Westworld Saskatchewan

S P R I N G 2 0 1 5 | W E S T W O R L D 35 anniversary in January 2014. Here the cobble- stone streets are treacherous and we spend as much time watching our step as taking in the views of the Palacio Cantero, Palacio Brunet and Casa de Alderman Ortiz, all former private fam- ily homes built with the proceeds from slavery and sugar cane and since converted to muse- ums and an art gallery, respectively. On our departing bus ride northeast to the airport in Varadero – marked with a thick blue dotted line on Lissett's wall map to suggest the road is not exactly the Trans-Canada Highway – we pass several sloganeering billboards, although we have encountered surprisingly few since our arrival in Cuba. "End injustice. Liberty now," states one. "With a loud voice: socialism!" declares another. "One can always do better," proclaims a third, attributed to Fidel Castro. This last message is a positive sentiment we can easily agree with, but for us this week has been very good indeed. W Recently renovated, the S/C Panorama sails Cuba from late November 2014 to early April 2015 on seven-night itineraries. Inside, one is close to the action. Bar manager Raisel, one of five Cuban nationals in the crew, mixes potent Cuba Libres ("when opening a bottle, pour a drop in the corner for the gods"), and on Cuba Night, the visiting musicians, a Latin jazz ensemble called Sabroso, stand only a guitar-length away and fill the small dining room with jazz-inflected uptempo jams and traditional ballads of longing and regret. Out- side, one is in the elements, close to the ocean where bottlenosed dolphins surge an arm's length off the starboard side. Still, this closeness can also make for rough sailing, and as we return to the open waters of the western Caribbean, the wind comes up, the waves reach two metres in height and the ship begins to roll. Juventud Island and Playa Giron are scratched from the itinerary. It will be a 28-hour sail to the port city of Cienfue- gos. Some handle the journey better than oth- ers (the efficacy of seasickness pills and patches is proved), but all of us stay off the top deck, assiduously grip chairs and railings, and lay off the rum and beer. T wo cities and a beach remain on our adjusted journey. Cienfuegos is a pros- perous maritime town with the Paseo del Prado pedestrian mall and Tomas Terry e- atre, which hosted Enrico Caruso and Sarah Bernhardt in the 1920s, both within easy walk- ing distance of the ship. We bus with excursion guide Joanny to two other astonishing build- ings, the Palacio de Valle with a commanding view of the harbour, and the nearby Yacht Club, now a restaurant. I ask Joanny who owns the yachts anchored nearby. "e government," he responds. "But Cubans aren't allowed to sail." Asked to choose between a roadtrip to Playa Giron (the Bay of Pigs) or a visit to a nearby beach, Panorama's passengers vote for local col- our, partly swayed by Nathaniel's description of the site of the famously failed 1961 military invasion of Cuba as "a bad beach, a shack and a lot of propaganda." Rancho Luna Beach turns out to be a bustling, well-worn location popular with Cubans as well as tourists. But a casual 45-minute seaside stroll from the parking lot sheds the crowds and offers a glimpse of the Escambray Mountains to the east. Our last stop is the central Cuban town of Trinidad, and in keeping with the cruel axioms of travel, our morning arrival in the nearby fish- ing village of Casilda is lit up by the most mem- orable sunrise of the entire trip. Trinidad, a UNESCO site and the so-called "Museum of the Caribbean," is even older than the other Cuban cities we have visited and celebrated its 500th

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