designer gardens

so on the afternoon of our arrival in Marrakech we made an executive decision to change the gardens on our itinerary to the Majorelle Gardens.  I had seen them in 2000 when I last visited but they had been extensively replanted since the death of Yves St. Laurent (who lived in a villa there and owned them)

here is a little blurb about them from the brochure-

I would say the overwhelming impression of the garden isn't one of the plants but of the color of what I would describe as electric cobalt blue--- but judge for yourself - LOL

LOL - to say that it is blue is an understatement....there are other colors there as well but blue is dominant -

by the time we left the garden it was getting quite late in the afternoon so we headed to the hotel to check in- it was located in the Medina- and was called the Riad Kniza--- lovely place in an old courtyard home that had been converted- but more on that in the next post because we also had our dinner there and it was really quite an amazing meal so stay tuned....

all too quickly

in the morning a few more photos from the roof deck bar including the gym on the neighboring roof top...

then our time in Cienfuegos ended and we moved on to Trinidad.  as we left town our first stop was the botanical gardens where a very knowledgeable naturalist gave us information about the plant in the garden.  Jennifer was our hero (and enacted a Jane of Tarzan & Jane moment when she swung on a ficus vine.)

note the humming bird circled in yellow-

a petticoat palm (native to Cuba)

then after the garden stop we went on to a road side tropical fruit stand. after much fruit tasting and an attempt to buy the iguana (tonight's dinner) freedom-

 we went on to Trinidad. we arrived in time for lunch and got to see the various modes of transport in this town as we ate lunch or waited for our bus to come pick us up and take us off to the basket factory for some demo of the small (state owned and top heavy with administration) business.

the basket factory had two bosses and about ten workers- and made hats, bags and fans for the most part.

then finally to the hotel where my room #106 was lovely and cool- did I mention it was getting seriously hotter each day.  Trinidad was in the high 80s every day we were there.

ah the ever wonderful mojito at mid-day...how can we go wrong? helps take the edge off the heat!

this one made by the bar tender in the hotel (La Ronda) who claimed to make the world's best- and it was quite credible- heavily muddled mint as the first step...

have I mentioned that tourists stay in hotels but locals and the not so affluent travelers use hostals (the sign of the anchor indicates rooms for rent)

an un-rehabbed building in the center of town shows the various paints it has worn over decades-

the bar at the lunch place where we grabbed a bit to eat.

finally- we went out to buy water and find an ice cream bar - on the way back this car careened around the corner- showing you who think that these cars never move that they do indeed and are used for transportation all over the country.