Day Two in Havana started out with yet another three story hike to breakfast (we were really loving the patio, but hating the stairs!). Because the Casa was on the larger side, breakfast was full up and we ended up sharing our table, and the direct sunlight, with two very nice girls from Germany who had ALSO booked through Jorge. It’s a small world…
After completely sweating through our initial set of clothes at breakfast, we did a quick change and headed out with Annalise in a purple 1967 Chevy for a driving/walking tour of New Havana, Miramar and the further afield boroughs of Havana.
On our way out, we drove past the Cohiba factory, which has taken over one of the old mansions that was abandoned by rich Cubanos during the revolution. You can’t go in, but it’s cazy to think that the best cigars in the world are made in what used to be someone’s house!
Our first official stop was an avant-garde art museum that started out interesting and then got really weird, really fast. Highlights include some really weird videos of people dunking their faces in wine and then counting to 10 in spanish, a styrafoam man statue built of boats and rafts used in attempts to reach Florida, a suitcase tower draped in the American flag, and many other bits of randomness.
We then drove past what was soon to become the US Embassy in Havana, and Annalise was quick to point out the humor of the parkfull of flagpoles across the street from the Embassy entrance. There were ~50 poles, all of which were taller than the Embassy building, and all were empty but the one directly in front of the main entrance – which was proudly flying a Cuban flag. Apparently construction on the park had begun right after the site had been selected by the Americans as an act of diplomatic one-upmanship.
Lots of poles blocking the embassy’s view… but only one flag…
Our next step was the National Hotel, a sprawling government run hotel that used to be an old fortress and is still home to some of the huge cannons that used to defend the harbor. And MAN are they huge!
Then we were on to the Bacardi building, where we were wow’d by both the amazing art-deco designs and the great 360 degree views of the city.
Our final stop was a beautiful old building in the Jewish quarter, that featured a huge stained glass dome and murals of famous women from the Torah. We also headed up to the roof for another panorama of the city and more even more rocking chairs (Cuba has spoiled us – no more stationary seating!).
Though we enjoyed the rocking chairs, after seeing the table for two set inside the dome, we were tempted to come back…
Massive, colorful stained glass domed roof
After parting from Annalise, we grabbed a quick bite of lunch on the rooftop where we could look out on the old promenade, and then hiked back across the city, determined to start our ungided explorations of the city by learning more about how Communist Cuba came into being.
View of the old promenade, and look! Another car!
However, despite the best of intentions, we were thwarted by the Museo Resistance. The amount of detail captured in the museum is staggering (ie: look – here’s a tile from the jail cell where many of the original resistors where held prisoner!), most of the information is in Spanish, and we unfortunately didn’t hablas espanol well enough to pull it off.
What was cool and needed no translation was standing on the same balcony from where Fidel announced the revolution’s victory and the beginning of the Cuba we know today.
The balcony!
We also enjoyed the Corner of Crooks, which hosted not one, but four American presidents shown as Cuba’s interpretations of their villainous deeds. This was probably the only few times it felt weird to be an American in Cuba, so we snapped a quick photo and hurried on.
Interesting…
On our way out of the Museo, we got caught up in our first official Cuban scam! While Jess attempted to snap a shot of the historic walls of Cuba, Grant was approached by a gent proclaiming to have been an old history teacher who attempted to “instruct” him on the history of Cuba in a mix of broken English and Spanish. At the end of is lesson came the scam, where he first offered us a “souvenir” of 1 CUP, which would have been cool to have as it isn’t possible to get as a tourist. However, he then asked us to give him a souvenir as well… specifically 1 CUC, which is the Cuban tourist currency. Just for reference, 1 CUC is worth 25 CUP. While it was a brilliant attempt, we had just cut our scammer teeth in Morocco and weren’t having any of it – quickly handing back the CUP with a firm, “No, Gracias”.
We then decided to head to Museo de Ron (Museum of Rum), as the light hearted fare would hopefully be more approachable than the intense history of the Museo, and where we could sample another Cuban staple, but it had unfortunately closed just before we arrived. Determined to get some type of rum into our system, we headed just down the street to another famous Hemmingway watering hole – Dos Hermanos, where we enjoyed more mojitos and watched the cigar scammers ply their trade.
We ultimately also ended up paying for an unrequested serenade by the bar’s band, but considered it fair trade after listening to them serenade everyone else for an hour.
Ultimately, we also got to go behind the bar for photos – mostly because Jess can’t stop taking pictures of anything and everything (her Japanese was REALLY starting to show!).
Siesta, sleep, and sobriety was now the standard order of the day, and we wove our way back to La Casa for a happy mix of all three. Then before we knew it, we were off to dinner in another old car. This one had it’s own charm, as it wouldn’t start after we climbed in, but the owner was unphased and just whistled down the street for a push start from the local boys.
A strong shove later, we were cruising up the Malacón (the Cuban equivalent of a Riva, a waterfront promenade), watching a crazy beautiful sunset and heading back to the Miramar district for dinner at Restaurant Vistamar. Yet another converted mansion, it seemed like during the day it was a swimming club, complete with pool and sea access, but at night it turns into a high-end restaurant. We were given a seat on the patio overlooking the ocean and enjoyed the final minutes of the most beautiful sunset in we’d seen in Cuba. Dinner also lived up to the view, with perfect pork skewers for Jess, Swordfish in a Rojo Sauce for grant and a bomb-diggity lemon tart and wine to round out the meal.
Once our classic car dropped us again, we briefly consider heading up to the roof for a nightcap and a cigar, but 3 flights of stairs were 3 flights too many and we just couldn’t make it happen. Giving up and getting into bed was a great reward, though we did feel a small tug of disappointment while doing it. Perhaps tomorrow we’ll rally like the stars we are!
– J & G