| We hired a car and left the gringos behind on the beach and drove down the causeway back to the mainland. We spent our first night in Trinidad, staying at the Motel las Cuevas up above town. All of the streets in town are narrow and cobblestoned. All of the houses are shades of pastel. Unusually, this street scene doesn't show many locals, who are normally sitting in their doorways watching the wierd gringos go past, or following the gringos trying to convince them to eat/stay at their place. The other odd thing is that there are hardly any shops - a couple of hole-in-the-wall type places where locals hand over vouchers or pesos and get whatever item the shopkeeper has managed to obtain. Most towns now have 'dollar shops', ie places where the gringos with their ever-potent US dollars can shop that actually contain useful groceries. The locals save up whatever dollars they can get their hands on and go there to buy things that you and I would go to our local supermarket or corner store to get. The other thing to note in this picture is the windows - yes there are bars on the windows and sometimes shutters behind the bars as well, but occaisionally you get a glympse of what is inside and sometimes there are the most fabulous courtyards stuffed with plants and antique furniture. Sometimes too, it is a tiny little house with furniture that was past it back in the '30s but has been meticulously maintained and put to good use. |
