An American in Cuba Day 3: Havana Part 1

After a good night’s sleep for Jeff, and less so of one for me, we started our morning with the breakfast buffet in the hotel.  The coffee was not so great. Suzanne had talked about how much salmon she eats at breakfast there so I was disappointed that none was available.  They told her they would try to get some but it would have to be imported.  This was another reminder of the special care given to tourists.  We avoided the fruit as we were instructed to do though it was difficult as there were some interesting choices offered but we still managed to eat plenty since we weren’t sure what the day had in store for us.  We learned to go easy on breakfast as our trip progressed.  Sometimes I feel all we did was eat on this trip.  Suzanne promised we would not lose any weight on this vacation and she was right about that.  I had heard that Cuban food is not good but we were going to be treated to many culinary delights while there.

At the elevator we met a gentleman who noticed our lapel pins.  He proudly displayed his.  “Isn’t it wonderful,” he said, “we are able to participate in helping to restore relations.”  This served as yet another reminder that this was no ordinary vacation.

On the bus the day before Suzanne had told us to take our itinerary binder that she had made for us and toss it out as everything was changing.  We were told the walking tour would still be on for today. We didn’t realize we would need to drive to the walking tour but when we met in the lobby at 9 we were escorted to the bus to Old Havana.  I guess being down the street from the Malecon we still didn’t realize how big Havana is. We were sidelined getting there by the filming of Fast and Furious 8. There seemed to be concern as to how we would get around the filming to get to our destination but our driver skillfully got us there.  We could see hundreds of people on the street acting as extras. Along the way we were able to see more of the daily life of Havana and saw several sites.

One site was the Capitol Building.  This building was modeled after our capital building in Washington DC and the Cuban people are very pleased to be able to say that it is actually taller than our building.  After the revolution Fidel Castro dissolved congress and the building was converted into the home of the Academy of Sciences.  It is currently undergoing a major renovation to be restored to some of its former glory.  Plans are being made to move the legislative branch of the government back into the Capital building when the restoration is completed.

Tourism is very much alive in Old Havana.  We were told to prepare for actors dressed in costumes that would ask for a CUC to have their picture taken. We were dropped off and started our tour.  I quickly noticed a horse drawn carriage parked next to a very smelly trash dumpster.  It seemed an interesting start to a tourist destination – no attempt to hide the trash.

One of the many realities of Havana is the dilapidation that is present wherever you look.  The architecture is amazing; or was.  It is easy to see how beautiful Havana must have been in its heyday. Many years ago city fathers realized the light from the tropical sun gleaming off the white buildings and marble was damaging the eyesight of Havana’s populace so they passed a law forbidding the use of white paint on the exteriors of buildings. As a result the buildings are painted a myriad of beautiful colors.  Or they were.  There are very few buildings that do not have paint peeling or missing all together.  Many streets are dug up or pot holed and in desperate need of repair. Cuba is trying but cash has been tight and feeding her people has been more important than maintaining buildings.  Tourism is helping though.  UNESCO named Old Havana a World Heritage Site giving it international protection and some funding for restoration.  The official city historian has put together a plan to restore the four squares of Old Havana as a self financing business by giving priority to edifices with income generating tourist value. Our guide pointed out how crowded this part of the city is.  But he said when people are offered an opportunity to leave they don’t want to – they love living in the heart of Old Havana.

We started our walking tour down some lovely old streets and headed to the Taller Experimental de Grafica.  We were told this is an experimental printing shop.  In reality it is a cooperative graphic print shop where artists work and study to preserve print making techniques.  It was beautiful wok.  The studio also houses a gallery with rotating exhibits and a shop upstairs to buy some of the prints.  Some of the machinery they are using was originally used for making cigar bands.  They also have the original press used to print the first Cuban newspaper.

Next we headed to Plaza de La Catedral.  There was a lot of construction to walk around to get to the main attraction in this plaza – the Catedral de San Cristobal.  We later learned the fencing was not for reconstruction construction but construction of the stage for the Chanel fashion show. Unlike most Spanish influenced cultures cathedrals did not dot every corner of Havana. So I felt after visiting the cathedral this was a good time to ask our guide about religion in Cuba since I believed it had been an atheist country until recently under the Castro regime.  Our guide began to explain religion in Cuba to us.  He said the island did not have as much of the Spanish catholic influence as many people believe.  The African slaves were influenced by the Voodoo religion in Haiti and Cuba practiced a form of Santeria commonly found in Brazil.  We did see one young lady during our trip who was a Santeria initiate.  They are easily recognizable because they must wear all white for the first year.  She even had white lace stockings on.  Americans influenced early Christianity by bringing the Baptist, Protestant, and Mennonite denominations.  Many Jews had migrated to Cuba around World War 2.  There are several Muslim communities as well.  After the revolution Fidel Castro made a declaration that ‘no one could be a member of a religious group and the communist party.”  Our guide said in the “90’s a high ranking communist official told Fidel he was the member of a religious group and a good communist”.  According to our guide this was one of the only times he knew of someone challenging Fidel in this way and surviving.  They agreed to disagree and Fidel allowed religion and communism to coexist. Interestingly I have not been able to find this account about the return of religion to Cuba since returning home.

We toured the cathedral along with a school group.                                                                            When we came out I attempted to get a picture of the “cigar lady” but my lens was not strong enough for a good photo.                                                              I saw a dog walking by the cathedral and as is my habit I took a picture.  I continued to watch him as he made his way to a basket full of Cuban flags for sale.  The flag is displayed all over Cuba and I had already decided I needed to take one of these iconic images home with me but not the tiny plastic version on a stick.  He proceeded to sniff the basket and I thought, “No he’s not going to do that”!  He did in fact hike his leg and urinate on the basket full of flags and I captured it all on film.  I meant no disrespect but this photo was quite coveted among our group.

We still had the Plaza De Armas to visit.  Here we saw the oldest square of Havana where the colonial governor used to conduct military exercises.  He had a wooden street installed to quiet the street noise outside his rooms for naps.  The center of the square had a vibrant book market.                                                            In the park like area stands a statue of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes.  He is credited with starting Cuba on its path to independence in 1868.  This is where my husband and I were besieged with street artists creating what they referred to as our “Cuban selfies.”  They were quite persistent with the need to sell our selfies to us.  We did note that the requested price was 5 CUC’s instead of the expected 1-2.  We negotiated a price of 2 CUC’s a piece and both admitted these would probably end up being some of our favorite souvenirs.  My artist was quite proud of his portrayal of my “boobies.”

We learned we would not be visiting an artist’s studio that had been on our agenda.  Our group was too big for the studio.  So Suzanne began to look for alternative activities for us.  It was a very warm day so the idea of visiting the cemetery or anything outside later in the afternoon was fading in popularity.

Next we headed to Plaza Vieja.  This was the most beautiful square as it has been completely restored.  It has a mix of residential and commercial uses.  We even watched elementary students doing their required physical activity outside of their school.

Now it was time for a drink break.  This drink consisted of Guarapo or sugar cane juice with a dose of vitamin R also known as rum. The sugar cane was squeezed fresh right next to the bar.  I didn’t particularly enjoy this drink but of course I had to try it!

I’ll pick up from here in the next post!