Hasta Cuba Siempre! Part 1: Havana

I was foolishly thinking I would only do one post for Cuba... but having browsed my photos and remembered so many amazing sights, I think it will stretch to two. So let me first introduce La Habana (Havana) where I started and ended my week...

It is an amazing mix of new/renovated/touristy and rundown, genuine, teaming with life sections all rubbing hot and sweaty shoulders with each other.

And for all of it, you can't help but feel you have somehow been transported back in time fifty years to a place where values beyond money - and yet the desperate need for money - seem to easily exist side by side as well.

My tour had us stay at the Hotel Nacional, check out the photo in the Blog Gallery - pretty grand, huh?

It is, of course, most famous for having hosted all the American mob bosses for their congress in the 1950s (under the guise of hearing Frank Sinatra sing). The rooms are stately and full of old furniture - including two rocking chairs - which are everywhere in Cuba, as no house is without one!

The old city is enchanting, although much of it is being renovated, which I suppose is a good sign - that tourism is providing an injection of funds in some form (not great for photos, though!).

And everywhere there is mention of Hemingway! He did live here for many decades. On my last night in Havana, I had some daiquiris (which he is credited at being involved in inventing) at the Floridita bar; excellent lounge band, just for a change from all the salsa!

I was amazed at how many people actually live in the old town, and as I was wandering around on a Sunday afternoon, all the kids were playing in the streets, there was washing hanging out to dry, and old wrinkled ladies sitting on steps smoking cigars (I really wanted to photograph this, but it felt too awkward and intrusive).

Most things in Cuba are still state-run; or as one of our guides said - they pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work! Terrible service - if you're lucky... but in the last two years there are now more privately run restaurants, usually by families, which are well worth supporting if you can spot them from the official ones. And tourism is where the money is. The average Cuban earns $20 a month - so if you are good and well tipped, then you would make that, and more, easily.

For example, the "tourist taxis", the beautiful convertible cars from the 1950s - I couldn't resist using that photo for this entry - that have been fixed up and painted brightly, are $30 per hour.

What really surprised me was that these cars (not looking so glamourous) really are used widely by many families (they cram them full of people, and always hang their elbows out the window!). There are also so many of the little boxy Lada cars (from Russia) on the road too. More recently, and particularly the Yutong "Transtour" buses, there are newer Chinese cars and coaches.

So much is changing, and will change more over the next decade. I noticed quite a few young people wearing designer jeans and with smart phones (all acquired on the black market, naturally) - not that locals have Internet access (foreigners need to present their passports to buy time online). They can also now go overseas (not that many would have the money to do this) - although I stood behind several in Cancun airport who were returning with purchases of flat screen TVs and air conditioners!

But if you had to pick the true passion of these people (baseball aside - they really are into the game!) it would have to be music. Just about everybody plays or sings, and the quality of the buskers is amazing. For a small donation, they are always willing to pose, and are ready with a wink for any passing lady.

The men are indeed quite gallant and charming - and persistent for the hawkers - but I certainly didn't feel like women's equality was far advanced (also stuck in the 50's?). There are few women seen in public roles, and many whose lives comprise of cleaning, cooking, and looking after children.

But I digress from my tour of Havana... here is a renovated brewery where I stopped for a half-pint of quite decent beer for $2. The drinks are great in Cuba - and I had far too many Mojitos, as they are so cheap. The food however (as I was warned) is rather plain. There is nothing wrong with it - mostly chicken and pork and some seafood - but after Mexico and Guatemala, it lacks any interesting spice or sauces. There were not many vegetables either, except for one amazing dinner we had on a farm, which was all vegetables in season.

I really enjoyed our visit to a 1791 perfume museum/shop. I bought a small bottle of perfume, but the cork and wax seal I'm afraid wasn't meant for modern day air travel. It has leaked in my toilet bag a little, so I am now using it and wondering how I will possibly get it on my next journey without an aromatic flood. Handbag, perhaps?

Well, to finish La Habana, I must mention my favourite photo - in the Gallery - taken as the taxi whisked me from the old town back to my hotel. It is the Malecón - the famous road and seawall that often features when there are storms. On this night, it was beautiful though with many people out enjoying the sunset.

There was so much to see and do in this beautiful, vibrant town, and the couple of half days at either end of the trip meant that I have a very good excuse to come back and do all the things that I should have done!

But it was good to see other parts of Cuba too. In the next post, I will share Viñales, Trinidad, and Cienfuegos with you - all so very different from Havana, and from each other.

Until then - Aveline. xxx