Havana, Cuba

Super early wake up this morning to get ready for our Havana day tour. As I slithered out of bed feeling beat and broken from the lack of sleep. My stiff joints felt splintered from sleeping on the bed that felt like a wood plank. We headed down to the snack bar hopping over puddles from the storm the night before. We were greeted by an amazing sunrise and a cheerful French couple. We exchanged salutations in our native languages and then order our food, ham and cheese baguettes with black coffee. The baguette was surprisingly good but the coffee tasted like it had been drank and then collected again from a sweaty cook in the back. After breakfast, we headed back to the room to get ready and collect anything we needed for the excursion.
Our journey started as usual with a couple quick stops to pick up our fellow tourists. Our group consisted of seven people. A couple our age, a father and son duo and an eccentric gentleman originally from Congo now residing in Toronto. Our tour guides name was Anna and our driver’s name was Alberto.

Stop 1

Our first stop was at a truck stop which stood next to the tallest bridge in Cuba, they had a live band playing American 70s music with classical instruments, a snack bar, and a gift shop. The washrooms were guarded by a decrepit old woman taking spare change for toilet paper, 1 pesos per square. Who after years of collecting pesos for poop was probably one of the richest women in Cuba.
After that, we headed on our 2+hour drive to the capital city, Havana. Along the way Anna announced whenever we were heading into a new Peninsula and what the name meant in English, the most memorable was Matanzas which means”slaughter” in English. The Peninsula was so named because, at one point in history, the slaves rose up and slaughtered their Spanish owners in this region. This uprising then spread across Cuba.

With the countryside to our left and the Atlantic Ocean to our right, we made our way across 145km of winding country roads, because the main highway was closed for bridge construction. After just over 2hrs we headed down into a tunnel that went below the canal cutting through Havana. When we emerged on the other side we were greeted by the colonial buildings of old Havana. We made our way through the city to new Havana which was constructed in the early 20th century. Our first part of the tour was a huge graveyard that had some of the most beautiful tombs and monuments I’ve ever seen. We drove along the main road eventually coming to a church. The church was located at the center of a cross made by two roads as seen from the air.

Stop 2

After making a few more drive-bys of other key buildings in Havana we finally had a chance stop and stretch our legs. We stopped at Revolution Square which looks like a large open parking lot surrounded by government buildings with likenesses of Che Guevara’s and Camilo Cienfuegos etched larger than life on the side of 2 of the buildings. A 109-meter tall star-shaped obelisk loomed on one side of the lot as a reminder of the struggle for Cuban independence. It’s quite the sight to behold but unfortunately due to placement of power lines fencing off and completely surrounding the place no decent photos could be captured from the well thought out vantage point.

After our allotted free time we headed back to our group but had to sit and wait for our Congo friend who when finally after 20 minutes of waiting returned to our van and explained he was hunting for a wife in Cuba. We all laughed it off as a joke, but later found he was dead serious.

Stop 3

Our 3rd stop was at Central Park which had an amazing view of capital building, a bigger, better-decorated replica of the White House which was having renovations done to the exterior of the top dome. After a brief history lesson, we were set free into the park.
I ventured around the tiny park that was boxed in by busy downtown roads, snapping pictures of anything that caught my eye. The park was booming with activity, 3 or 4 people painting the surrounding landscape, a few musicians pounding away on drums, guitar and keyboard and other tour guides trying to recruit potential customers from the lost looking pale skin passers-by.

After the free time had passed I headed back to the van only to find I was the second last one back, the last being the wife seeking Congo man. After a couple minutes, our guide went out in search of our friend. Just as she walked away he arrived back with a huge grin on his face waving a piece of paper ” I got a number” he said proudly. We then headed on our way.

Stop 4

Our group was dropped off on a busy street a few blocks from the park. We wove our way down the cramped sidewalk hopping over giant cracks and small lakes forming by the potholes in the concrete. We found our way to the Legendario Distillery entrance which looked much nicer and well kept then the 2 buildings it was sandwiched between. The group was ushered up some narrow stairs past a mock-up of the original distillery and into a rum shop and cigar lounge. I sampled a few light and dark rums playing dumb so I could try more than the more educated rum connoisseur. I eventually decided on the dark rum which, after that day, has by far become my favorite rum. Unfortunately, you cannot get in Canada. Slightly buzzed I made my way back down the stairs where our group walked a few more blocks to meet up with our ride.

Stop 5

We then parked just outside Old Havana and went for a walk through the city. We passed where the old defense walls once stood and began weaving our way through the historical streets. Eventually, we came to Cathedral Square and made our way into the Cathedral of Saint Christopher. After a quick look around and some history, I headed out with the group to get some pictures of the exterior of the church. Our Congo friend continued to pursue his future wife. We then continued through the streets to go get some lunch.
Our tour guide ushered us through a doorway that seemed to appear from nowhere and led to the restaurant/hotel we were having lunch at. The building was extremely old with extremely shining marble floors, a sandstone looking bricks from floor to ceiling and plants everywhere. They sat us a table for 10 in the corner and went over what we were having. The menu was a salad, beef in tomato sauce, rice with black bean soup poured over it and bread with a weird pate’ to dip it in. As simple as the meal was it actually tasted better than any food I’ve consumed so far while in Cuba.

Stop 6

After lunch, we made our way past the Hotel Ambos Mundos.This was where Hemingway stayed whenever he visited Cuba. Our guide said that we would meet in the lobby of that building later after our free time. Eventually, we ended up at the Plaza de Armas to take a tour of an older castle. It had an open courtyard in the center, and a wooden road out front that someone had swapped in because the brick was too load when horse and carriages rode by. I made my way inside past the guard standing at the door and into the courtyard of the building and began to explore. The rooms were filled with relics from colonial times. This consisted mostly of models of old trains and sculptures.

I then headed out into the perfect squared shaped park outside where there was a huge Flea market surrounding the perimeter of the park. There was probably about 100 vendors each with their own makeshift table each selling something different. Nothing was really unique as they had old records, electronics, car parts, or currency. There was, however quite a bit of artwork. I browsed as I made my way around the outside of the park but didn’t see anything of interest. I was probably more distracted by the colonial style buildings around the park. I wandered into the courtyard of the fortress. The view of the defensive walls across the channel with the cannon in the foreground was truly breathtaking.

I then went back to the Hotel Ambos Mundos. When I arrived I overheard some people talking about the view from atop the hotel directly above Hemingway’s room. I was curious so I decided to check it out. The Elevator was broken so we climbed 5 Stories to get to the roof. The view was amazing you could see all of old Havana, the harbor, and shipyard. Then it was 5 Stories back down to meet our group. While I sat waiting for the rest of the group to arrive I ordered a Cubata and wrote most of this story, sitting in the bar Hemingway once sat.

Travelling Trev.