Havana

Havana

With Azzy safely tied to the dock, we met our taxi driver at the marina entrance. The arrangement had a been to travel to Havana in a brand new Peugeot with air conditioning. The reality was a clapped out Dacia, with air conditioning provided by half open windows. 

The journey time from Cienfuegos took about three hours, and it was an interesting experience. The highway was four lanes in most parts, but not all of the lanes had usable road surface. The Highway Code does not apply in Cuba, as you can walk, cycle and take your horse and cart along, whilst chickens happily go about their business. The central reservation, when there was one, mostly consisted of shrubbery. White lines comically divided the lanes, but no one paid much attention to them, just avoid the potholes. 

On a couple of occasions our Dacia's brakes were tested to the limit, slowing us down at the last minute to cross a railway track. No lights, no barriers, but the trains travel so slowly it 'should' be easy to see one coming.

Eventually our taxi took us into the City and down narrow streets with tall buildings, before we stopped outside our B&B or Casa Particulares as they are known. Here we met the lovely Grace who explained she was over-booked for that day, and for one night we would be down the street at a friends place. Not really an issue for us. Our temporary accommodation was a bedroom in a large apartment, with en-suite and air conditioning. The location could not have been better, just five streets in any direction to all the places we wanted to visit.

We had borrowed the Lonely Planet guide book from a fellow cruiser, which described Cuba as 'Timeworn but magnificent, dilapidated but dignified, fun yet maddeningly frustrating - Cuba is a country of indefinable magic....Trapped in a time warp and reeling from an economic embargo that has grated for more than half a century, this is a country where you can wave goodbye to western certainties and expect the unexpected'. With this in mind, We set off in the direction of the Capitolio Nacional (capitol building) and took in a snack along the way. The narrow streets were bustling with life. Front parlours doubled up as places to buy cold drinks and snacks. Street vendors were keen to sell cigars, popcorn and ice cream served in a half coconut shell. 

The first thing that grabs your attention is the run down feel. Everything looks like it is about to fall down. Many once proud Spanish colonial buildings had simply all but crumbled away, in some cases just the facades left. 

Not much left of this one

 

 

Other buildings look like they would be condemned, and yet washing was seen to by hanging on balconies that often were supported with wooden beams to stop them falling into the streets below. 

 

 

Litter was in abundance, cars chugged past spewing out fumes. People shouted rather than spoke. Indiscernible mechanical objects were being repaired on narrow pavements, chickens wandered around, dogs lay asleep.

 

We spotted one building with some incredible artwork on the facade.

 

 

 

We wandered around taking pictures as we went. Of course Cuba is synonymous with the classic American car. Watching the traffic was almost as though we had gone back in time, or stepped into a film set. The architecture blended in with this other reality perfectly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Havana even has its own version of the Capitol Building in Washington, USA, known as the Capitolio Nacional. It is Havana's most grandiose building, and is slightly taller and richer in detail to its American equivalent. Building work started in 1926 and took 5,000 workers 3 years 2 months and 20 days to complete, at a cost of US $17 million. Sadly it was under renovation during our visit, so we could not go inside.

 

Here it is again taken in the evening looking down a nearby street.

 

Our visit happened to coincide with the 1st May 'Workers Day' celebrations. We got up early and headed across the city to join the crowds, marching to Plaza de la Revolucion (Revolution Square). The crowds were already vast in number at 7 am. The plan was to watch the parade as bystanders, but somehow we ended up being a part of it!

 

It was an interesting morning!

As we headed back across town, we decided to track down the Floridita bar. This was one of two favourite haunts of the author Ernest Hemingway, and reputed to be the place that gave birth to the Daiquiri. It seemed rude not to check it out and sample one of their world famous Daiquiris.

 

If you look carefully, you can see Hemingway in the background!

The infamous Hemingway Daiquiri

Mellowed by a smooth cocktail we set off to find the Hotel Ambos Mundos, which was a favourite of Hemingway. It is said he wrote the book 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' here. Apparently, he always stayed in the same room, which had the best view, and the hotel has turned it into a mini museum dedicated to the writer. The room has been left exactly as it was when he stayed there.

 

 

 

 

What we did not know was that due to a war injury, Hemingway found it more comfortable to use his typewriter standing up.

 

And here is the one he used. The table had adjustable legs so he could move it up to any height to suit his needs. 

 

Eating out in Havana was better than we had expected. Not just rice and beans! Not especially cheap though, but honest food well cooked. We frequented a couple of little places off Obispo Street, but one of our favourites was in the corner of Plaza Vieja, called La Vitrola. It had a wonderful atmosphere, helped along with live music and the signature drink, a mojito in a pint glass with a beer! It sounds awful, but it tasted really good.

The garlic shrimp were delicious

 

 

Another popular venue in Plaza Vieja, and just across from La Vitrola, was a micro brewery. 

 

Another place we chanced upon was called Sloppy Joe's bar. The bar was opened in 1919 by a young Spanish immigrant, Jose Garcia (aka Joe). It earned its name from the rather suspect sanitation, and a soggy burger. The bar became legendary amongst ex-pats pre-revolution, and many famous stars such as Ava Gardner, Frank Sinatra and boxer Joe Louis frequented it. It closed in the 1960's after a fire but was reopened in 2013. The sanitation has improved but the soggy sandwich remains. Signed photos of stars that visited adorn the walls. 

 

 

The original Sloppy Joe's burger

 

It was always enjoyable just to wander around, soaking up the sights and sounds.

Another favourite haunt of Ernest Hemingway

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gran Teatro de la Habana (renovated in 2014)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also went to the Camera Obscura in Plaza Vieja, which provides live 360 degree views of the city from the top of a 35 metre tower. 

 

 

 

This shell of a building below is the Palacio Cueto, built in 1906. It once housed a hat factory before becoming a hotel in the 1920's. It has been empty and unused since the 1990's and is now in the process of being restored. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, no visit to Havana would be complete without a ride in a classic American car. Very few now have the original engines, most having diesel units. Parts are almost impossible to come by and most of the gauges don't work. But it was a thrill for us all the same.

 

 

Our tour took us to Plaza de la Revolucion, slightly fewer people than on the 1st May when we last visited.

 

Plaza de la Revolucion was built in the 1920's and is the base of the Cuban government. The Ministerio del Interior building is well known for its huge mural of Che Guevara, with the words "Hasta la Vitoria Siempre" (Always toward victory). 

 

In 2009, a similar mural of fellow Guerrilla Camilo Cienfuegos was added to the adjacent telecommunications building. At a rally on 8 January 1959, Fidel Castro interrupted his speech to ask Cienfuegos "¿Voy bien, Camilo?"  (Am I doing alright Camilo?). His response "Vas bien, Fidel" (You're doing fine, Fidel), was taken up by the crowd and became a slogan of the Revolution 

 

Also in the square is the memorial to Jose Marti. It is Havana's tallest structure at 138.5 metres and is fronted by a 17 metre marble statue of a seated Jose Marti. Marti was a national hero, poet, journalist and revolutionary philosopher who became a symbol for Cuba's independence against Spain in the 19th century. 

 

 

On our last day we paid a visit to the Museo de la Revolucion. It was a fascinating place to look around. The building was the former Presidential Palace, constructed between 1913-1920. Tiffanys of New York decorated the interior. 

Models of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara

 

 

 

 

 

In front of the building is a fragment of the former city wall, and an SAU-100 tank used by Fidel Castro during the 1961 battle of The Bay of Pigs. There is also 'Pavillion Granma', a memorial to the 18 metre yacht called Granma, that carried Fidel and 81 other revolutionaries from Tuxpan, Mexico to Cuba in 1956.

 

Sadly, our time in Havana was soon at an end. We saw as much as we could in the four days we were there, but there was still a lot more we would have liked to have seen. We returned to Villa Azul (our second Casa Particular) to pick up our luggage and await our taxi back to Cienfuegos, and Aztec Dream. 

Another quote from the Lonely Planet guide book sums up Havana perfectly: "No one could have invented Havana. It is too audacious, too contradictory and - despite 50 years of withering neglect - too damned beautiful." Who knows, we may be back again one day...

We spent another couple of days in Cienfuegos at anchor before making our way to Grand Cayman, the largest of the Cayman Islands and our penultimate stop before the passage to the Rio Dulce in Guatemala for the hurricane season.