Complete Cuba Day 9
Complete Cuba
Day 09 - Friday, January 17, 2014 - Full Day in Havana; Visit Our Lady of Belen Convent; Time in the Plazas of Havana; Local Restaurant for Lunch; Harbor Edge Art Market; Farewell Dinner at Cafe del Oriente in Old Havana
The morning began with cloudy skies, high winds, and cool temperatures. All of the locals were complaining about the cold - it was 67 degrees with 67 % humidity.
Right after breakfast we walked over to the malecon and took a few photos of the waves crashing over the sea walls. We hustled back to the hotel and to our room to get our day packs.
Our group was ready at 9:00 to begin our exploration of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Boris took us on a city tour and Claudia described all of the buildings we saw.
It is difficult to describe the unfortunate decay of the buildings - some are in rubble, some in advanced stages of decomposition, but a few are being restored. The splendor and opulence of the city at the height of the Colonial era must have been incredible.
Spanish style columned former villas line the streets. This was once the hub of all trade going and coming from the New World. One can only speculate what the city would look like after restoration, but that would take millions of dollars!
We visited Old Havana, the downtown center, with only a few stores open, many beggars on the streets, and feral dogs everywhere. We entered a building covering more than a city block, the Convento de Nuestra Señora de Belen.
Linette, our guide, told us about the facility that began as a school for Jesuits, then a military compound, and now a community center for children and senior citizens. While on our tour, the senior citizens greeted us warmly, wanting to shake our hands, and ask us questions.
Vic had all of them laughing as we guessed their ages, it was truly a bright spot in our tour. We were able to see the children but only from a distance so as not to interrupt their classes. The pre-schoolers did sing a song for us.
We walked back to the bus and Boris took us to the Historical Center of San Cristobal de la Habana. We began by seeing the remains of the very first Spanish fort.
Continuing, we walked to the Cathedral where they say the remains of Christopher Columbus were buried. The Hemingway bar called La Bodeguita del Medio was the next stop.
At the Hotel Ambos Mundos we saw many original photos of Hemingway when he first came to Cuba and lived in this hotel. In addition we visited the armory where we saw thousands of guns supplied by the American CIA. Cubans are not allowed to carry or possess weapons so they were all collected and many are exhibited in the museum.
From there we went to a chocolate museum, a playing card museum, a modern art gallery, and the Plaza Vieja where we saw the sculpture of a woman riding a large rooster by Fabelo. Near the plaza, Claudia pointed out the Royal Ditch that carried the city's water and the cistern for collecting rain water.
We passed the Brazilian Embassy, the post office, and walked on to the Hostal Valencia where we had their Spanish specialty, paella. Paella is a dish of rice cooked with several kinds of seafood, and seasoned with many spices especially saffron which gives it the rich orange color.
At 2:30 we left the Restaurante La Paella and Boris dropped us off at the Havana Harbor and the Arts and Crafts Market. We had an hour to browse through row after row of stalls devoted to pottery, wood crafts, paintings, and souvenirs of Cuba.
We were all back on the bus at 4:00 for a ride to the hotel. There was plenty of time to shower and start to look at photos and write the journal.
Gathering in the lobby we were off by bus back to the historical center. Our Farewell Dinner was at Cafe del Oriente in the Plaza San Francisco de Asis in Old Havana.
The meal was a choice of fish, steak, or chicken with the usual starters and dessert. We gave each of our new Cuban / Ecuadorian friends a GarciaTrips t-shirt, a pen, and one of Vic's photos as a remembrance from Colorado. Jim and Kathy gave Boli and Claudia humorous gifts from the craft market.
All in all, it was a very fun evening.
Accommodations: HOTEL MELIA COHIBA - - - Meal: B, L, D
International Expeditions - Complete Cuba
Comments
Post a Comment!WOW! Wild dogs- that whole scenario sounds very much "in the back woods". Y'all see so much, and the way it is written, I truly feel like I can see what you saw. Y'all are amazing and compliment each other beautifully!!!
Hotel Melia Cohiba
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