Havana the second time around- Part 2

April 29-30, 2017

The next day was more exploring and more walking for our last full day in Havana. We made a point of taking a stroll along the water.

 

The fort in the background looks so much smaller when you're not standing right on top of it. The water was pretty even if it was kinda dirty.

 

Down along the water I took a short video of traffic, it was easy to see just how many classic cars there were with just a couple seconds of film.

Just a short distance from our hotel was the El Floridita Bar where Ernest Hemingway made the daiquiri famous. Reviews now say the bar is nothing special and they've been coasting on their reputation rather than good service and drinks so we didn't go in, but it was definitely busy each night.

I might have waited a while to get the classic car shot. Worth it.

And a selfie of course

Our first night walking around Havana, we saw a banner on the side of a building advertising CATS the musical playing Saturday and Sunday. We looked at the calendar and realized we'd be back through on a Saturday, took a picture of it, and then forgot about it for the next 8 days. On our way back through, somehow we remembered about it, and went to check it out that day.

What we found was there was an outdoor amphitheater, it was opening night, ticket sales started at 5 for the 9pm showing, and they were $5. Sold.

The sign outside the ticket office said dress code was no shorts or tank tops (which is all we had been wearing for the last 10 days) so that evening after a short nap we got dressed up in our black yoga pants and the one nice dancing top that each of us had brought, and headed out for a night on the town.

Walking around the previous day, a little alleyway restaurant had caught our eye, so we decided to go there for our last night. It turned out to be the best idea we had. The live band playing for the restaurant was my favorite of the trip and the gal on the upright bass was awesome.

The food was also some of the best we had on the whole trip. We had an appetizer, some drinks, Shay got a spicy fish dish and I had creamy shrimp over rice which I'll dream about for a while. The waiters were nice and funny, the ambiance was top notch with lights strung above the tables and the water at the end of the alley. The waiter somehow ended up arm wrestling a European guy at another table, so there was built in entertainment too. It was fabulous.

I thought the mirror on the side of the alley was artistic with it's reflection of the lights and the building on the other side.

After our leisurely dinner we walked the short distance to the amphitheater for the night's entertainment.

In short, it was amazing. The sets were lovely and the costumes and dancing were great. All the songs were original music but lyrics translated into Spanish which was fun. It was all lip synced except for the main actress that did Memory live and in English, but it didn't take anything away from the performance. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt.

The whole cast got a long standing ovation at the end, and we walked home very satisfied with how our last day turned out.

On our last day we had until about 1:00 before we had to head to the airport to catch our flight home.

 My mission for the day was to work up the courage to get my dad a souvenir. He's hard to shop for because he doesn't need or want -stuff- from a trip. But I want to bring him something! So I decided to ask one of the guys fishing on the pier if I could buy a fishing lure from him. It's authentic, it's unique, and it's something Dad would really like. However it meant I had to work up the courage to walk up to a stranger and go 'Hi. Can I buy your fishing lure?' Easier said than done.

After creeping on him for like a half hour, I chose this guy as my target. I could see that there was a green thing on the end of his line, so I at least wasn't going to go through it all just to find out he had a naked hook at the end, which isn't all that interesting.

The initial approach was the hard part, but then I had a pretty neat conversation with him. I started it off along the lines of 'what are you fishing for' and then went to 'have you caught anything' and 'what do you use to fish with'. He brought out his tackle box for me to see, which was really cool. There were different hooks and lures ranging from tiny fly-like ones to larger squid, leech and minnow lures that look like ones we use in the States too. He said he made all of them himself, they were out of plastic and mylar.

I asked if I could buy one, and he insisted that I just take a couple for free. I told him they were gifts for my Dad, and ended up with a fly, a lure, an a cool conversation out of the deal. Dad loved them.

While I was doing that, Shay was having her own conversation with a random guy who walked up to her. He seemed like a decent fellow to have a conversation with, so we did. Then we ended up walking down the malecon with him to where he said there was live music. Since we had a couple hours, why not?

Turns out it was a fantastic idea.

After a bit of a long, hot walk we ended up at Callejon de Hamel, a crazy artsy alleyway that had all kinds of mosaic all over the walls, and a street party which apparently happens every Sunday.

There was a live band playing rumba music, more of a jam vibe than a performance for the people around. Everyone was dancing in the crowded alley, and it was one of the most authentic parts of the whole trip.

Warning: Both the videos were filmed when it was really loud, so the sound quality is really bad. I recommend preemptively lowering your speaker volume before playing them.

I'm not very familiar with the rumba dance style, and felt like a total idiot doing it, so I didn't do as much dancing. Shay however, was loving it. Not filmed but a favorite moment of mine, was her dancing with a sassy old Cuban guy in a pageboy hat. You can get an idea of the style of dance from the video.

Warning: Again, sorry about the quality. Please lower your speakers...

It was the perfect way to end our adventure- an impromptu street party with a couple Cubans we happened to meet on the street. It's one of those traveling moments I'll remember forever.

We hopped in a Coco Taxi and rushed to grab a sandwich and frozen lemonade, then back to our bags and then finally the airport.

Exhibit A: Coco Taxis

Sweaty but satisfied we got our money changed back over to USD, somehow argued and bartered a shuttle bus over to the other terminal (because secretly they have 2 there) with another couple who were in the wrong place, and then after a quick wipe down with a wet bandana in the bathroom, we hopped a plane home.

On the tarmac, moments before boarding the tail of the plane up roll-away stairs

And this just about sums it up.

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!