Cuba 8: Saturday afternoon (Old Havana with the group)

I took a lot of notes while Lian shared with us Cuban history. I could those notes here, but instead I'll tell the story through pictures and a couple of annectdotes.

Housing is at a premium in Cuba since until recently people were not allowed to buy or sell homes. If you were lucky enough to have a home in 1959, you made it work -- even as your family grew and shrank. Since the ground floor in many of the older buildings was 12 feet tall, many added an extra floor by shrinking the ceiling height in ground floor. These became known as "barbecues" since they didn't have windows and must become very hot.

Another tidbit, apartment buildings are owned by the state, but the government gave the individual apartments to those living in them at the time. This makes is very hard to do repairs to the greater building.

Hearing these types of details helps to make me understand what I saw.

We saw part of the 4 kilometer wall that surrounded Havana. Just like in Barcelona, the only way the city could grow was by taking the wall down.

After driving around Havana, Ollie dropped us off behind the Museum of the Revolution. I had another deja vu moment of the trip when I saw:

As Lian was telling us about the history of her country, I pointed to the building with the giant Cuban flag waving in the wind and told Don, "that's where Martha and I dined in a paladar." Turned out, that was where we were eating our group dinner that night. 

Well, sort off.

Marth and I dined at Chef Ivan Justo in the upstairs room. The group was eating in Al Carbon downstairs and to the left (still in the yellow building). Chef Justo is head of both restaurants. I could picture Bogey saying, "Of all the gin joints...."

At this point all I wanted to do was to break free from the group and take pictures while exploring on foot, but our visa requirements stated we were to participate in all of the group activities. There was some free time in our schedule, but not much. The downside of tour. The positive side is we learned a lot.

We walked to the front of the museum in what had been the former president's palace. It is currently being renovated. I took it as a positive sign that buildings are being restored.

Photo credit to Mike

Ollie picked us up for a short drive to where we had lunch. There is no nicer dining experience than sitting outside on a beautiful day. We ate at one table long enough for the 22 of us. We started with a welcome drink (rum was added later to those interested). Appetizers was brought out family style, though the main course and dessert were individual servings. Food is a big part of most cultures. In Cuba it is very expensive to buy food. The cost of basics (such as eggs) is astronomical. Until 2020, each Cuban could purchase a ration book for 500 CUP that allowed them to purchase 5 eggs, some rice, cooking oil, and other basics on a monthly basis. The rest of the food was either purchased at government stores or on the black market. Guests (tourists), though, were given much too much food to eat. We were assured nothing would go to waste. Later Don astutely commented after the top layer of rolls were fresh and the next layer were stale, whatever we did not eat would go to another group of people. I'm glad he saved this observation until after we were home. It does explain why so many of us had Montezuma's Revenge either during or after the trip. He also added he was glad we only signed up for the five day trip and did not go into the countryside.

This looked so cozy!

More basil and mint than alcohol.

I went with the beef for the plantain side dish

Rice pudding for dessert

Service was slow. One member in our group left us to see the Hemingway Museum. I wish I had realized that was an option. Once I realized we could stray from the group, Don and I found opportunities to do so.

Back on foot we walked around Old Havana. In 1993 this area was dedicated as a World Heritage Site. For many years one man has been leading the charge to renovate Old Havana. My notes say "Osario," but I can't find a link to verify that. It might be "Osorio," or something completely different. Or Osorio might be the name of the district.

The renovations included making this section for pedestrians only and to encourage tourism. Parts of the old aqueduct were preserved.

A block away is the first University of Havana, founded by the Dominicans. It was destroyed at one point and rebuilt using some parts of the original building. In front of the university are the original cobblestones.

Next up, the salmon-colored five-story building called the Ambos Mundos Hotel is where Hemingway stayed when he was in Havana. His room is still there as a museum (later when we walked past it on our own, I should have gone upstairs!). 

Across the street is a giant mural of Havana's literary elite.

The walking tour took us into a courtyard of a fancy home. When the home was built it would have included slaves. Slavery was finally abolished in 1886 -- 21 years after it was abolished in the United States. Domestics would have lived in the top floor. The owners would have hired European artists to paint murals and sculpt statues in the hallway. The courtyard contained a cistern to collect rainwater.

Many buildings in this square use what is called "Havana Blue," a shade I am partial to. Similar to the color in our kitchen and Ashley's bedroom.

Next we went to Cathedral Square. In 1760 Charles III ordered all of the Jesuits out of Spanish colonies. the Jesuits were almost finished building their church. The Catholics took it over and made one major change to it: they added a second tower. If you look carefully, the tower on the left is narrower than the one on the right. There was not enough room to make them the same size.

As we walked around, we had a serious problem with beggars. Even our tour guide commented it was worse than usual. They were clearly a distraction to our guide who wanted to keep us safe. My "mother hen" instincts kicked in and I decided to stay towards the back to keep an eye on an Asian couple. The wife was using a cane on the uneven pathway, but I was also concerned about the husband who was seen as a soft target by the local beggars. Using the whisper sets I could still hear the guide even though she was 20 feet away. That is a great technology!

We ended up in Parade Square, also called Army Square. We walked over to see a Ceiba tree behind a fence. The original Ceiba tree is where Havana was settled on November 16, 1519. Tradition has it if you walk around it three times on November 16, and ask for a wish it will come true, just be sure to thank the tree in advance. When President Obama visited in 2013 the tree was replanted because at the time there was only a small tree.

Before heading to our hotel, Lian took us to the Hotel Nacional de Havana, once a training ground for mobsters, now the fanciest (though dated) hotel in Havana. If the Buena Vista Social Club experience reminded us of Frontierland at Disney, this reminded us of the Grand Floridian with its grandeur. They even have peacocks roaming the facilities.

The hotel was built by the Astorias in 1930 as a luxury hotel. It was where the mobsters stayed. The top floor had a famous casino. Many important people stayed here. In 1960 gambling was abolished (well, except for cock fighting in the countryside). Nowadays Americans are not allowed to legally stay there. 

Museum inside the hotel

This is where we separated from the group. They returned to Hotel Grand Astor, and we stayed at the National. We made sure Lian, our guide, knew we would see them again at the restaurant, and not at the hotel.

We took more pictures of the grounds, and went on an unsuccessful quest for a postage stamp.

At the far corner of the property is a CUBA sign we kept passing. Though it was backwards, we took a selfie up here thinking there was little chance of us getting to the other side (which was down a cliff) to take a picture.

The bellhop put us in a taxi. Lian said the ride should cost between $5 and $8, they quoted us $10. Whatever! At $8 I would have tipped two dollars. I also would have looked for a classic car instead of a yellow cab, but we had been advised to only take taxis from the bellhops (yes, I suspect they got a kickback, but why do something foolish).

The next post is a photo dump with little commentary.