Martin Travels: Havana Tour 3 March 14

We arrived in Old Havana through a tunnel built by Americans under the entrance to Havana Bay – a natural harbor. The entrance to the harbor is guarded by 3 forts built in different eras by the Spanish to guard against pirates that worked the area in the 1600s and 1700s. They also served in the Spanish-American War (date?) There is a 60 ft. marble statue of Christ commissioned by the wife of Batista after he survived a coup before the revolution under restoration near the south-easternmost fort and the former residence of Che Guevara which is now a museum. These are located at Casablanca, a fishing village. We only saw them from a distance across the bay.
The taxi dropped us off and we began our walking tour with Sam through Old Havana, which was once surrounded by an enormous stone/coral wall with wooden gates – 9 of them. At 9PM, at the sound of a cannon, all the gates were closed for the night to safeguard the inhabitants against pirates. There are only very short parts of the walls remaining and only one door, which we saw later. The cannon still sounds at 9PM. We walked through an old market area past the main Police station - in an ancient building. Sam informed us that the police don’t like having their picture taken.
We arrived at the Ambos Mundos Hotel where Ernest Hemingway resided and rode the American (Otis) elevator with a person operator to the rooftop restaurant, where there was a live 3-piece band and other tourists. We each had a mojito and took some pictures of the area. Apparently Ernest also enjoyed a mojito or two there. After that, we toured the Catholic Cathedral at one end of the Plaza de la Catedral. Very plain architecture and decoration – especially compared to Italian churches.
Then we walked through narrow crowded that Sam told us would be much more crowded later in the day – which they certainly were. We walked to a bank, where we needed to get some more CUCs. You wait in line until a security guard lets you in and directs you to one of the 10 or so tellers. One needs a passport to make such a transaction. I had to get some more CUCs with my MasterCard, and this required a different teller, passport again and approval by a manager. I took a picture through the glass after I was out and luckily the security guard didn’t catch it. He raised his arm to let me know it was forbidden. I got him in the picture – with the flash turned off and his arm raised. I assured him with a nod that I would hold my fire. Sam just shook his head.
We walked on past some street performers on stilts and a band making a loud racket to the chocolate factory. Sam treated us to chocolates. We saw a gun museum which contained rifles and pistols used in the 1958 Revolution, including Che’s rifle in a special case.
We moved on to another taller building with an observatory and rode a Japanese elevator – self operated this time to the top where we looked around at various buildings, including the state building fashioned after the US Congress Building in Washington, where leaders before Fidel resided. Nobody knows exactly where Fidel or Raul or their families reside. Then were led into a dark room where a narrator demonstrated a Leonardo da Vinci invention of a reflector mirror image projected downward onto a conical dish about 8 ft. in diameter which showed a live panoramic picture of the entire city as he rotated the mirror and focused it with a hand lever. Neat.
We walked across the “Old Square” which has different architectural styles. Spanish with tiled roofs and balconies. These were original stately family homes, I believe with courtyards behind. There are later constructed American office type buildings without tiled roofs. We walked a through very run down residential area and passed a bakery where the locals were picking up their daily ration. Sam explained that the adults would save their rations and make sure that the children always had fresh bread.
After the revolution, private residences, mostly 3 storey walk-ups were confiscated and assigned to Cubans on some sort of merit system. Upkeep seems to be non-existent – for 50 plus years. The sidewalks can be treacherous. You might encounter a 2 ft deep hole or live electrical wires sticking out of a post with a bit of weathered electrical tape covering the ends.
Our next stop was a flea market in a large former warehouse building on the harbor edge.
Outside are old American steam engines from the early 1900s sitting on some non-used tracks. The flea market itself is quite well organized. there is a lot of repetition from shop to shop along narrow aisles. Jewellery, papier mache, leather goods, art, ivory carvings, humidors, hats and T-shirts (Che is a very popular icon, but Fidel – not so much). “Hey Lady” was the common cry to get a shopper’s attention. We made a few purchases of gifts to take home.