Our enquiry at the bus station indicated that the bus to Santa Clara left at 12 and that we had to be at the station by 11 which we did. Why we had to be there by that time I will never fathom; we went into the ticket office on arrival and were informed that the bus would be at 12.25 and to come back then to get the ticket but there was nothing we could do but sit and wait. The bus eventually arrived and I went in to pay for the ticket, now I am positive she then said 2.30 and that is what I told Paul when I got back out into the waiting room; but another couple, French Canadian, were also going to Santa Clara and they seemed to be getting on so I went back in and then she took my money and we got on the bus. I’m still not clear what went on, just great to be going somewhere.
According to Wikipedia Santa Clara was founded by 175 people on July 15th, 1689. One hundred and thirty-eight of them were represented by two large families already living in the area and, therefore, owners of the land next to the new city. The other 37 came from 7 other families, a priest and a governor, all of them originating in the coastal city of “San Juan de los Remedios”. At its beginnings, the settlement was called Cayo Nuevo, then Dos Cayos, Villa Nueva de Santa Clara, Pueblo Nuevo de Antón Díaz, Villa Clara and finally Santa Clara.
Santa Clara was the site of the last battle in the Cuban Revolution in late 1958. There were two guerrilla columns that attacked the city, one led by Ernesto Che Guevara and the other led by Camilo Cienfuegos. Guevara's column first captured the
garrison at Fomento. Then, using a bulldozer, Guevara's soldiers destroyed railroad tracks and derailed a train full of troops and supplies sent by Batista. At the same time, Cienfuegos's column defeated an army garrison at the Battle of Yaguajay not far from town. On December 31, 1958, the combined forces of Guevara and Cienfuegos (along with other revolutionaries under William Alexander Morgan) attacked Santa Clara. The battle was chaotic, the defenders were demoralized, some fought, others surrendered without a shot. By the afternoon, the city was captured. This victory for Castro's troops is seen as the decisive moment in the Cuban Revolution as Batista fled Cuba less than 12 hours later.
We were met at the station by our host, Dennis, who had a taxi waiting for us and our luggage. His English is outstanding which, he told us, he learned by listening to western music. We told him that we only intended to stay for one night because we had already booked accommodation at Caibarién for a few days R&R by the beach. His Casa is beautiful and is furnished with period pieces which he welcomed us to with a free mojito each while told us about the food he would prepare for our evening meal. Paul had wanted to go out this evening and enjoy the atmosphere and live outdoor music that the guide book said was well worth a visit ending around 10pm; Dennis assured us that the music in the square didn’t even start until 9pm; thinking that he knew more about his town than our guidebook probably did, we both felt we couldn’t say no and accepted. I have to say the food was exceptionally good with soup, chicken and rice and salad, ice cream and coffee all for $8 cuc each. While he was cooking we went out to find out about buses but concluded that travelling by bus was not really viable and instead negotiated a taxi to take us to Caibarién the next day, picking us up at 2pm.
By the time we had finished eating and got to go out to enjoy the city the live music was just finishing! so we just went for a wander. There is a club in Santa Clara which is, apparently, according to one of its regular visitors, the only gay/tv club in the whole of Cuba. El Mejunje is recommended by our Rough Guide as an ‘Arcadian open-air courtyard under the shade of capacious flamboyant tree staging the cities most varied programme of live shows, dances and music including rock nights, live jazz and either a disco or a Transvestite Show at the weekends; and this is the place we ended up. This evenings performance was a disco and the natural exhibitionism that comes from TV’s on a night out. The guidebook suggested that the entry fee would be $1cuc but turned out to be 1 national peso (remember - 24 NPs to $1cuc)
We made a friend while we were in there; this very nice boy came over and started talking to us, he was very friendly, even gave us both a peck on the cheek. He must of thought me very green for he pointed to a group of particularly ‘glamorous’ tv’s and told me that they weren’t real women! The only beverages seemed to be cocktails (no pun intended), Cuban cola or lemonade; we went for the Cubalibra, white rum and cola with a splash of lime, which were incredibly cheep. We felt a little uncomfortable with his attention and just after he had insisted that we have a tot of his rum and cola (he had bought his own with him) a friend of his came over teasing him about a necklace. At $5 cuc he thought it very very desirable but too expensive. It was then that I started to feel abused again. Was he was really trying to get us to pay for it or whether I’m just cynical? He had said goodbye twice and still came back to us, which is something I really couldn’t understand and so when he went off to dance to a favoured track we made our escape.
Sunday 21st February 2010
Santa Clara, according to the Rough Guide, has very little to offer the tourist except, however, that it played a major part in the revolution.
Ernesto Che Guevara led a troop of revolutionaries from the mountains in the South East and it was here that they derailed one of Batistas’ trains, which remains in the place it was derailed. Unfortunately, the museo that is housed within the carriages is not open on a Sunday and so we could only look at the outside. Anyway there was a decisive battle and Che won the town.
Just up the road from the railway carriages, outside the party offices, is a life size bronze depicting the hero in full stride and revolutionary uniform; but closer inspection there is added iconography. For example, on his shoulder is a little boy 
riding a goat to symbolise is ride out of Argentina and out of his belt buckle emerges a troop of soldiers. There are also other pieces like a woman looking out from a balcony on his left side and various characters riding up his trousers. He is also holding a small child who has something symbolic in its hand.
In Revolution Square there is a huge monument with a statue of him at the top and
other concrete pillars with information and murals telling the story. Underneath is his memorial, a dimly lit chamber which commemorates him and others who died with him in Bolivia with an eternal flame. On the other side is the Museo Memorial El Che which 
contains photographs and memorabilia of the man like a copy of his University degree certificate where he qualified as a doctor in half the normal amount of time, his uniforms, guns and letters. It is also supposed to contain the original photograph which turned into an icon of the 20th century.
We managed to visit all of these before being picked up by the taxi to go to Caibarién.
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