Santiago de Cuba

As mentioned before, Santiago was far from being as lively as it usually is. No music... no festive celebrations. Nevertheless, we had nice days, explored the city, visited the famous fortress at the harbor entrance, the old town that stretches from the sea over the hills, the impressive cemetery with its Cuban celebrities, now including Fidel... and so on. Santiago has a completely different character than Havana and is also worth seeing. One evening we met Jose Antonio, El Champion. Nice guy, former lightweight boxing champion and nominated for the Olympics. A motorcycle accident shortly before the games tore his life apart. The Olympic Games didn't work out, he still visibly struggles with the consequences of the accident and has a subtle alcohol problem. We spent beautiful hours together, he showed us completely different corners of Santiago, introduced us to half of his family, and it was really difficult for both of us to say goodbye. We will keep Santiago in good memory!