Monday, Jerusalem, October 30

We hang a bit in the apt waiting to take the Mount of Olives tour at 2 pm.

We arrive at the Jaffa Gate at 2 and find quite a crowd, there were people waiting to take the Tour of the City of David and those waiting for Mount of Olives.  The groups were separated and instead of the 15 that were expected, there were suddenly 24.  That was the first indication that there was a need for organization.

Our tour guide (and I use the term guide in the loosest sense of the word) was Shir.  She gathered us and headed down to the street below.  However, she did not know how to manage a group and sped off down the stairs without giving the large group instructions as to where we were headed to get the transport over to the Mount of Olives.  The first group arriving at street level were relatively young, but the second group was spearheaded by an older foursome from Britain, a couple and her elderly parents.  (The mother had sight issues and was not surefooted)  Shir went back up the stairs to corral
the stragglers who had headed into the Mamilla mall.

Once assembled at the street, it occurs to Shir that the van holds 15, but there is a group of 24, so she needs another van.  It is very confusing, we don't know if we should just grab a cab, or she is ordering another van.  About 10 minutes go by, and another van has been procured and we head off over to East Jerusalem.

Traffic is very heavy and the roads quite twisty, but as we pass the Damascus Gate, Bill and I notice a whole new side to Jerusalem, the Arab Area!  It reminded us of Cairo and we wanted to explore it further.

Up the hill we went and finally stop at the very tippity top of the Mount of Olives.  We exit the van and cross the street into a small crusader era enclosure.  Inside is a small chapel and outside is a ring of stone walls.

This is the small chapel within the stone walls.  It was part of the original church of the Ascension where Jesus was reputed to have ascended to heaven.  There is a stone which is said to bear the marks of his feet.  I'm not so sure, there are 2 depressions in the rock, but it kind of feels like the ancient astrological figures....3 stars makes the belt of Orion....not much else can be "figured" out from those 3 stars...same here!  I guess that is what makes faith, belief that those 2 depressions are the imprints of Jesus's feet as he ascended.

We head down the street, (which is only wide enough for 2 donkeys but cars come in both directions speeding around blind corners), and head into another church built by Helena, mother of Constantine, and is now run by the Carmelites.  The grounds are beautiful, gardens everywhere and the Lord's Prayer written in every language posted all over the walls.

The plaque outside the Church and a view of the courtyard within the church walls.

Bill in front of some of the Lord's Prayers

Another view of the domed roof of the church proper.

We gather again outside the church, and once again, start out without the whole group knowing where to meet.  We meet at a stone wall over looking the City and the HUGE Jewish Cemetery, which is right on the busy narrow road AND there are tons of tourists ooohing and aaaahing over the view and stepping right into traffic to get that perfect selfie or friends photo.  A mess.  However, the view was spectacular.

At the far left middle of the photo you see a small gray dome, that is the Al Aksa Mosque, the golden dome in the middle is the Golden Dome both are within the Temple Mount, and behind the gold dome, you can barely make out 2 smaller gray domes, that is the Holy Sepulcher Church in the Latin Quarter of the Old City.  As you can probably tell, it is clouding over and starting to sprinkle, plus, it is late in the afternoon, around 3:30 or so.

We wander down the slope and Shir takes us into the tomb of the Prophets.  This lies on private land, and the owner graciously agreed to let us come in and he gave us the tour of the burial crypts or sepulchers that were in the cave.  It was kind of spooky and eerie as there were no lights, just a candle.  This is reputed to be the burial site of 3 prophets....Malachi, and 2 other guys as well as their disciples.

Heading down the slope at a break neck speed.  This almost makes the older British man fall as he slips on the stones and starts sliding down one of the rock walls.  Luckily, his son-in-law was there to catch him before he fell down completely.  We end up at the Jewish Cemetery.  WHICH IS ENORMOUS!  You really can't fathom how large it is until you see it from both sides of Jerusalem.  This is part of the steep path that we were walking on.  As you can see, there are no sidewalks and there are cars speeding in both directions.

We could see into the cemetery through a gate, the small square cuts in the stone work is for a candle.

To the left and right this is all you can see, and it stretched down the hill as far as you can see as well.  As night descends, you can feel the magic of the place.

We then head into St. Peter's church yard.  This is a crusader age compound and it is the only Church in the world that doesn't face east, it faces west as that is what Peter did...push Christianity out into the Roman world.

 The Orthodox Church at the base of the hill

 The view from the church yard towards the Temple Mount

 Looking up at the City walls

 Interior of the Orthodox Sanctuary above, and below

Descending into the crypt, it was illuminated by all of these candles which gave it an other worldly feeling.

We then finished up walking down the rest of the hill and up again into the Old City.

After the tour, we peeled off and hit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  This place is always crowded, as well as confusing in order to find the last couple of stops on the Via Dolorosa.  Some are upstairs, and some are on the 2 lower floors.

 To the left is the carpeted nave of the church

To the right is the stair case leading from the lowest level up to the 1st floor

To the right is another view of the nave.

To the left is the Holy Sepulcher.  It is a large wooden box that fits over the Holy Rock on which it is reputed Jesus was resurrected








We decided to head out the Damascus Gate and ended up looking for a restaurant and ended up at a Chinese place, that served ramen noodles.  Meh!  It was interesting having a discussion with the owner on why he came to Israel.  Strictly economic.  He left Hong Kong and came to Jerusalem....doesn't seem like the usual path to escape oppression.


 

Jerusalem, Sunday, Oct 29

After visiting the Old City on our own, we decided to take a walking tour with Sandeman’s.  They offered a free two hour tour of the Old City.  We met outside the Jaffa Gate and met our tour guide, Yoni. He was fabulous, enthusiastic and knowledgeable, making the city come alive.  We saw things we would never have been able to find on our own, such as vista points overlooking the Western Wall and the Golden Dome.  We wandered in and out of all four quarters of the Old City.  Definitely a must do for any visitor to Jerusalem.

At the end of the tour, we ate at Tala’s Hummus and Falafel.  It was excellent.  Crunchy falafel and creamy hummus with excellent Israeli salads on the side.  I must say that the pita bread in Israel is nothing like what is called pita here.  It is moist and fluffy and it doesn’t matter if it is opened up and filled or not, it is great all by itself!

Having a deep pita jones right now!

A view of a deserted alley in Jerusalem’s Old City

Our hidden vista point looking down on the Western Wall and the crowds!

A courtyard in the Old City

The path from the south side of the Old City walls leading to an Orthodox Church.

After lunch, my back was aching, so I went back to the apt to do laundry and Bill went on another tour to The City of David.  His guide this time was Gary.  He really liked the tour.  

We had a slight case of crossed wires.  Bill got home from his tour later than expected.  My back and hips were so out of sorts, I resorted to a handful of Ibuprofen and lying down.  I could hardly get out of bed without pain.  There was no need for Bill to stay with me, so he went out for a beer and would contact me later on about joining him.  At least that was my recollection of the discussion.  His was that it was definite that we would meet and he was so anxious that I didn't show up.  The wifi at the bar was not working and he felt he couldn't leave in case I showed up.  In my mind, it was that I was going to decide if I wanted to meet up with him based on him making contact with me.  I fell asleep and was unable to contact him because of the bad wifi at the bar.  When he came back to the apt, he was so concerned that we hadn't connect.  I felt so bad for him.  I wasn't the least bit bothered by the mishap.  He was worried that I would be very angry.  It all worked out in the end.  I ate some yogurt earlier in the evening and called it a night!

I fell asleep in my clothes only to awaken at 3 am, take a shower and hit the bed again.  At some point, my hips popped back into alignment and everything was right with the world again!  

Sabbath in Jerusalem, Oct 28

We were at least smart enough to find something open on the sabbath, the Israel Museum.

It was a short, well sort of, walk from the apartment.  We headed out and took a wrong turn almost immediately, that got fixed, and we were off in the correct direction.  What struck me was the nature of the neighborhoods we traversed.  I knew we were in relatively wealthy communities, but was amazed at the unkempt look of each home.  There was trash, debris, dirt, and assorted things lying in each little patch of grass.  Not just stones and branches, but empty wrappers, soda cans, and other detritus of human activity.  No one picked up their spaces.  Granted, these were multiple dwellings, and the “yard”was equivalent to the patch of grass in front of Brooklyn or Queens private homes, but each and every yard was trash strewn.  It was fascinating to me.  Here was a wealthy county, in a well off neighborhood, but no one cared for their piece of property.  I mused on this and wondered if it was an issue of mine and not a problem for Israelis.  Am I that bourgeoisie that I couldn’t imagine that it was unimportant to them?  I’m not sure.  And I’m still musing.

The Israel Museum was wonderful.  The sculpture garden was extensive and fascinating.  There were many types of mediums represented.  

This ways an Ai Wei Wei piece, entitled tree.  It is made of casts of real trees cut down for fire wood

 The ubiquitous Henry Moore sculpture

This one was interesting, by Israeli brothers in the death of their mother.  Entitled 1000 arms to hold you.  And of course, Robert Indiana’s Ahava.

The others in the garden were not as striking to me.  Inside there was an exhibit of Ai Wei Wei works that were very thought provoking.  In the exhibit were several wallpaper designs, which at first glance looked English Country House-ish, but on closer examination were revealed to be cctv cameras. Another wallpaper was illustrating the treatment of immigrants in a not too subtle or nice way.  There were also additional trees and a carpet made to look like the floor in a Paris building.  Not so compelling from an artistic point of view, but far more interesting from a construction point of view. He had to find a company that could weave something that large and exacting.

Our visit began at the nano bible exhibit.  Literally these scientists had engraved on a silicon wafer the entire bible, in Hebrew, (I assume Old Testament only).  The wafer is the size of a grain of sand. We realized that we started at the end of the Dead Sea scrolls exhibit, so we viewed everything backwards.  Just to do things correctly, we viewed it again in the correct order after having a snack at the only open place for food in the museum.

The room housing the Dead Sea scrolls is architecturally very interesting,  all you can see is the white roof of the building, which is shaped like the top of the clay pots that the scrolls were found in.

I was very impressed with the Israel Museum.  The exhibits were interesting, the sculpture garden, divine, and the Dead Sea Scrolls fascinating.  I urge visitors to Jerusalem to take a day to see it.

I just couldn't face the walk back after the museum and we took a cab.  It was surprising to see how really close we were....the walk took about 1 hour, but the cab ride only 10 minutes...

After a nap, we went out to Barood for dinner.  It was a little hard to find it, but thank God I had maps.me.  (A shameless plug... this app is amazing, it doesn't need wifi in order to use for directions. The only issue is that if used for restaurants, it only gives you location, no reviews and/or type of cuisine).  You will need to download the map of the region you are visiting.  We used it in Cuba, and now in Israel.  I think I will be using this whenever I travel and can't use my phone for internet access without wifi.  Back to Barood, it was a little place that has a Bleeker Street jazz club feel.  The walls are covered in posters and photos from around the world, and the music is jazz.  The place is run by Lebanese or Syrian Christians which is why it was open on Saturday.  The good was really good.  I  got an assortment of starters lebne cheese, fried cauliflower, fatooshe salad, and Bill got the meatballs.  We were both very happy.

More Jerusalem....Friday, Oct. 27

We set off to try to find the Sandeman free tour which we thought was at 10 am at the Jaffa gate, it was not.  We wandered around in the Christian quarter and found the Via Dolorosa and stopped at a Church which was built the sight where Jesus was sentenced and whipped.  There was a "Holy Land" experience-type film that we saw, well, not really a film, more of a projected image with verbal subtitles.  We paid our shekels, and in we went and the door closed.  We were in a stone room and the film was projected on the walls.  We had sat down on some stones, but had to get up and turn around to see the film!  It wasn't that great, but, hey, it was worth the experience.

this is looking back through the courtyard 

I never found out what this alcove was, but an awful lot of people came into it 

This is part of Via Dolorosa, sadly, I don't recall where!

We ended up taking a nap and woke up kind of late, around 7:30.  One of the few places open on Friday night was Focaccia Bar.  We headed out.  The food was good, what was really great was the focaccia, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with chopped garlic, absolute heaven!  My main was asparagus gnocchi and Bill had another type of pasta.  I think mine was the winner. 

The place was thumping when we got there, as one would expect on a Friday night.  Next to us were seated a group of older Americans.  I was flabbergasted when the woman sitting at the table turned her beer back to be sure that the bar tender was told that she wanted a full glass.  I guess she didn't understand the little black line on the side of the glass that was marked with 375 ml.  Not the top of the glass is 375 ml, to that little black line is.... I was really embarrassed and felt for the waitress.  She pleasantly took the glass back and a fuller one appeared.

Wandering back to the apartment, we witnessed the police arresting 2 guys.  We couldn’t tell from our vantage point if the men being arrested were Israeli or Palestinian, they were handled a bit roughly.  No hitting or punching, they were pushed up roughly against a gated store.  We had no idea of the offense and there were plenty of other witnesses, so we opted to continue on our way.  Which brings to mind how plugged in Israel is.  Everybody has a mobile phone, even the guy sleeping on the street or begging for money...they all had phones.  On our last day we saw them whipped out and filming a dispute between a woman and a tram cop.  The officer was being filmed in his interaction with the woman who was yelling.  We guessed (and this was an educated guess, that she had either no tram ticket, had not validated her ticket, or had tried to validate an expired ticket.  This scenario could have been our experience in Prague where we ran into tram cops.  Not fun in any language).

We slept hard that night.

Jerusalem, blending of Weds and Thursday, October 25 and 26

We flew into Ben Gurion Airport on El Al.  We decided to upgrade to premium economy.  The seats were wider, more leg room, and more recline.  We felt like we were in heaven for an overnight flight!  Of course, you pay for the privilege and I was a bit smug as we were able to board first and the area of the flight was curtained off from the “riff-raff”.  Will be unable to go back to regular coach, which is a damn shame, pocketbook-wise.

We took a sherut (a shared taxi) from the airport to our Airbnb apartment.  We got the grand tour of the suburbs of Jerusalem and a quick overview of the inner neighborhoods.  The street we are staying on, Shivtei Israel, is one way near us, and the driver asked if we wouldn’t mind walking from the closest intersection that was 2-way.  Not an issue.  We found our place, after heading to the wrong side of the street at first.  The apartment is cozy, (small), with basic necessities:  kitchenette, coffee maker, electric kettle, fridge, table, chairs, bed, shower and toilet.

We had a bit of a misunderstanding about the hot water, which meant that we ended up taking cold showers until we figured out which way the handle should go to produce hot water.  The shower is plumbed backwards, but the water from the “hot” side was so cold, we thought that it was the proper cold pipe, which made the “shower” lukewarm at best!  By day 2, all resolved and toasty!

We headed out of the apartment to explore the area.  We wandered through the Jaffa gate to check out the old city.  Let me explain our location to you, we are literally steps away from the New Gate into the Old City, 2 blocks from the Arab bus station and 1 block from the light rail.  A better location for exploring the Old city could not be found!  Thank you Homeaway.

Since we arrived at 7 am local time on Weds morning, there was plenty of time to explore the region. We wandered thru the Jaffa Gate to meander through the twisting covered street of the Arab quarter and came upon an ongoing excavation of the main NS roadway in ancient Jerusalem, called Cardo.  Along one wall were mosaics depicting life then (new mosaics) and on the other wall a display of photographs of interesting shots of daily current life, pictures of soldiers, children, men in prayer, and others all beautifully shot.  The space was divided by columns that would have delineated the Cardo, perhaps hold up a covering of some sort.

The photo above is looking up from the Cardo to the street above, below is a shot walking thru the narrow streets of the Muslim Quarter.

Above is looking back at the entrance to the Cardo and below is part of the excavation of the sight.  The area is among the oldest in Jerusalem dating back to pre-Roman times.  There were 2 main roads, a N-S Cardo, which is the one shown, and an E-W Cardo which leads to the Western Wall which is currently being excavated, in fact, the project has just begun.

We climbed out using a short staircase and walked along a street steeped in ancient Jewish customs.  At our backs, the Chanda Welcome Center, to our left, a plaza that led to the Wailing Wall, to our right the ancient Cardo, and in front of us, the street to the edge of the Jewish quarter.

The use of the word, “quarter”, implies an “even” split of territory within the walls of Jerusalem.  This is not true.  Of the 4 quarters, Armenian, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim, the largest is the Muslim Quarter.  In view of the history of the city, this makes sense to me.  While it’s importance to the origin of the Christian faith are clear, it is also holy to Muslims and Jews alike. The blending of these religions is not always cooperative, there remains a safe status quo of operating zones.  

We came upon an overlook, from which we could see the Dome of the Rock, and the Western Wall.

 

The Western Wall is in the upper left corner of the photo.  The broad plaza in the center was created in the first days after the 1967 War where Israel defeated Jordan for control of Jerusalem.  The city was united for the first time since independence.  The golden dome, is the Dome of the Rock within the Temple Mount.  Non-Muslims are not allowed entrance into either the Dome of the Rock or the Al Aksa Mosque, which would be immediately to the right of this photo, identifiable by its slate grey domed roof and minaret.

We walked down the stairs to the plaza and proceeded to go the Western Wall.  There is a men’s side and a women’s side, in accordance with the Orthodox Jewish tradition.  I had a shawl with me and covered my hair and arms and Bill and I separated to visit the wall.  Bill had a message from Jeri to put into the wall.  

One the women’s side, it was quiet, and almost serene if not for the pushiness surrounding me for a spot to be near the wall.  You could hear the tumult from the men’s side, lots of yelling and clapping.  It seems that there were quite a few Bar Mitsvahs happening this day.

There was a ledge on which the women could stand to see what was going on.  There was candy being thrown back and forth over the railing.  Young girls were passed back and forth to be blessed by rabbis and then handed back to mom.  A chaotically controlled scene.  All under the watchful eyes of the Jerusalem Police. 

The presence of military and police were everywhere.  We found old subsequently that the police are responsible for the safety of the Old City, and the military are there for training and education.   While some of the “streets”, they are really more of an alleyway, are quite crowded, you can find many where you are alone with your thoughts.  

The hustle and bustle of the Arab market is quite off putting, at first.  After wandering for a bit, you realize that it is their place of business, living, and worship, so it makes sense that it is so crowded.  

Tourists are easy to spot, they are dawdling around stands, blocking the entire alley so that no one else can get through and the tourists seem oblivious to the fact that they are in the way.  I see this behavior all over NYC, so it is easy to spot here in Jerusalem.  Once you get passed the clog, things move at a steady pace.  The alleys, if they are sloped in any way, always have two small “wedges” between each step so that wheeled truckettes can negotiate the alleys without losing their shocks day one.  These “ramps” are often quite slippery and so I would use the stairs cut into the sloping sttreet.

Using a map kind of seemed pointless as it was difficult to find the street signs, if they existed at all, or they were in Arabic or Hebrew and the map was in English!  Naturally, all roads eventually lead to a gate of some kind and you can get your orientation based on that!

Our apartment is in a great location for restaurants as well.  Jaffa Street is a block away and is a good street to find food.  Our first meal was at a place we found on Google Maps but its name was all in Hebrew.  Turns out it is called Gabriel, and was a good place, expensive, (i.e. NYC prices for food), but tasty.  The best thing to come out of that was the dessert and the 1/2 bottle of wine!

Let me tell you, the wines from the Golan Heights are excellent.  The first taste was a Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 vintage from Gamla.  OMG it was gorgeous!  Fruit forward, but without overwhelming sweetness.  Yum.

There was a talkative group of young men sitting next to us who were alternatingingly funny and annoying.  They sounded like they were from NY and had that drunken expansiveness that comes with feeling your oats when away from home.

We ordered a steak and a chicken dish.  The chicken was less than expected, moist, but flavorless, unless you count garlic, which is in everything here.  I’m ok with garlic, but I had the after taste of garlic powder.  As stated above, the dessert was the big winner along with the wine.  A halvah gelato that was to die for.  

 Above is the to-die-for halvah dessert, and below, an equally to-die-for wine

I found a store that sells this brand and was able to purchase a bottle of the 2014 vintage of their Sangiovese, from which I am sipping as I type, (from a glass, not the bottle)!

Thursday, we walked around a bit again, visited the old city and then went back to the room and crashed.  We set our alarms for 2:30, but both of us just rolled over and sacked out until around 7:30. There was nothing left to do but gather ourselves and head to dinner.  We found a place called Focaccia and settled in for a meal.  

The place was hopping!  And according to google maps, the time when we arrived was NOT their busiest time....  The waitress was a young woman who was clearly being hassled by the table next to us.  The woman at the table who ordered a beer, insisted that the waitress bring the 99% full glass back to the bar and fill it totally!  I really felt bad for her.  I wanted to lean over and shout at them, get over yourselves, live large, order another beer if you want more!  I am sure that Bill is very happy that I didn’t do that!

The focaccia was really tasty and was sprinkled with chopped garlic and piping hot.  A real treat.  I went whole carbhound and ordered gnocchi with asparagus.  It was very tasty.  Bill got some pasta with mushrooms and cream which I thought was not as good as the gnocchi.

We waddled back to the abode and promptly feel out again.

Tomorrow is another day!  I am most curious about how the sabbath with be treated here.  Can’t wait!

  

Left-Coast Bound

Looking forward to our trip for August!  Yeah!

We are heading out tomorrow for San Francisco for a wedding, a birth, and some fun; we then head to Seattle and an Alaskan Cruise, back to Seattle and then down to LA for our fill of Johnny-osity!

Trying to cram as much into my small suitcase as possible, and it is beginning to look like an impossible task.  The case is piled high with stuff and I don't think I can shut it and there will probably be more crap that shoved into it.

Updates to follow!

Cheers

Trump's Reinstatement of Travel Ban

I am so sick about this policy.  This will do nothing for the Cuban people, it will, in fact, hurt many of them.

It is so short-sighted, but what should I expect from the Cheetoh-in-Chief?  He has no foresight on foreign policy, and no coherent thoughts on developing a working foreign policy.  By forcing US citizens to travel with a group on a curated trip will not allow Americans to get to know real Cubans. 

I know that a curated trip to Cuba would not be as lopsided as our curated trip to North Korea, but in no way did we interact with every day Koreans.  During our 3 weeks visiting this spring, we met so many wonderful people, who were looking forward to the rush of curious Americans who wanted to see for themselves the beauty and wonder that is Cuba.  It was precisely because we went and traveled on our own without a group that we were able to meet such wonderful people and see the sights for ourselves.

Now, Cubans will have fewer visitors and less hard currency.  I do understand that the new old ban is geared up to prevent people from staying in the hotels run by the Cuban military, but the small entrepreneurs will be hurt as well.  I can't help but feel bad for our Havana and Camaguey hosts as they were happily making plans during our visit to expand their casas and build in a few more amenities.  This ban will make it more financially difficult for both of them to improve their standard of living.

I can't help but think that our Cheetoh made this decision in order to gain a few hardline older Cubans in Miami in his Russian Rumba.  Ahhh, I am just sick about this, it is so stupid!

Adios, Havana, We Will Return

Our flight was at 2:30 PM, so we arranged our schedule the previous evening:  8:30 up, 9:30 brekkies, 10:30 in Juan Carlos' taxi, 11:00 at airport.

The Havana airport international terminal is run a lot better than the domestic one.  They can check in more than 1 flight at a time and they are pretty efficient at it.

We checked our backpacks.  Since Bill helped me to adjust the straps properly in China, it was not a problem wearing it at all.  The only toll was that with the added weight, my knees were talking to me big time!

We visited the duty free shop only to find, to my utter horror, that they did not have ANY, NONE, NADA, Santiago de Cuba aged rum.  This was a catastrophe!  All I was dreaming about was scoring several bottles of this to take home with me!  They did have the white rum, but not the aged.  I settled on 2 bottles of a different maker.  (Tasted at home, not the same, this one is more molasses-y, and not very smooth.  The Santiago de Cuba was very special, I now see, more special than I thought.  Should have purchased some while in town!  Live and learn).

The flight was uneventful and not very full, so both Bill and I could score aisle seats.  I got lucky and scored the one behind him, all the better to demonstrate my love with annoyance.  Remember, annoyance equals love!

Landing at JFK, we were led into immigration, where they took my tourist card, asked me why I was in Cuba, I replied tourism, and they handed me back my passport.  We followed the hallway and found ourselves in baggage claim.  We grabbed our packs, and headed to customs only to be waved out.  We filled out the damn cards, but no one wanted them.  This, perhaps, indicates that no one gives a hoot about what you drag back from Cuba with you.  This could be why people had 7-8 bottles of rum and boxes of cigars!  No limits!

We exit into the terminal and head for the airtrain.  As we are walking a man approaches us and asks what we are doing in NYC.  We say we just returned and are heading home.  He tells us that he is in town for book signings and tells us about his stuff.  Asks if we would like to buy a book and we do. Afterwards, the wheels start to turn in Bill's head.  He never exits to get onto the subway.  In fact heads back to the airtrain.  Hmmmmm, could this be some scam to sell poorly written books to stupid people?  Perhaps, haven't yet started to read the one we bought.  Who know, he could be the next Walter Mosely.

We both had mixed feelings about being home.  We loved Cuba.  This is the first place that Bill has talked about returning to this year.  He paid Cuba a great compliment, it rivaled India in it's intensity of street action.  As he described it, there was always something going on to look at:  color, music, talking, arguing, selling, buying, laughing, smoking, just living life.

We loved just walking around Vieja, taking in the decay and beauty.  The music, it is everywhere and it gets into your blood.  We have 3 CD's that we bought and they are playing constantly.  The Cuban people were open, caring, willing to share, and so warm.  We will stay in touch with the hosts of our casas because of their hospitality, their warmth, and their generosity.  It was a beautiful experience.

Our final full day in Havana

April 4 -

We awoke late, what else is new.  Erik wondered if we take sleeping pills.

It was our last day and we needed to pick up cigars, gifts, and other things.  We had breakfast at the Habana Cafe and then went to the post office to mail the post cards....the woman remembered us and when Bill gave her 2 more bill notes, she gave him his stamps for free.  It was so sweet.  She was genuinely touched.  

We were heading toward the tobacco museum, which was 2 miles away and the air was quite heavy and it was very hot.  I bailed on the museum and decided to go to the Parque Central hotel where they had a cigar shop. 

We poured over the cigars again and I settled on a box of 10 Montecristos.  We also picked up 6 tubes for Giancarlo.

We then went around the corner to the Sevilla Hotel, which was  just down the street.  Inside another band was playing, a flute, a violin, and a vocalist.  There was a guitar player that was male.  They were ok, not great, but they did have a CD to sell.  We declined.  

Then came another band of all men who were better, in fact, Bill really liked the group and bought a CD as well as had his picture taken with them!

I went searching for the ladies room, and found a guy making cigars.  So I bought one from him to smoke later that night.

We had accomplished all of our touristic purchases so we were just killing time visiting all of these grand dame hotel lobbies to hang out and get out of the heat.  The temperature had soared over the last 2 days to be in the 80’s.

We went over to Edificio Bacardi, a wonderful deco building that used to be the Bacardi headquarters, ahem, before 1959.  

We headed back to Chef Ivan Justo’s restaurant for our final dinner in Havana.  And, darn, if we didn’t order the same thing!  House smoked assortment and the pig.  

The evening was capped off with a snort of aged rum and the earlier purchased cigar.  Neither entranced like they had previously done….already jaded????

bring me my rum and cigar, please

The Eastern Beach like a tourist

April 3 -   

On the left, the National Theatre, and on the right, Hotel Inglaterra.

We took the other tourist bus T3 around Havana.  

It was a glorious day, sunny and hot.  We got   good and burned.  This route went to the eastern beaches.  We got off at the Atlantico Hotel stop, which was the furthest eastern stop.  We walked along the beach for about 45 minutes, then stopped into a roadside cafe.  We have had excellent luck with food. 

 

At this place I had the  roasted lobster and Bill had the pork.  Both were excellent along with the little salad and ubiquitous rice and beans, it was a fine late lunch.

Our second stop was at the  castle Morro.  We wandered  around and found a a cafe with a smoke shop at the front.  It was very hot outside and I had forgotten my cooling tie.  

I checked out the cigars and didn't want to purchase them there.  I wasn't sure what I wanted, but Bill said, if there is another Caracol shop, the prices are set  by the government, so they would be the same.  I was convinced.

We had a reservation back at Dona Eutima, at what we thought was 7, but it turned out it was 6....ooops.  At first I was pissed, but we had a very nice meal at Dominica which was on O'Reilly and Mercadores.  The food was Italian, or I should say Cubanize Italian.    I opted for chicken Milanese and Bill got Saltimbucca.  There were a plethora of cats that were hanging out.  Another tourist was throwing scraps from her plate to them.  There had to be at least 6 of them surrounding her.  

When her plate was empty, two of the cats paid a visit to Bill and I.  The first one was cross-eyed.  I have never seen a cross eyed cat, it was sort of weird.  Feeling like I shouldn't stare, but couldn't help myself.  What did the cat see?  Did it get dizzy?  He/She wandered away and another orange tabby wandered over.  This one only had 1 eye.  That was really freaking me out.  We tried to give it a funny name, Blinky, Pir-cat, One-Eyed Jack, etc, we exhausted our feeble minds at that point. 

The band playing at the restaurant was quite good.  We bought another CD of Cuban songs.  The vocalist had a superb voice.  Most of the members of the band were women, with 2 men, one on bass, the other guitar.  The rest, percussion, and sax were women.  At one point a young boy walks us and starts to dance to the music.  He really gets into it, and is pumping his fists in the air and bumping his hips around.  It was hysterical.

It became apparent to me that American tourists are really not liked around the world.  They like our spending on vacation, but our boorish behaviors have not earned us much.  A Spanish couple sat next to us and then a table of loud drunken 20 somethings sat down and made it difficult to hear the band.  The Spanish couple, commented about "Los Americans" to each other, I don't think that they knew we were.  Eventually the young group quieted down and began to applaud the band after each number.  Better behavior. 

Off to Ambos Mundo for our nightcap.  The Final 4 game was on later so we wanted a seat at the bar.  Bill and I talked to the bartender about getting a flight of aged rums to try.  He suggested that since I had the Santiago de Cuba the other night, I should try the Havana Club 7 yr and the Maestro's Blend.   The Havana club was very hot.  Really alcoholic in flavor which masked the sweetness of the rum.

I finished the night with a Santiago and slept pretty good.