Staying in the Zocalo

We arrived yesterday afternoon after a frustrating departure from Havana. We arrived at the Havana airport at 12:00 thinking we had plenty of time before our 2:30 flight. How wrong we were!

The line to check in was one hour long, then we had to line up to pay our departure tax and next we had to wait in line to go through immigration. The immigration line up was the worst as we were running out of time and we knew we still had to go through the security line.

We made it with time to spare and the one good thing was that we didn't have to wait long to line up for boarding the plane - no seat number calls, no children first and no first class boarding. Just one big line.

We sat on the plane for over an hour waiting for the people who couldn't get through the four major lines fast enough. We did have a fairly smooth flight and we breezed through customs in Mexico City. No checked luggage means we get to the lines early....and we pushed a green light!

We are staying at the Holiday Inn right on the Zocalo and I would highly recommend this hotel. The Holiday Inn chain has taken an old building and restored it to original condition. The rooms overlooking the Cathedral and the Palace are huge and very clean.



We spent the better part of the morning walking the streets around the Zocalo. According to rumour, Carlos Slim has spent millions restoring this area of Mexico City and it is great for walking and looking.


As usual though, our curiosity gets the better of us and we venture too far out of the restored areas. We didn't have to walk more than an hour before we were back in the poorer parts of Mexico City. It was a little uncomfortable walking through this area as it was littered with garbage and homeless people.

The Zocalo is home to the Presidential Palace, the main Cathedral and numerous restaurants and hotels. It does have the odd homeless person sleeping across the street from our room as I found out this morning while checking out the view.

Havana Revisited

Below are some of the memories we have of our week in Havana....all good!


Street scene in Old Havana.


Taxi service!


Old Havana.


View from our room.


Getting our picture taken in front of the Capitolio - notice the pin hole camera!


Fred and his Cuban buddies!


Band performing in the afternoon.



When it rains and you don't have a window...do what you can!


Caught in the rain so spent time at this outdoor restaurant....they loved performing for us.


Typical buildings in some parts of Old Havana.

Power Shopping 101

As usual, we left souvenir hunting to the last day and we seemed to be in a time crunch. We did have time to say goodbye to Anne and Rick yesterday morning before heading to Old Havana in search of the "perfect" souvenir.

We wandered for hours and found another area of the city that has been renovated and was bustling with tourists - Plaza Viejo. It reminds me of the centre square in Krakow - a large square surrounded by outdoor restaurants and bars. There are some new hotels being built there also.


An early dinner in the square meant an early night in the room. Our feet were killing us....a good soak did help!


We are flying to Mexico City for a two day layover and I am looking forward to some memories revisited. We haven't been in Mexico City for at least 10 years.

Cathedrals and Mojitos

Yesterday was Anne and Rick's last full day in Havana so of course we tried to cram everything into a few hours. We took the shuttle bus to Old Havana and walked to the Mercado where we wandered around looking for bargains. Nothing found!

We didn't have any real destination in mind so we stopped to look at anything that caught our attention. Havana does have some beautiful churches, many of which look fully restored.

We eventually ended up at Hemingway's hotel and went on the short tour of his room where he wrote two of his novels. Nothing special, but it does give some insight into his life.

It was Mojito and music time so we stopped at a bar to listen to a Cuban group while sipping a Mojito, or in my case a beer. Still looking for that perfect place to have my Mojito! The "keeper of the toilets" was starting to get into the music scene!


We continued to wander the streets until we were picked up by a pair of fast talking Cubans. They were going to lead us to an International Salsa Festival - that's what we thought we heard, but we ended up at a restaurant. We knew something was up, but we didn't know how they were going to do it. I would have stopped there but one of the members of the band was the last living member of the Buena Vista Social Club, one of Fred's favourite musical groups so why not give it a shot.


We ordered pop and beer and a Cuba Libra for our "friends" thinking that was one of the cheapest drinks around. That was how they got us - their two drinks cost us close to $18 Cdn. No tip offered to the waitress as she was obviously in on this scam. Other than the cost, I love doing things like this, but I don't know how my three travelling partners felt. And, I was too afraid to ask!!

Back to our wandering of the streets! I thought we walked up and down every street in Old Havana, but Fred warns me there are many more to explore!



We walked back to the same restaurant as last night for a good, cheap and filling meal. There is a cigar shop connected to the restaurant so we spent some time buying cigars for a certain Calgarian!

Cigar Factory

We need a pedometer to check how far we walk each day. Today was the longest walk yet. We took a cab to the Cigar Factory tour and when that was finished we walked to every site we wished to see.


The Cigar Factory was quite amazing. They showed us how the cigar is made from the beginning right up to the stage where they box them for export and for sales within Cuba. There are over 900 workers making the cigars and each worker has to make a daily quota...what the rewards are, we don't know.


We were offered a chance to smoke a cigar and two women took the opportunity. They were not feeling well afterwards, despite the guide's advice of not inhaling. I didn't know that cigars are never inhaled.


We walked to the cemetery that Anne had heard about and did a short walking tour through a small part of it. The cemetery is huge and it is impossible to see all of in one day.

Next on our list was the Nacional Hotel which is an Havana icon, opened in 1930. The hotel is very well preserved and very busy with many people just stopping for a beer or ice cream.


There wasn't much life left in our legs so we took a cab back to our hotels where all of us tried to rest up for the long walk to our chosen restaurant. We were amazed at the prices of this place.....Rick thinks this restaurant is one of the few private restaurants starting up in Havana and the lower prices reflect that.

Busy Day

Aw, my aching feet! Okay, they weren't sore, but they should have been...we walked for hours in Old Havana exploring new sights and sounds different from yesterday. The streets are not always smooth or clean so walking was made a little more difficult than normal.

Our goal today was to see a few of Ernest Hemingway's old hangouts while visiting the historic section of town. We found the hotel he lived in for years, but it was closed for the day due to the changing of his display.

We were impressed with the beautiful old buildings, many of them in a state of disrepair and in dire need of renovating. This is a massive job as there are an incredible number of stately buildings with an important historic story to tell. There are a few sections of Old Havana that have already been restored and these areas are very nice.

Anne and I had a daiquiri at noon in one of Hemingway's favourite bars. According to legend, he would walk from his hotel to this bar every morning and have many daiquiris before moving on to another favourite place to drink Mojitos. We have not stumbled upon that place yet, so my first ever Mojito will have to wait!



It is suggested that you pay for any photos you take of the locals and we had this thought in mind when we took pictures of some colourful Cuban ladies near the Malecon. They certainly knew how to play these four tourists from Canada! The pictures turned out great, but before we could figure out what was happening they had taken money right out of Anne's hand and were demanding more. It wasn't a lot of money, but we will be prepared for the next time!


Old cars are everywhere! Some are in great shape while others are not looking so good. I'm glad Rick is here because Fred now has someone to talk to about this motor or that fin. Not that I wouldn't have played the "great listener"...but could I have done it without yawning?


Cuban food is not something to look forward to when planning a visit to Havana. I have not had one meal that I would have again, nor has Fred. Anne tried the pizza last night and found it to be delicious....fresh fish not great, but good pizza???

Only two more days for Anne and Rick before they move on to the beach scene so we will be on the move trying to complete this whirlwind tour of Havana before they head out.

Surprise

Okay, so it didn't go according to plan.....but we did surprise Fred's sister Anne and her husband. When we heard they were planning a trip to Cuba we decided to join them - without letting anyone know. Only their travel agent and ours!

We were sitting having a beer at their hotel, not expecting them for at least another half hour, when they showed up in a cab. We felt like Maxwell Smart, hiding behind pillars and trees. Anne and Rick were just getting into the elevator when Fred joined them, welcoming them to Cuba. The look on Anne's face tells it all.



They had a smooth and uneventful flight from Saskatoon, but were very tired. The four of us tried the Italian Restaurant in their hotel and my opinion of Cuban food hasn't changed at all.....nothing to get excited about.


We are meeting Anne and Rick tomorrow morning and are going on the Hemingway Hunt. It should be interesting.