long ago we could wander in as freely as Goethe did). Big box stores and shopping complexes like the new Poseidon center outside Palermo, more than one McDonalds...some see uglification, most see much-needed jobs. Prosperity has been long in coming and, to tell the truth, many of the new amenities (like the availability of EEC-mandated public washrooms) make life a lot easier for travellers as well as locals.
For all the development, Sicily is still one of the easiest places on the planet to incur Stendhal Syndrome. Change is accelerating, though, so I say again as I always do: the time to see Sicily is now.

View of the saltwater infinity pool at the Santa Tecla Palace hotel, Acireale, Sicily, Italy.

Got a question? Email me and I'll try to help.