Matanzas in Cuba

9 November 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Jerome Ryan - www.mountainsoftravelphotos.com/cc-by-3.0

© Jerome Ryan – www.mountainsoftravelphotos.com/cc-by-3.0

Matanzas is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas, 90 kilometres (56 mi) east of the capital Havana and 32 kilometres (20 mi) west of the resort town of Varadero. Matanzas is called the City of Bridges, for the seventeen bridges that cross the three rivers that traverse the city (Rio Yumuri, San Juan, and Canimar). For this reason it was referred to as the “Venice of Cuba.” It was also called “La Atenas de Cuba” (“The Athens of Cuba”) for its poets. Matanzas is known as the birthplace of the music and dance traditions danzón and rumba.   read more…

Theme Week Cuba – Varadero

30 April 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  12 minutes

La Casa de Al, Al Capone's warhouse during prohibition, today a restaurant © Laslovarga/cc-by-sa-4.0

La Casa de Al, Al Capone’s warhouse during prohibition, today a restaurant © Laslovarga/cc-by-sa-4.0

Varadero is a resort town in the province of Matanzas, and one of the largest resort areas in the Caribbean. The first mention of Varadero was in 1555. The place was first used as a dry dock (Spanish: varadero) and the salt mines of the peninsula (closed in 1961) supplied most of the Spanish Latin America Fleet since 1587. However, the foundation date of Varadero as city was only on December 5, 1887, when ten families from the city of Cárdenas obtained a permission to build their vacation homes between today’s 42nd and 48th Street. Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport, situated west of the peninsula, is Varadero’s airport. It is the second-most-important airport of the island after José Martí International Airport in Havana, and serves international and domestic flights.   read more…

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