Favorite Images of Havana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This woman would pose for a picture, for a small fee

 

 

I found this group sitting along the Paseo del Prado early one morning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This gentleman was sitting on one of the benches on the Paseo del Prado one morning.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I peeked into one of open buildings while out on a walk and found this stairway.

I was able to take a few "artsy" shots, this one is of the Cathedral de San Cristobal

Another interior image

These guys are "human parking meters" they help you find parking spaces and you do have to pay them...this is an official job

This is a private homes kitchen, rough by our standards, but funtional

La Havana Vieja

The second stop on our first afternoon tour was here at the Plaza de la Catedral.  This was declared a UNESCO site due to it's cultural heritage in 1982.  It is the largest colonial center in Latin America. There is a lot going on in this plaza.   Above is the Catedral de San Cristobal.  According to popular belief, it houses relics of Christopher Columbus, although there is no official historical record of the relics.
This is a bustling square, lots of people selling small souvenirs and ladies in costumes posing, for a small fee, for photos.

We had our first meal at the Restaurante El Patio.  I have to admit, that all of the meals were at places that catered to tour groups, so I cannot say that we had any really down and dirty Cuban meals.  One bonus, everyplace that we had a meal had a "welcoming cocktail", hello mojitos.

Also in the square is the Taller Experimental de Grafica, it does graphic arts using vintage presses.  You can also do an internship.  
We had a very good tour guide of the area and were able to get up and personal with the artist.

The La Bodeguita del Medio, just a few steps away from the Cathedral, is the ever famous Ernest Hemingway hang-out.  If you are a customer, you are allowed to write your name on almost any flat surface, inside or out.

Rolling Car Show

The cars were as I have always imagined.  Well maintained and well loved.  You can rent some (or most) as a taxi for about $50 an hour.  Pricey, I know, but what an experience.

Buildings

This is a sampling of some of the buildings in Havana.  The seem to be in very poor outward condition

  

Capitolio

A word about the hotel

 This is a link to the Hotel Sevilla that we stayed at during our little week end.  This is a nice web site, I wish I had better words for the actual experience.  I will say that I did  not expect to walk into an upgraded luxurious hotel or room.  I did expect somewhat dated furnishings.  When checking in I was issued a key to a room on the first floor, I went to the room and  thought oh no, it was not what I expected, in a bad way.  Then I went to the window and the view was of a wall.  Now, let me explain one small thing, when I filled out the application for Insight Cuba I checked the boxes, since I considered this a one time thing, for an upgraded hotel and an upgraded room.  All of us where staying at the same hotel, it seemed very coincidental that  all 14 people had picked the same upgraded hotel option.  But, the room I was issued was not the upgraded room.  So I went back to reception and after a brief explanation I was issued a key for a room on the eighth floor.  Well, it did have a view, but the stench, and that is what is was is, stench, of mildew would knock you over.   I lived in south Texas for several years, I know the smell of mildew and I am not talking a faint whiff of mold, I mean the kind of odor that makes you blink your eyes twice and pull back your head.  It was not that much different that the first room that was offered, so I just thought that it was about as good as it was going to get.

Plaza de la Revolucion

After we are loaded on the tour bus and an introduction to our Cuban culture, we stopped at the Memorial Jose Marti, Cuban's national hero.  The tower was finished in 1958 and is 358 feet tall.  It is located n the middle of the Plaza de la Revolucion.
It is at this sight that many parades and official celebrations are held.  Fidel Castro made many of his historic speeches standing at the podium next to the statue of Jose Marti.  It is also in this square that both Pope John Paul II in 1998 and Pope Benedict in 2012 celebrated mass along with thousands of worshipers.    

Also located flanking one side of the Plaza de la Revoluction is the Ministry of the Interior building.  On the front is a huge bronze wire sculpture of Che Guevara.  The guerrilla fighter had his office in this building in the 1960's.  Under the sculpture are the words "Hasta le victoria siempre", (keep striving for victory).
Plaza de la Revolucion is an important place to visit because of its historic and symbolic importance. 

Havana Arrival

Welcome to the Aeropuerto Internacional Jose Marti.  This is a really small airport, which I am glad.  I am feeling a little nervous about the passport thing.  After we all milled around for a few minutes, I stood in line for one of the 10 passport agents, handed her my Cuban Visa and my old passport, because it had the passport number that matched my Visa, she gave a glance and gestured for the other passport.  Zipped it through the reader, took my picture, tore off the entrance part of the Visa and pressed the busser...I was in!
On the other side of the doors were the baggage carousels.  Just two of them, so you think I would be easy to spot your bag coming out the slot, well, apparently not.  Four of us were left standing in a sea of flat screen televisions, a couple of bikes and a giant mound of green saran wrapped bundles.  We were just standing around, feeling a little panicked and I happen to spot at the end of a pile of not yet claimed bundles, some suitcases...and they all belonged to us.
We wheel out and there are some luggage claim tag checkers, it didn't seem to matter if we gave them the luggage claim tag or not.  Standing out side was our guide for the tour, Alden.  He was holding an Insight Cuba sign up so he was easy to spot, and out in the parking lot were several tour buses, ours was numbered 196 and Julio our driver for the tour was there to load our luggage in the undercarriage baggage area. 

The parking lot was just as I expected, rows of 1950's cars and several beat up taxi's.  Across the street was a billboard with Che Guevara on it....welcome to Cuba!