The Market.

This is the 'man made' market about a 10 minute walk from the resort. The resorts on this island have only been in existence for a few years, and one of the entertainments is in the form of this recreated village. There are no actual residents in this village, or in fact on the whole of Santa Mario. The only people living here are the tourists. All the staff are bused in each day...some of them having to travel by bus for 2 hours each way! This seems almost unreal to most of us living in Canada....we complain if we have to spend 40 minutes on a highway to get to work. Hell, i only have to take a dozen or so steps to be at work! It puts a whole other light on the way the Cuban people live.

It's very pretty, brand new and rather unreal! But, it was a very pleasant place to roam about and chat with the real vendors who had set up stalls all along the road! Some lovely little restaurants, where you could have a very nice piece of pizza and a beer for under $3 - it was very enjoyable. I purchased a couple of items.

The architecture was stunning, the colours of the buildings beautiful, and it was very interesting to see what the old cities might have looked like in the beginning.