Day 4: Havana
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Participate in a discussion about the Cuban economy before departing for Old Havana
- Lunch at La Mina
- Engage in an educational exchange with a Cuban hairstylist who trains and promotes teaching life skills to at-risk youth
- Interact with local men and woman at a nonprofit sewing exchange
that promotes and teaches traditional sewing skills to children with
disabilities (we didn't do this)
- Enjoy dinner at a paladar of your choice (a paladar is a privately-owned restaurant. We went to a baseball game instead)
Our first event of the day was in the hotel, where we had a lecture on the Cuban economy from a faculty member from the University of Havana. It was very informative, and made it even clearer how ill-advised the current US embargo is.
After the lecture, we boarded the bus and headed for Old Havana, passing through Central Havana. Central Havana was not nearly as impressive as Vedado or Old Havana, but probably a better indication of overall conditions.
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| Central Havana |
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| Central Havana |
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| Central Park on the edge of Central Havana |
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| On the edge of Central Park |
Eventually we arrived in
Old Havana (or Habana Vieja). Old Havana is the area within the original city walls, and contains lots of colonial buildings built between the 1600's and the 1800's. Our first two stops in Old Havana were Plaza de San Francisco and Plaza Vieja (Old Square).
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| Plaza de San Francisco |
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| Basílica Menor de San Francisco de Asís (left), dating from 1580 |
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| What the hipsters in Havana listen to |
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| Former stock exchange building |
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| One of the few stores I saw in Havana that sells new books/magazines |
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| Even in Havana |
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| Plaza Vieja |
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| Another view of Plaza Vieja |
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| On the Plaza Vieja |
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| Musicians on the Plaza Vieja. I'm certain they were playing Guantanamera. |
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| "Your Best Option in Ice Cream" |
After visiting the plazas, we walked down Calle Mercaderes (Merchant's Street), which contains a lot of restored buildings.
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| Looking down Calle Mercaderes from Plaza Vieja |
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| Further down Calle Mercaderes |
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| Still on Calle Mercaderes |
We stopped at the Museo del Chocolate, which is not so much a museum as a store, which is even better. I bought my first and only Cuban (chocolate) cigar.
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| Some of the merchandise at the Museo de Chocolate |
Next (still on Calle Mercaderes), we visited a bodega, which is a government store selling food staples to Cubans for Cuban pesos. The selection was not overwhelming.
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| Shelves are not overflowing with goods |
On the other hand, the prices were ridiculously cheap. The prices on the board below are in Cuban pesos, which are worth about 4 cents. So, a pound of sugar (I don't know why they didn't use kilos) was about 32 cents, and a bottle of rum was about $2.10. It was interesting to note that the brands of rum and beer that they sell in the bodegas are different than what they sell in the stores that take CUCs.
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| Floor mats, toothpaste and bath soap |
At the end of Calle Mercaderes was the Plaza de Armas. There were a lot of used book and magazine dealers around the plaza.
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| Around the Plaza de Armas |
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| Hotel Santa Isabel, on the Plaza de Armas |
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| Some used book dealers on the Plaza |
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| El Templete, standing on the spot where Havana was founded |
Here is a closer look at what was available from the used book sellers. No Playboys in sight.
At one end of the Plaza de Armas is the
Castillo de la Real Fuerza (Royal Fortress), which was built between 1558 and 1577.
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| Castillo de la Real Fuerza |
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| Castillo de la Real Fuerza |
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| Castillo de la Real Fuerza |
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| Part of the original city walls |
We then walked to
Plaza de la Catedral, but didn't go into the Cathedral.
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| The Cathedral |
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| Plaza de la Catedral |
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| Another view of the Cathedral |
By now it was time for lunch, and we went to
La Bodeguita Del Medio, which was frequented by Hemingway, and alleges to be the home of the mojito. Obviously touristy, but the food was decent, and of course they served free mojitos. There was the obligatory Cuban musical group, and the obligatory playing of
Guantanamera. In an interesting twist, the band began clearing tables and washing dishes when they finished playing.
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| The band, before they went to back work in the kitchen |
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| They get a few tourists here |
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| Some locals observe as we leave the restaurant |
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| A back street in Old Havana |
Our next stop, according to the tour literature was to "engage in an educational exchange with a Cuban hairstylist who trains and promotes teaching life skills to at-risk youth." This began with a trip to what I can only describe as an art and
barbershop museum.
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| Entrance to the museum |
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| Inside the museum |
After the museum, we visited a couple of art studios, and spent some more time wandering around the back streets of Old Havana.
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| Cuba, in one picture |
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| In a local bar |
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| A Lada (Soviet car) |
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| Street corner in Old Havana |
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| A '57 Chevy |
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| Another street in Old Havana |
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| A '54 Chevy |
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| Union of Young Communists |
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| A Moskvich, a brand I hadn't seen before. Guess where it was made. |
We then went to another part of Old Havana, where we supposed to "interact with local men and woman at a nonprofit sewing exchange that promotes and teaches traditional sewing skills to children with disabilities". However the place we went to seemed to be an arts and crafts display. While we were there, we got a salsa dance lesson.
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| The salsa instructor |
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| Che is alive and well and selling art |
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| These are "coco taxis". |
Our final stop was a senior citizens center, which was something like an adult day care. Although I suppose that it was intended to show how well the government treated senior citizens, but I found it disturbingly like a rest home in the US. On that note, we boarded the bus and returned to the hotel.
According to our tour plan, the evening was free for us to "enjoy dinner at a paladar of your choice". A
paladar is a family-owned (as opposed to government-owned) restaurant. Paladars have only been in existence since 1993, and many have opened in the past few years. This would have been our only chance to have dinner on our own. However, one of my "to-do's" for Havana was to see a baseball game, and this was the only night that a game was scheduled while we were in Havana. So, we opted for the baseball game.
The game was at 7:00, and Lisette, our American guide, arranged for a taxi driver to pick us up at the hotel, take us to the game, and pick us up after the game. We had a quick pizza and hamburger at the poolside bar at the hotel.
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| Pool side at the hotel |
Francisco, the taxi driver, was supposed to pick us up at the hotel at 6:15, and at 6:30 he ran into the lobby apologetically explaining that he had a flat tire on the way. He spoke excellent English, and gave us a tour of Revolution Plaza on the way to the stadium.
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| Jose Marti monument in Revolution Plaza |
On the side of the Ministerio de Comunicaciones in Revolution Plaza is an image of Comandante Camilo Cienfuegos, one of the heroes of the revolution.
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| Ministerio de Comunicaciones |
Next to the Ministerio de Comunicaciones is the Ministerio del Interior, which has an image of Che Guevara on the side.
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| Ministerio del Interior |
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| Ministerio de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (Cuban equivalent of the Pentagon) |
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| An apartment building near the stadium |
The baseball game was at
Estadio Latinamerico, which was built in 1946, and does not appear to have had any maintenance done to it since then.
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| Outside Estadio Latinamerico |
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| “The triumph will be in the sum of the efforts of all.” |
Francisco dropped us off, and bought our tickets for us. Admission for foreigners is 3 CUCs ($3), substantially more than locals pay. The foreigners all sit in a separate section, right behind home plate.
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| In the foreigners section.... |
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| ...behind home plate. |
I regret to say that even Cuban baseball has stupid mascots.
The game was between
Industriales, the local Havana team, and Santiago de Cuba. Industriales is Cuba's equivalent of the Yankees, and Santiago is their main rival, so we inadvertently stumbled on the Cuban equivalent of the Yankees and Red Sox. The stadium contains about 25,000 permanent seats and about 25,000 bleacher seats which were not used. The 25,000 permanent seats were pretty much full by the 3rd inning.
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| People in the foreground are in the foreigners section |
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| The rest of the stadium was designated for Cubans |
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| Cuban fans |
The main difference between Cuban beisbol and American baseball is the crowds. The Cuban crowds are much noisier, with horns blowing all the time, and lots of organized cheering. Also, they don't sell beer at Cuban games(!) The game itself, with a couple of minor exceptions, was pretty much like an American game at the AAA (Durham Bulls) level.
I think there was one vendor serving the foreigners section and she was selling what looked like popcorn (presumably for CUCs), which I was not interested in. I did want something to drink, but vendors in the foreigners section weren't selling drinks. So, I ventured into the Cuban section and found a vendor selling orange soda. I waved a 1 CUC bill at her, and she gave me a soda and some change in Cuban pesos. Later on, I wandered under the stands, where they were selling shredded pork sandwiches and other items. I did not partake.
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| Concession area under the stands |
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| The empty section is where a section of roof had fallen |
One of the differences between Cuban and American baseball is that in Cuba, every time a run is scored, the entire team comes out to greet the player who scored. This tends to extend the game....
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| A run has scored |
We had been advised that Cuban games can take about 4 hours, so we arranged for Francisco to come back and get us at 9:30. By that time, the game was still in the 5th inning. All in all, it was a great cultural experience.
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| The stands were full by the 5th inning |
Francisco was waiting right where he left us, and we had an uneventful ride back to the hotel. I have Francisco's card if you ever need a taxi driver in Havana.
After we got back to the hotel, we spent a few minutes in the hotel lounge listening to a band play
Guantanamera. For the first time since we landed in Cuba, I actually had to pay for a mojito (5.50 CUCs).
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| Lounging in the hotel lounge |
Next:
Days 5 and 6 -- Another day in Havana, and back home
