If you're set on sight-seeing in the town, ensconce yourself in this pretty green oasis. These landscaped gardens date back to 1940 and take their name from the former owners, José Fermín Iturrioz y Llaguno and his wife Onelia, who owned the Arechabala rum distillery in nearby Cárdenas and built a neoclassical mansion here: the Retiro Josone.
Expropriated after the Revolution, the mansion became a guesthouse for visiting foreign dignitaries. The park is now a public space for the enjoyment of all – you may see Cuban girls celebrate their quinciñeras (15th-birthday celebrations) here. Josone's expansive, shady grounds feature a lake with rowboats (CUC$0.50 per person per hour) and water-bikes (CUC$5 per hour), atmospheric eateries, resident geese, myriad tree species and a minitrain (CUC$1 for a ride). There's a public swimming pool (admission CUC$2) in the south of the park and the odd ostrich lurking nearby. Good music can be heard nightly.
