March 17 -
We had breakfast in the casa, which Erik and his wife, Elvis, prepared. Lovely array of fruits, banana, pineapple, papaya, and guanabara (?). Elvis then made grilled bread and scrambled eggs with tomatoes and onions and a papaya smoothie drink. The coffee was great.
We headed first into Plaza de Armas and watched the endless tour groups from cruise ships parade through the area. There were musical groups trying to cadge a couple of centavos from the tourists by getting someone to shake the maracas, and then ask for money.
We headed towards the wharves. We saw this old fort just to the north of us and decided to take a look; and bingo, decided that the day should be spent walking along the Malecon to Vedado, the west side of town.
We had a lovely morning in which to stroll along the water front. The Malecon, the iconic Havana scenic picture, stretches along the northern waterfront of Havana. Florida is just 90 miles off the coast. The stroll covered some interesting sights, to my eye, the decay and crumbling of Centro (similar to Vieja, but without apparent renovation efforts), compared to the big buildings in the distance which is Vedado. The skyline of Vedado is a striking comparison to Vieja. There are tall high-rise apartments, the buildings are in good shape, and there appears to be much more wealth. As we got closer to Vedado, the sky looked like it was going to dump a ton of rain, so we ducked into a cafe, Gente, and got lunch, some water, and beer.
We sat on the sidewalk looking out over the ocean and I could imagine the longing and hardship that would push a Cuban to undertake that arduous and dangerous journey to Florida.
We headed next door to the ice cream shop cleverly named Coppelita, which is a co-opting of the famous (in Havana) Coppelia ice cream house. It was like being in China where everything is being played off of.
Walking along the Malecon was delightful, we were occasionally splashed by a wave coming over the wall, but were never doused!
We walked passed several monuments, all very ornate. One in particular was the Monument to the Victims of The Maine. As Bill explained, Cuba turned that around to be a monument to the Americans who were victims of the U.S. government's deceit. Walking a bit further, we came to the Anti-Imperialism Plaza, which was designed to block out the view of the American Affairs building with over a hundred flags.
That building is once again the US embassy.
We went to register our passports, but were told (and momentarily alarmed, given Trump), "Today is not a good day to do this.... things are difficult". It turns out that we were simply there on a day the Consular office was closed.
We decided to get a drink and wifi at the Havana Libre hotel. Completed in 1957 as the Havana Hilton .... and occupied as HQ for Fidel in 1959! It was packed with tourists! Not a surprise! We bought a ticket to get wifi access for 5 CUC, which was an outrage, and checked our emails and tried to send some. The signal may be strong but the stream is very slow.
We then headed to another Grande Dame, the Hotel Nacional, which overlooks the Malecon. We stopped in for an adult beverage and to wander around the grounds, which were very beautiful. There were many bars to choose from, on a patio near the hotel, on a second lower patio further from the hotel, and one on a third patio at the edge of the cliff overlooking the Malecon. We opted for that one. Then we briefly inspected the 1962 defense cannons and bunkers, right in front of the hotel! 
Our big disappointment came with dinner. There was a private restaurant just up the street that Tony Bourdain had eaten at and raved about. How bad could it be? I ordered chicherones (fried pork rinds), black bean soup, and picadillo, Bill ordered the pork steak. We both had some beer. This did not begin well, as all the tables around us got their food and they came in after us, so there must have been some mixup in the kitchen with the order.
The chicherones were so hard, seemed like they had been fried over and over again waiting for a stupid customer, that's this gal, the black bean soup was very sweet... don't know why, but sweet enough to be off putting. Then the fun started, my picadillo arrived and it looked half cooked, and indeed was cold, so I sent it back....when it returned, it was bathed in oil and only marginally more cooked. At least the rice and beans were tasty! Bill's lomo (pork) was undercooked as well. So take a pass on Restaurant Los Amigos when traveling in Havana near the Hotel Nacional. This is the first time that Tony has let me down. Insert sad face here!
We decided to walk back to the casa, and made a literal pit stop in yet another Grande Dame, the Hotel Deauville. This hotel was a standout as we walked along the Malecon earlier. It is a deep blue building that is much taller than those that surround it. An easy daytime landmark.
Getting from there to the casa was a bit hairy as I opted to leave the Malecon and venture onto new streets in the dark. There are not very many street lights in Havana, so finding the names of streets became very difficult.
However, after crossing a park adjacent to a construction site, I saw a construction worker in a hard hat taking a moment to pet a street kitten. He was enjoying the moment, as was the kitty, our approach broke the mood for both of them. I was sad about that.
We made it home without further incidents, walking down O'Reilly street to see 3 tourists dressed as leprechauns, as it was St. Paddy's day.
No comments:
Post a Comment