Back to the future - Cuba - Havana

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Happy 101 travel blogs!!!

Yes unbelievable but true this is travel blog 101. Is there anybody out there who read them all???? Ping me if you did. You deserve a medal or a drink..

Intelligence

The question if it's intelligent to go to Cuba and central America in the middle of the hot, wet, hurricane season was on my mind for a while. So far it has proven to be a good decision. The heat and the occasional downpour are the worst we experienced so far. Hope it stays that way.

Fidel's country

Cuba is quite a contrast after Germany. One day you drive 180km per hour over an autobahn, can buy whatever you wish and the next you are in a socialist country where time stood still since 1959 and the supermarkets still have the flair of communist splendor (not much of interest is available often bare shelves with a few products dominating e.g. packs of soda crackers or bars or soap).

Saying that, Havana is a fantastic city that somewhat looks exactly how I imagined it. Old run down houses, half empty old department stores with no lights and no maintenance, people congregating in the streets, old huge 1950s American cars everywhere, Fidel and Che 'propaganda', music to be heard on every street, cigars and a superbly preserved old town. It really is quite a unique place and a great start to our Cuba tour.

'Fidel' early on started to persevere and rebuild the old colonial inner city of Havana. Quite foresight as it brings in the tourists now. There is a huge amount of superbly preserved colonial Spanish buildings spread over a large area which are connected by small streets. What is really nice and adds to the flair is that it's not just a tourist show. Cubans live and work here. One minute you look at a church from 1600 and the next you are in a side street where Cubans live and go on with their normal daily life.

Apart from sightseeing there is the omnipresent rum and the cigars that everyone seems to sell and that for cheap. Mojitos are apparently a tourist drink but for 3 dollar a pop we didn't care to have a few while sitting in a nice old restaurant while the band was playing. Good start.

We wandered the streets, looked at old buildings and bought copious amounts of ice cream to please Dillon ( who had to practically drink it in the heat) and to deal with the humid heat.

Big red bus

We did what every self respecting tourist would do and hopped on one of those red hop on hop off buses that seem to exist in every Cuban city (true fact even small tourist towns have them). It wasn't the most exciting bus tour ever but includes at least the Revolution Square which is used for mass rallies and where Fidel held his infamously long speeches. The square has also a huge picture of the omnipresent revolution hero Che Guevara on the front of a building. He is still being used for propaganda on a large scale in Cuba. Pictures of him are everywhere and are only outnumbered by the Fidel slogans.
Onwards our bus stopped in one of the largest cemeteries of the Americas with some really exquisite and beautiful graves. One is a miniature version of a Egyptian pyramid. The rest of the bus tour went through Havana's middle class suburbs, old American built resorts ( think 1950) and the 8km long stretch of road that goes along the forshore.

It's big!

I can't help myself when it comes to superlatives so we obviously had to visit the largest fortress the Spanish built in all of the Americas. It suffices to say that it is huge. Something like 700m long and never really tested as no one bothered to try to capture it. Guess it did the job well.
It was build in response to the British sacking the city and Cuba in the 17 century just to exchange it a year later for Florida, which until then was a Spanish colony.

Pink Cadillac

Sometimes it's good to do what everyone else does so we splashed out and hired a 1950 pink cabriolet for a city tour. These cars are the real deal. Most of the components are still original and they are in very good nick for their age. The sound of the engine is unreal and something to be heard. I doubt though that they would get through any safety check in Europe or Australia. Safety belts hasn't been invented back then....

Where to stay?

Accommodation in Cuba can either come in the form of hotels which are often government owned or in the form of Casa particulares. Casa particulares are basically Air bnb taken to the extreme. There are literally hundreds in Havana alone. You have your own room, which usually has an attached bathroom, but apart from that you live in someones house or flat. For an extra fee they will provide breakfast and sometimes dinner as well. It's a good way to see how Cubans live and get a cheap nights rest as well. Our casa in Havana was a bit away from the old town and we had to walk through what must have been the prime shopping street back then. There were at least 3 big department store and a lot of smaller shops. I assume that back in 1959 you could even buy stuff... These days there are things on sale but there is little in the way of variety or quantity. I can only imagine what this must have looked like in 1990s when Cuba had the special economic period (crisis) when the supplies and money from the Soviet union died out.

Money

One other Cuban specialty is that they have two currencies. One is monetas nationales which mostly the Cubans use and then there is pesos convertibles which are mainly for the tourist. Suffice to say that the price Cubans pay in their money is always a lot less than what tourists pay... They certainly have that part of capitalism sorted.
The bank notes have pictures of many things related to the achievements of the country and the revolution. The 3 peso note has Che on the front and a scene out of a famous revolution battle at the back including throwing grenades and burning tanks. Guess there aren't many countries that have battles depicted on their notes

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Comments

[Vanessa Harkness]

Hello from Kirrawee
Hi Kel, Ralph and Dillion. Wow, what an amazing trip you guys are having. Im loving all your pics and Ralph's educational blog of each town/city. Not sure if I've actually read 101 of them though! Cuba looks like my kind of town. Those cars!! The street music!! Love it all. Dillion is certainly getting a vast educational geography lesson. What a lucky kid. Enjoy the rest of your adventure. Cant wait to catch up when you all return. Today here is NRL grand final day for the Sharkies. I don't really care one way or the other, but it would be good for the underdogs to win for the first time. The shire is covered in Blue, Black & White. Well, thats all for now. Take care and love to you all. xx Vanessa.