An unplanned visit

The other day, my new mates on wheels accompanied me to a clothing and accessories shop for cyclists. I was looking for a suit because I really need the "culote" as they call this lycra thing that cyclists wear. I had no luck. The owner remained in contact with me to inform me if they received any items, specifically in size S.

When we arrived at the place we were also impressed with the workshop there.

I asked the manager for permission to take some photos. And during the time we were waiting for the owner of the shop to attend to us, we noticed that they are very professional and that everyone who arrives there with a problem leaves with it solved.

In fact, I received a message a few hours after we left there informing me about someone who had what I was looking for. But that's another story. I'll tell it later. Let's focus now on this unexpected visit.

"Let's cycle a little", I proposed to Azrael and Yoyo Batman (you know them from my last post) and they readily agreed. I suggested going to Santiago de Las Vegas, which is approximately 11.8 kilometers away from our location at that moment.

(Route on Google Map)

We were overflowing with joy at the idea of exploring. 😇 We didn't have a specific destination, just a municipality and that's how when we passed by this place in the Fontanar neighborhood, we stopped suddenly.

"What is that?" I asked. Then Yoyo, who knows everything, told us that place was abandoned and we could go in without any problems. "But what is it?" I kept asking, and they joked a bit about people living there and selling flavored ice blocks.

It didn't turn out to be so abandoned. 😅 We found a person, the one in charge of the Hermitage of Monserrat or the Catalans, who told us that he was about to leave and that we could visit another day without any problems to be able to enter, and he kindly could show us the inside of that building. With few words, he sparked our curiosity. So, we agreed to come back.

But...

There are no walls for my wish of knowing and at least catching a glimpse of the outside, are there?

According to historical data, this is the second Hermitage that the Catalan Center of Havana ordered to be built, in honor of the Virgin of Monserrat, because the first one that is known was constructed in 1885 where the Revolution Square and the José Martí Memorial are located today.

There are many more interesting facts that we will learn on our next visit. The person in charge lamented how the weather events that have affected that area. However, he assured us that it's very likely that some cleanup work will be completed there between the months of July and August.

There was so much silence. We were the only ones in that place, or at least I thought so.

Despite the neglected green areas, the building itself appeared to be fairly well maintained.

In my previous post I shared a series of photos from this trip. Before going through those winding paths where I also discovered wonderful landscapes, we made a technical stop to refuel our bodies.

😁

Check out what our makeshift solution was to give us energy.

Ground peanuts in bars...

How about if we put something inside this bread... hahaha.... 🤣

And...

The bananas were not from a commercial ad but they were very sweet. 🤤

We had a wonderful time and a lot of fun. I've edited a little video to show off the place better, hope you enjoy it. We'll have time to come back and see what's inside.

_{Strava map of the whole route}