After another incredible breakfast, we headed out on our
own to explore parts of Havana we had missed so far. Our destination was several of the famous
squares in the city, but we had many distractions along the way.
One of the best stops we made the entire trip was inside
(I use the term loosely) an abandoned, gutted building. We were invited inside by a man who
apparently makes his home there along with his dog. The decay was incredible. All the floors were gone, opening up to the
sky the several story building. The
arches were mostly intact with vines and other vegetation growing where there
were once stairways and rooms. This is
Havana today. Once a glorious city, most
of its buildings are now in some stage of crumbling. It reminds you of pictures you see of areas
devastated by a natural disaster but this disaster is the result of a
government shunned by a large part of the world and lacking funds to keep it
restored.
We finally arrive at Habana Vieja square. If this was the only thing you saw of Havana
you might think everything was going great here. A group of school children were first
exercising then sitting to watch a Punch and Judy puppet show. Tourist wondered around the square taking
pictures of the modern art while others took a coffee break in one of the many
restaurants lining the square. We
adjourned for a drink and bite to eat at one of the second floor establishments
with a balcony overlooking the action.
A miracle occurred while we were there. This establishment actually served Diet
Coke! For those who don’t know my
husband, he’s the posterchild for a Diet Coke addict. Since arriving in Cuba he’s had to live off
water, cerveza and the occasional local diet drink (which are few and far
between). He’d even found his beloved
gin (Hendrick’s at most bars) and tonic but no Diet Coke. You can be sure he marked this spot on our
map for a return visit.
We returned to the Cathedral of San Cristobel by way of
shopped lined tourist streets. I would
guess a lot of tourist making a stop for the day from a cruise ship only see
this side of the city. We opted to go
into the church and to climb the bell tower for a view of the city. You really get a sense for the size of Havana
and also the vast amount of disrepair.
Storm clouds dropped rain for a brief period but we managed to stay
dry. It was a beautiful church and well
worth the visit.
Returning to our apartment for an afternoon break seemed
like a good idea. We strolled the
streets, stopping for a churro along the way, and finally took a bicitaxi since
the clouds looked like we were in store for more rain. Our taxi was stopped by an official and fined
because his taxi sign was missing. His
response, “Welcome to Cuba”.
Our rooftop was alive with the singing of our bird
‘Fidel’ preaching to his parishioners of sparrows that lighted on the plants
surrounding the deck, listening to his beautiful and varied chirps. It really has a way of making the city noises
disappear.
Tonight we met up with Nestor again to go to dinner and
maybe listen to music. He took us a
block or two away to a little Cuban restaurant.
We discussed our lack of internet, so he told us to follow him to his
secret ‘free’ spot. After walking
several blocks we came upon a group sitting around on door steps staring into
the glowing screens of their phones.
While we couldn’t see the network, Nestor knew the steps to get us
connected. We were glued to our phones
for the next thirty minutes or so catching up with emails and even posting a
couple of pictures. I felt like a real
Cuban, sitting among the people soaking up black-market WiFi.
We were tired from
our long day of touring, so we bid Nestor farewell and walked back to our
place.
Tomorrow: More roaming around the city
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