Havana the second time around- Part 1

April 28, 2017

The last couple days we had in Cuba we spent exploring Havana. We were in the Old Town/Downtown area, and it's filled with lovely old buildings and eclectic architecture. The streets are narrow and the paint is colorful.

Our first day we mostly spent exploring the old town, since the last time we were there it was all dark. There was some shopping that happened too.

One of the center squares had these wonderfully complimenting buildings

This was just about as Cuban as it got. Slightly ramshackle buildings, laundry hanging from the balcony, and a couple girls hanging out on the corner in very typical outfits.

A small bay comes into Havana, so there were water views along with city views.

That evening we caught a taxi ride to the other side of the water from the city and toured the fort at sunset.

Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabana, referred to as El Morro was built in the late 1700s to protect the harbor from invaders trying to attack Havana. There were lots of original cannons still in place.

Also piles of decorative cannon balls

Even though the outside is a pretty simple design, I think it would have been rather effective. Steep walls and wide open spaces made me think I'd have no chance at sneaking in without getting picked off from someone at the top.

Inside the fort they had full costume recreations happening. I'm not sure what colonial Spanish uniforms looked like long ago, but they reminded me of the Revolutionary War. There were a couple horse and carriges around, and regiments of soldiers walking around. The soliders weren't very regimented though and there were a couple whistles as we walked by. I should have had them court martialed.

The fort had a lower area in the middle with a lawn, and a raised walkway going all the way around the perimeter, overlooking the water.

The walkway had a wonderful view of the downtown skyline across the water.

There's the Capitol Building

Of course we had to take a selfie

More cannons lined the wall pointed out towards the water.

There was some intricate metal work happening.

This is one of my favorite photos...

The sky gave us a lovely show as we walked around

Its hard to see from the picture, but there are cannons lining the walls, every 8 feet or so all the way down to the end. It didn't look like they had any swivel capabilities, only up and down for aiming, so we weren't sure how accurate they could be. But if all of them fired off at the same time, it would be rather difficult to avoid for long.

From the other direction

At 9pm there was a nightly cannon ceremony that we stayed to watch. It was dark and my camera took horrid photos so I didn't even try. Here are two that give you the gist of it. The guy in front with the torch was the crier that welcomed all the people and announced the soldiers coming in.

They marched in with a drummer and several guys with rifles on their shoulders. They did all the shouldering-arms-about-facing things to get set up, then loaded the cannon barrel, and eventually fired it off. It was suitibly loud and really fun to watch. We followed the hoards to the door, got some late night food in town and then called it quits for the night.

The next day and a half were very Cuban and packed with fun. Stay tuned!