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| 1952 Ford |
Cuba! We made it to Cuba, apparently at the beginning of the rush to see it before it changes. Upon arrival we were greeted with a 2 hour wait for our bags. I asked someone if this was normal, and apparently it is - they only have a few baggage guys that unload all the planes, so we had to wait our turn. There were A LOT of bags on the flight from Mexico. Probably Americans with too many bags. ha! We were also very glad that we booked our first couple of nights in Havana, because from there each owner of our "Casa Particulares" helped us find our next place to stay. We ran into friends (in Cuba!) who had no reservations and had a difficult time. The "Casa Particular" is the best way to see Cuba - it's just like a Bed & Breakfast at home. You meet wonderful people and stay in nicer places - from what we read the hotels are mostly worn-out and in need of some love.
We spent the first morning in Havana trying to find water and money, obviously things that we don't ever need to hunt for in the USA. There are no ATM's that take our cards, and the bank had a 2 hour "line". When Geoff was told to stand in the "line" he looked around at all the people milling about and was very confused. Then someone shouted "quien es el ultimo??" (who is the last?) and some guy in the corner raises his hand. This is a better way to stand in line, I think. You can sit and wait in a nice comfy chair...You just have to pay attention so you don't miss your turn. We didn't end up waiting in the line anyway, and decided to change money at a hotel (much faster). Then we found a store that sells water and lugged a few bottles back to our Casa.
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| Dance studio-apartment across from Doralinas' Casa |
We spent the next day wandering around Havana, tiring out the kids. We saw a lot of beautiful buildings, and sad buildings too. Below, this is a beautiful old fortress, with a moat and slits for arrows and a drawbridge! It is also, however, a police station (what???? CRAZY), so we could not go inside.
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| centuries old fortress being used as a police station.... |
We were told that the average Casa Particular owner will spend all afternoon running around finding food for your dinner. There are NO supermarkets, and so you must buy your veggies, meats, drinks, bread, milk, coffee from different vendors around town. There are small mini-market style stores but they are poorly stocked and seemed to contain mostly water, alcohol and tobacco.
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| where Cuba buys fruits and veggies |
The Capitol building in Havana is a replica of our Capitol building in the USA. We were not allowed inside, as it is currently covered in scaffolding for renovations.
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| Capitol building |
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| Capitol building in Havana - down a busy street |
The streets of Havana were loud, overwhelming, interesting, narrow, and parts were very smelly. We saw a dog attempting to carry off an entire pig head for his dinner.
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| Havana across from the Capitol has been fixed up and painted. |
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| Havana taxi |
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| Taxi parking |
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| Che Guevara - Cuban revolutionary hero |
We walked along the Malecon for awhile, which is beautiful with the water and the lighthouse and sad too, with all the crumbing buildings.
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| Lighthouse from the Malecon |
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| Tired tourists, calling for a taxi? outside of a crumbling building along the Malecon. |
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| Fortress in Havana |
After spending a couple of days in Havana, we decided to get out of the big city. We drove out on a 6 lane paved highway, probably built to accommodate all those cars that no longer work, and the ones that can't be imported. It was empty, and eerie. Our taxi driver stopped along the way to get gas and decided that it would be better to pull around the back and get a gas can out of the bushes and fill up with that, rather than at the pump. We didn't ask.
Trinidad is much cleaner, and not as run-down. We also got to stay in a casa particular owned by an awesome couple that we really enjoyed. They showed us around the city, helped us find money, made us food, and talked with us about their country for hours. The casa was located in a blocky apartment building that reminded me of the photos of the old dark, depressing, colorless Soviet Union buildings. The inside was cozy and cute though, and the people were the best. Galo took us around the city, helped Geoff change money in less than 2 hours, and he let him borrow a pair of shoes for an afternoon after Geoff's flip flop broke. Yani cooked us some awesome food, including a delicious dessert made from guayaba and sweetened coconut. They told us about living through the "special period" in Cuba, after the Soviet Union collapsed and could no longer support them. The Cuban people lost 1/3 of their body weight, and many were very sick with malnutrition. It was awful, but everyone helped each other out. If your neighbor had less food, you would share what little you had. They don't understand the American lifestyle of going days without having someone over to your home. Their doors are always open, and they are always greeting neighbors and family. They still share what they have and often end up with a giant potluck on the weekends. Yani sees her family many times a week, and thinks that it sounds sad that we go days, months, and even years without seeing family!
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| Our casa in Trinidad |
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| Streets of Trinidad |
We asked a flustered tourist to take our photo. This is the least blurry one. :)
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| Dusk in Trinidad |
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| Church doorway |
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| Beautiful blue doorway |
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| Taking a break at the beach outside of Trinidad |
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| Trinidad musician |
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| Trinidad |
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| "56 years, Committee of the defense of the revolution" |
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| Our new friend Galo and his church |
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| Trinidad tower |
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| Happy family! |
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| Trinidad church - UNESCO site |
On the way from Trinidad to Cienfuegos we had a crazy experience with the migration of millions of crabs! They cross from the ocean to the mountains, covering the road in between. They were covering the entire roadway, which I did not get a photo of, but you can see on Geoff's Facebook page. It was really cool but also smelly and sad too, because the cars cannot possibly miss them all. Just after our cab driver was telling us that they sometimes pop the tires of the cars, we hear a loud sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss noise coming from outside. Yep, one of these guys was getting revenge for his squashed buddies and popped our tire. The cab driver luckily had a spare. They are really pretty crabs, and luckily the cars hit only a very small portion of the total.
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| Crazy tire-popping crab |
We moved on to Cienfuegos, where we stayed in a beautifully renovated old house - spending time relaxing on the rooftop and taking pictures. We also briefly tried to find an internet connection, but we couldn't find where to buy it. There is wifi in some of the town squares, but you pay per hour and need to hunt down a place that sells cards. We were told some of the nicer hotels may have internet also, but we didn't use it the whole 8 days we were there.
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| Happy in Cienfuegos |
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| my beautiful girl |
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| Me and my handsome boy |
We also took a ride in a cart-taxi pulled by a horse. It was fun for the kids but we all felt a little sad for the horse. It was really hot that afternoon and he was trotting around pulling us on the blazing pavement. Hopefully the horse gets to spend his nights resting in a cool pasture while eating loads of grass...
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| Cienfuegos horse taxi |
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| sweet kids |
At the end of our week in Cuba we spent one more day & night in Havana. Graham had the awesome idea to ride around in a convertible - which he LOVED. We all loved it! It was super fun - we road in a bright red 1952 Ford convertible. The driver took us along the Malecon again, and then out to the Hotel Nacional which is full of interesting history. It was built in the late 1920's with mostly mob money and served as a casino and gathering place for all types of famous people, including Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, Rita Hayworth, and Fred Astaire (to name only a few). The hotel was nationalized in 1959 by Fidel Castro and used to teach rural women to read and sew. Then later it was used by mostly Soviet guests until the collapse of the Soviet Union. During the Cuban Missile Crisis they dug tunnels on the hotel grounds, installed bunkers and anti-aircraft missiles. Today it is used by mostly middle class tourists from Europe, and now the US. We didn't stay here but we've been told that the rooms badly need updating and so I think most moneyed tourists end up downtown at the Iberostar.
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| Happy Graham gets to ride in a convertible |
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| Canon in front of the Hotel Nacional |
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| bunker outside of Hotel Nacional |
Cuba is a really fascinating adventure, a beautiful country. Go now, before it gets overrun! Yes, I see the irony here, so I should probably be telling you to stay away.
