Havana
OK so today we head to Havana... This was the one day that Jaylene and I had been looking forward to the most as we couldnt stop talking about going here.
We got up early at like 6:45am and got dressed, ready and headed to the buffet for opening at 7:30. We grabbed our usual fruit, orange juice and bread, then ran outside the main lobby entrance to wait for our tour bus.
As we walked through the lobby who was there??? Oreo!!! Oreo still having the hots for Jaylene stopped to talk with us and asked where we were going for the day. We kept conversation light and went outside to join the others in our tour group. Finally our bus arrived (Late as usual.. everything in Cuba is late). We handed our vouchers to the tour guide and hopped on the bus. We grabbed a seat next to the door, and waited for everyone else to get on board. Oreo stood outside watching our bus and was blowing kisses at Jaylene. I seriously couldnt watch. Oreo was like this lost little pathetic puppy. We both new better of him, but still got the best kick out of his actions. Jay was clearly not interested in this guy, but we let him do his thing. He was going to no matter what, so why not have a laugh???
Anyway off to Havana... We had a group of about 30. We had a bus driver, and his co pilot was a woman who spoke amazing English. She was gorgeous. Such a beautiful lady and was full of knowledge and pointed out many things like all boys schools, shipping ports, factories, etc. Although we found she left out some thing that tourists should be fully aware of when they tour on their own when off the bus. Let me explain the biggest to you...
1) No matter where you go in Cuba and this we found everywhere in Havana, is that there are beggers everywhere. There are also people dressed in period or traditional Cuban costumes who will want a picture with you, or some sort of artist with a sketch pad who will do a quick sketch of you while walking with you, or will try and sell you something etc. Even beggers on the street with their kids try and pity party you.You cant even take a picture with your own digital camera without them wanting you to pay them $5.00 ... get a load of that? You have to pay someone to use your own camera... No thanks! ALSO when you go on excursions you will find the people who run the place you tour at beg. Even if they just welcomed you at the door and did nothing else. EX: we went on a snorkeling adventure and the guy who ran the adventure shop made us stand in a circle so he could explain some safety features. He did nothing else then literally walked around asking people straight out for money. I dont think so!!! YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY THEM!!!
2) I wish I had been fully aware of what to expect from the outdoor flea market that we had the option of visiting when in Havana. It was a crowded tarped market which trapped in all the heat. There were hundreds of stall which sold the EXACT same thing in each, and people were pushy. We had people take our arms, and drag us to their little shops. You learn to say NO very fast here, and not feel bad about it. You also start feeling a bit angry. Hold your temper though and give these people some credit. They are poor and need money too. They are down right desperate.
3) Havana is SOOOO much hotter then Varadero. The temperature seemed to increase mass amounts. Probably by about 15 degrees, and there is no shade anywhere. Take a hat, take loads of water with you, or keep some money on hand to use to buy it.
Anyway the ride to Havana from Varadero was 2 hours. But the ride was incredible. So much beautiful scenery and canyons with trees below (Bacunayagua Bridge) etc. What an unbelievable drive. We stopped along the way a few times to take pictures, and we also stopped for a pit stop at a small concession stand on the side of the road which served ice cream, pops, snacks, as well there was a small bar attached to that so you can get an alcoholic drink if you wanted. I should have got out here to get some water... This was my biggest mistake of the day. Trust me, if you dont have water or drinks on your way to Havana... STOP AND GET SOME!!!
When we got to Havana, the bus stopped in OLD Havana where Cathedral Square, Arms Square, car museums, hotels etc in this area. We had 20 minutes to walk around and take pictures on our own time before meeting up with the group again.
From here we stayed in OLD Havana and headed down some narrow but clean roads. It was so cool to see people sitting on wooden chairs with cigars hanging out of their toothless mouths while knitting or hanging laundry. What a sight. Those are only things you see in books.
We made our way to this incredible museum. It was stunning. It actually reminded Jay and I of the Elven world in Lord of the Rings. This was a museum of the generals of Cuba. It was called Museum Palacio de los Capitanes Generales. I didnt think I would be interested in this place. But the beauty of it alone was disgusting.
It was more like a square house where the middle of the square was cut out and used as a court yard. It was all made of stone, and had balcony's all the way around over looking this stone court yard.
Once we arrived at the Museum Palacio de los Capitanes Generales we were told we had to pay to use our cameras here. No one really checked though. We didnt pay for it but once inside the workers were always grabbing our cameras going "stand here while I take a pic of you"... We laughed we got a ton of pics and didnt even have to pay. The workers were very proud of their artifacts, so be polite and just stand there like it was the coolest thing you have ever seen. I have picture of me standing with some dining chairs... OOOH! heheehehe! As well as this realistic life sized statue of Jesus Christ with a crown of thorns on his head and whip lashes all over his body. If your religious or not BE NICE!!!! Cubans are very religious.. Just delete your pics later if you dont want them.
It was in this building where I realized I should have stopped at that concession stand on the way to Cuba to get water. I started to feel so sick that I passed out. These 2 black cuban ladies made Jay and I stand in front of this dining room table, and everything went black. I woke up sitting on a bench with these cuban ladies fanning me off with fans, while Jay was sticking a bottle of water down my throat.
After I started feeling better we met up with the group and walked about 2 blocks to this amazing old hotel. I cant recall the name, I am sorry, but it was over 100 years old. Here we climbed into this old black metal lift which took us about 10 floors up to a roof top balcony which also had a bar. I got crammed into this tiny lift with 8 other people which became super hot fast, and I started getting dizzy and everything went dark... Heat Stroke is coming for round number 2!!! Down I go. I wake up to sitting a couch ouside on this roof top balcony in the shade. I was given 2 large bottles of water which I downed, but hardly felt better.
What a waste of an amazing day. I was looking so forward to Havana. We were up on the balcony for about 30 minutes while I tried gaining my composure. The view from up on the roof made me forget about being sick for a few minutes. This roof over looked Havana. You could even see the fort and the walls that were built to keep the pirates out. :-)
Once we left this hotel we headed back to the streets of Havana. I felt fine but once we hit the streets that had no shade ANYWHERE I once again was going to either pass out or vomit all over the streets. Stupid thing is I had to keep sitting down with my head between my knees.
At this point we had free time to wander Havana on our own. We had an hour. We could go visit more museums, or go see the flea market which we all had to pass anyway to get back to the bus which was our meeting spot. Jaylene suggested we just check out the flea market and head to the bus where I could lay down a bit and or relax.
We headed to the market (BIG MISTAKE) as stated above. It was HOT and smelled like urine in some areas. Finally after about 25 minutes of being poke, prodded, dragged, and begged at, even sometimes chased, we got out of the flea market and found our bus. OMG it was air conditioned. First bit of air conditioning we had in hours. No buildings in Havana contain air conditioning.
After awhile everyone climbed back on board and off we went... TIME FOR LUNCH!
We stopped at this old house converted into a restaurant. It looked like an old castle inside with deep red drapery, hard wood floors and walls, thick area rugs on the floor and a man dressed in metal armor standing beside the winding wooden stairs, and stain glass windows. This place was so cool, but we werent able to explore it unfortunately. They served us some wonderful black bean soup, then chicken and rice, and finally ice cream for dessert. This food was amazing (Way better then our resort) and I guess exactly what I needed. I felt instantly better after I ate.
Next after lunch we got back on the tour bus and headed to a cigar shop. It was TINY. Like half the size of a small 711, and try cramming 40+ people in there YIKES! The prices were SO over priced. We ended up finding the same cigars in other shops for like 1/4 of the cost. We didnt purchase anything so we got back on the bus and waited for everyone else.
Next we drove to Revolution Square where we got to see the following sites as they are all within the same square
1: Iconic Ministry of Interior Defense Building in Plaza
2: Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba Building. (Communist Party headquarters)
3: Memorial Jose Marti Monumental statue and lookout, at 109 m it is one of the tallest points in the city.
4: Teatro Nacional de Cuba. (National Theater of Cuba)
The cool thing about this Plaza Square is that its one of the worlds largest city squares, and is known for where many political rallies take place. Fidel Castro and other political figures address the Cubans here.
When we got to Revolution Square, it was like this big gigantic parking lot without the stalls. It could probably hold a thousand cars or more. The heat pouring off the pavement alone was killer. None of us on the bus could take more then 5 minutes out there. We all piled back on the bus sweating profusely and started closing the curtains on the bus windows just to keep the hot sun from beating in.
After we left Revolution Square, we headed to the Parliament building. Parliament was AMAZING!!! HUGE!!! It was like this big white house building with giant lion statues outside. It had about 30 steep steps going up to the main doors. You could go in and look around at the museum inside, but it costs somewhere around $3.OO We had 45 minutes to walk around the streets of the Parliament, go inside to the museum or do whatever you wanted.
Be careful of this place though because the Parliament building is located in a neighborhood of run down houses, and there are beggars everywhere. The funny thing about these beggars though is that they walk out of their run down houses wearing designer label clothing, and then beg you for money. I dont get the logic.
Anyway after this the tour ended we were brought back to our hotel around 6:00. We had this hunger for ice cream so we headed down to the hotel buffet to have some ice cream and some wine LOL! Yosdany (Dish boy) was once again working and kept looking at us. Jay and I couldnt figure out why he just wouldnt come over and talk to us like the rest of the guys... Maybe tomorrow...
Time for the pool and bed!
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