Day 8 - Habana Vieja: Part Two

"It is a sin not to do what one is capable of doing." ~ Jose Marti

Today was fairly busy (but also relaxing) because we had a full day of free time. After waking up at a surprisingly early hour, considering I had been out at the ‘Karachi’ club until 3am, myself and a few friends headed to Old Havana once again to do some shopping and exploring on our own. We grabbed a taxi to Plaza de las Armas and explored the outdoor book market for a while. Of course, the majority of the books were about four individuals: Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Jose Marti, or Karl Marx. But it was interesting to see, nonetheless.

Next, we ventured on to a great little artisans craft market where I was able to pick up a Che Guevara magnet (what else?) and three Che bracelets. The consumption of Che did not end there, however, because I found a great little store where I bought a Che Guevara T-shirt for my Dad (I wonder if he'll actually wear it haha).

After buying out Old Havana of all its Che merchandise, we walked up to Parque Central (Central Park), which is situated right along the border of Old and Central Havana, and admired all of the beautiful architecture, including the incredible Capitolio Building. It was absolutely gorgeous and huge! We sat in the park for a while to rest and to decide where we were going to go to eat. The funny thing is, we ended up going back to the ‘Dominicana’ Restaurant again, where I got the exact same meal (Hawaiian Pizza) as I did before. I probably should have tried something new, but when one is in a foreign country and all of your fellow travellers are developing stomach and intestinal ‘problems,’ then trying new and exotic foods is not always as appealing as it seems. This lunch was nice, though, because there was a live Cuban band playing for us while we ate.

When we had finished our lunch, I headed over to a couple of cigar shops, where I found that many of the cigars I wanted were much too expensive for my budget. But mark my words, I will buy an authentic Cuban cigar before I leave Havana! So, after my failed attempt at acquiring decently priced tabacco, I met back up with everyone at the Chocolate Museum, where we enjoyed cold milkshake beverages this time (delicious!) after waiting in a long line to get inside.

Of course, the daily thundershower (more accurately referred to as a torrential downpour) forced us to cab it back to ENSAP, where we spent the rest of the afternoon resting in our rooms and on our balcony.

Later that night, after dinner, a few of us consulted our not-so-trusty-rusty Lonely Planet travel guide book and decided to go see some live music at the beautiful ‘Casa de la Amistad’ (House of Friendship). After we walked about ten blocks in the rain, we finally found the house (which looked very impressive from the outside) and knocked on the large barred double doors. A very old man and his wife answered and regretfully informed us that the music had been cancelled because of the rain (bummer!), but that he would give us a tour of his house anyway, if we would like. We obliged, and got a private tour of the amazingly gorgeous house, all of the floors in which were made of exquisite marble. After our brief tour, we decided to head over to the Hotel Nacional for a drink and to relax on the patio. Then off to bed!

Interesting Fact #1: In Cuba, a mop is a stick with a cloth tied to the end of it.

---

Part of trip: Havana, Cuba

---