Day 23: La Habana II

First priority for the day is to change our Cuba-Cancun flight to 2/13. Hoping to do that at the Aeromexico office near the Hotel Nacional, which is at the west end of the Malecon.

On the way, a short clip of the morning rush hour on our street.
Havana 3

On the Malecon, a long walk past a lot of disheveled old buildings, most of which are being restored. If the progress, continues, and spreads to the other parts of the city, and Cuba rejoins the world private economy, the city will be dramatically beautiful, and a huge US tourist attraction. Right now, off of the very limited tourist beat, it's a really ugly, dirty, depressing place (apart from the classic cars) no matter how wildly promoters extol its spirit etc., but the basic structures of the old buildings are intact, even the balconies, grillwork and colonnades, and in many cases it would take only some cosmetics to transform the facades of whole streets, Interior repair may well be a different story.

The Aeromexico office was open, but the clerk there insisted she could not change the ticket, that we had to call Cancun, or maybe go to the airport on a Thursday and possibly get them to change it there. Another of the opportunities for learning patience that Cuba provides.

Second priority was to get on the Hotel Nacional wifi and do some posting. However, with a $7 hour worth of time I was only able to do two posts, and then only by drastically cutting back on the file sizes by getting rid of videos and several pics, so I gave up. Did manage to send an apology, however.

The Hotel itself was quite nice...






and so D indulged in her fetish of lobby-sitting, while I tried my posts. I joined her after the posting, but had to have a lemonada natural to make it legit.
Havana 4

For an odd twist, on the grounds of this luxury hotel one can take a tour of the trenches and other battlements erected during the Cuban missile crisis, supposedly while famous folks like Judy Garland were staying (maybe performing) there.



It's a government hotel, from a guide who lived through it at the age of 18. Interesting to hear her describe the fear, and the anger at Kruschev for making the deal with JFK without even informing Castro - he learned about it on the news. I believe one of her points was that the Soviets convinced Cuba that an invasion from the US was imminent, so they could place missiles in Cuba as a move in the Cold War, and that the Cubans unnecessarily lived in fear for a long time as a result.

Next stop was the Hotel Habana Libre, to see a 670 sq. meter exterior mural by Amelia Pelaez...




and Alfredo Sosa Bravo's Carro de la Revolucion, made of 525 ceramic pieces.



After a very nice lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant called Sancho Panza we made an unplanned visit to a United Nations office in a beautiful old building we happened to pass. A very nice receptionist gave us a little tour of the meeting rooms.




We walked past a whole block of these amazing trees...



and took a little nap in the Iglesia del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus (gotta love the names, so much better than eg St Luke's), which had some really fabulous stained glass windows.




Next stop was the Association Cultural Yoruba de Cuba, where the only photos allowed were in the art gallery...




and this one I snuck of a Santoria girl in a stairway - she really wanted her picture taken, followed me down the stairs to do it.




No idea why the face paint.

The center was quite extraordinary, several stations of the many Yoruba deities, each with explanatory signs in Spanish, English and French. I recognized names from my Nigeria Peace Corps term, eg Chango, the god of thunder (have a statue of his wife), Osunmare, of the rainbow (excellent night club in Ibadan by that name), and Taiwo and Kainde (twin gods whose names are given to earthly twins, including a pair fathered by one of my counterparts). The explanations also referred to cities in Nigeria I've been in, where the various gods are emphasized.

We went next past the National Capitol building (under restoration, like a large percentage of public buildings...


the Teatro Nacional...



the museum of fine arts...




and the Hotel Inglaterra (oldest continually in use in Havana)...





where we lingered over a coffee for quite a while - through two bands, one shown here.
Havana 5

We finished with a walk up the Prado's center promenade to get back to our place.









In the evening we had an excellent dinner at La Template, a restaurant truly in league with better restaurants in the US, and on the way back to our CP I shot some night pics of buildings around the Plaza de Armas in the historic district. My iPhone 5s is too good for those to not use them.












Have to mention the ballsy old con panhandler we encountered on the way back to our hotel. I first noticed him leaning on two canes listening to a salsa band. He then handed the canes to a guy standing next to him and went into a very vigorous set of dance moves, then took the canes back and hobbled over to us and pleaded for money to get the medical care he needed for his legs. His audacity was a bit breathtaking, and I was tempted gave him some CUCS for it - but didn't. Still, it was a stirring moment for an old workers compensation defense attorney.

On to Vinales mañana.

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Location:Havana

Day 22: Cienaga final to La Habana

The sun was rising, the sky was clear, there was no wind, and the waves were gently rolling in, so we had no choice but to enjoy an early walk on the beach before our busy day began.



Our new guide, Estrey, picked us up and we rode into the "Salinas" (salt flats). No where near 10,000 flamingos ( more like 500), but they were pretty photogenic...










and even a bit weird.



There were a number of other birds as well, including our old favorites, roseate spoonbills.






We just caught the Viazul bus by a few minutes, and had a pleasant 3 hour ride to Havana on the auto pista (four lane), but for the non-stop romantic music videos. They seriously overshot my Julio Iglesias tolerance level.



We wound up at a funky CP (Bronx slum hallways and stairs, but a very nice room), in a pretty run-down section of Havana ("the real Cuba" as the guidebooks and many tourists say a bit too often) just off the Prado and Malecon.






Some great cars on the street, though.



We have a somewhat crazy host and hostess, and so we escaped quickly for a walking tour, first to the Malecon (east end)...



then to the well-fortified harbor, with 17th century forts Castillo de San Salvadore de la Punta on the west side of the entrance...


and Castillo de Los Tres Santos Reyes Magnos del Morro on the east side.



The Morro fort was somewhat photogenic, both outside...







and in...







but was particularly enjoyable because of Delores, our delightful English-speaking guide, whose stream of consciousness presentation, though incomprehensible at times, was captivating.



Strangely enough, the harbor remained vulnerable to attack, and so eventually a third fort was constructed, inland from the latter, Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabana (in the background on the hill on the left, where the British had set up artillery on that hill to shell Morro).



The Cabana was also visually dramatic, outside...












and in...



and provided nice sunset views of the city...








and of some Soviet missiles from the JFK missile crisis - verdad.




We had a pizza (of course) in the Forteleza, intending to wait for the ceremonial firing of a cannon at nine, but couldn't hang on for it, instead settling for a night view of of the fort's walls.


and of the city...
<i>Havana 1i>

We caught a cab, through a tunnel under the harbor, and returned to our place, with its romantic lighting and the sounds of the "real Havana" at night.
Havana 2

More of Havana tomorrow.

More idle musing. Our host and hostess seem to me (a Wisconsin Missouri synod German Lutheran) to be exemplary of a prevalent Cuban characteristic - too much personality, to the point of stifling accomplishment. Or perhaps it's a result, rather than a cause, that is, they live in a pseudo-egalitarian society that does not reward (underrewards) accomplishment, and personal emotional over-expression is a way of coping with that. On the other hand, maybe Cubans just like to have more fun.
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Location:Cienaga and Havana