Our Second Day in Old Havana - an Enchanting City One Must See When Visiting Cuba

Day 5- Cuban Trip

 Parque Central ( Central  Park), Old Havana, Cuba

Standing outside the hotel and waiting for the shuttle bus to Old Havana, we befriended a couple of tourists to Cuba.

They are a brother and sister team from Canada. We had a lot to talk about regarding our experience on this trip as well as other common topics.

We were dropped off at Parque Central ( Central  Park).

Central Park, Old Havana, Cuba

A beautiful park right in the middle of downtown Old Havana.

 Our original plan was to walk along the harbor front and to enjoy the water view of this enchanting city.

We decided to explore the downtown area of Old Havana.

Hotel Inglaterra, Old Havana, Cuba

After we went across the road, we were right in front of Hotel Inglaterra.

The hotel  has a spacious inviting outdoor café calling out to passersby to stop and take a break there.









We could not resist sitting down at one of its tables to enjoy what the city of Havana has to offer. 

The Lobby of Hotel Inglaterra

Before we came to Cuba, we knew nothing about the country’s history.

Musicians entertaining guests on the terrace of the hotel

We have totally fallen in love with this city that has so much to offer!

Statute of Jose Marti , Cuba's national hero, in Central Park

In the last two days, we saw the statutes and writings of Jose Marti numerous times.

Enjoying our coffee and watching the world go by

Soaking up the old world charm, we ordered our café con leche and watched the world go by.

Vintage vehicles are everywhere in Cuba!

We watched horse drawn carriages and vintage cars turned taxi picking up and dropping off customers at the sidewalk.

And these vintage vehicles are everywhere!

The Louvre sidewalk outside Hotel Inglaterra 

“The pavement outside the hotel known as the Louvre sidewalk was an animated meeting point for Havana liberals.





























It was here that the young Jose Marti advocated total separation from Spain….and General  Antonio Maceo, a hero of the wars of Cuban independence prepared plans of insurrection in this hotel.”  Pg 86, Cuba by Eyewitness Travel,  2002.

Gran Teatro de la Havana - the grand theatre in Old Havana

Gran Teatro de la Havana

We continued our exploration of the city and walked past the Gran Teatro de la Havana, with a gorgeous facade decorated with four sculpture groups.

One of the sculptures decorating the theatre

They represent Charity, Education, Music and Theater.

 It is a piece of magnificent architecture!

Inside the Gran Teatro de la Havana

Unfortunately, we could not purchase any tickets to watch a show there as they were all sold out.

The Capitolio of Ciba

Right next to the Theatre is the Capitolio building which was modeled after the U.S. Capitol in its design.

After three hundred years of neglect, many of the colonial buildings are being revived and renovated. The Capitolio is one of them.

Outside the grand theatre of Old Havana

                                                                                                                                              Who could resist enjoying a meal in this back to the future atmosphere?

Nice ambience inside the restaurant

 Upon recommendation, we had our a la carte lunch at the Nardos.

Nardos is a popular eating place in Havana

My husband ordered lamb while I preferred sea food.













The serving portion of the lamb was incredible. It was like the length of a lamb leg!

The portion size of the roast lamb was huge!

This dish portion alone could have fed a family of 6!

Because it was a la carte menu, every item was counted, the bread, the water etc were all included in our bill. What looked like a reasonable lunch at the beginning turned out to be much more expensive than we had expected.

Old Havana is a great place for a walking tour.

















We felt safe in Cuba and could walk to most places where we wanted to visit.

Sitting behind the Capital building is another older section of the city. We saw an imposing Chinese entrance gate. But there were few things beyond that gate reminding visitors of the history of Chinese immigrants to Cuba.

Lots of old buildings have been restored or are under renovations in old Havana

After eating all our meals at the resort for the past few days, we were looking forward to some Chinese food in Cuba. But we did not find any behind this Chinese gate.

One thing we did see was a lot of old buildings being renovated and restored to their former grandeur.

The arts and crafts market, Old Havana

Next we walked to some side streets with shops to get some souvenirs.

It was another interesting day visiting the city of Old Havana!


R.T.
Old Havana
Cuba
Week of Jan. 9, 2017

Old Havana, a City Frozen in Time!

Day 4 of  Our Cuban Trip

We boarded the shuttle bus  from our hotel to Havana daily

We took the hotel’s shuttle bus to Havana after breakfast.  It was tan easy comfortable twenty minute ride.

Palacio de las Artesania, Old Havana, Cuba

Entrance to the Palacio de las Artesania,

We were dropped off in front of the Palacio de la
Artesania, a beautiful historic building currently used as an indoor shopping venue with a few shops selling Cuban arts and crafts and a couple of restaurants,



Interested in architecture, we always take time to explore and visit the various historical buildings on our travels. We ordered our coffee, relaxed and enjoy this old colonial environment.

The Police Station in Old Havana, Cuba

Cathedral Square, Old Havana, Cuba

We walked by the Police Station, a building modeled after a castle which looked like it has a draw bridge surrounded by a dry moat.

Our second stop was Plaza de la Cathedral , one of the symbols of la Havana Vieja.

 In 1592, the city’s first aqua duct reached the Square. 

 Cathedral de San Cristobal de la Havana 

         

 Inside the Cathedral de San Cristobal de la Havana 

 We visited the Cathedral de San Cristobal de la Havana.

Grand chandelier in side the cathedral 

It is a magnificent church with beautiful architecture and very grand fixtures and artwork.

It was significant and important to the Catholics in Cuba that  Pope John Paul ll came to Cuba and visited this Cathedral. 













There is a statute of the Pope John Paul ll in the church marking this very important visit commemorating his visit to this cathedral.

The highlight of our day was climbing to the top of the cathedral's bell tower.

We paid one peso each and climbed the one hundred and nine steps all the way to the top of the tower.



The stairs inside the bell tower was narrow therefore we had to negotiate our way up while others were descending down at the same time.

View of old Havana from the top of the cathedral tower.

 But once when we reached the top, the view was worth it!













We had a good view of the entire city from all angles.

The European architecture in Havana reminded me very much of our trip to Italy a few years ago. 

 Dressed in colourful colonial costumes carrying basket of flowers in their hands, these women strolled around the square and allowed their pictures taken with tourists for a small cost.  

La Bodeguita Del Medio where Hemingway frequented

Another legendary  place we visited was the La Bodeguita Del Medio, a bar and restaurant made famous by American writer Ernest Hemingway who frequented this bar and drank mojitos here.









Many Cuban artists, poets and intellectuals gathered here to share ideas and their work.

A Cuban poet composing his poem in front of the cafe

On the day we visited La Bodeguita Del Medio, an elderly Cuban poet was sitting outside the cafe, pecking out his poem he was composing on his typewriter!

We strolled long the narrow streets lined with European style buildings.

Another place we visited in the plaza was an art gallery housed inside a grand colonial house. 

We were awed by the beauty of these renovated old buildings.

Old Havana streets are alive with art galleries and studios.

 Everywhere we went, we saw musical groups playing in cafes and restaurants.

There were a number of cafes and restaurants with outdoor terraces for seating.

However, it was not easy to find two empty seats at times.

We went into a couple of these places but were unable to find seats outdoors. 

Old Havana is crawling with tourists from various countries.  

Since U.S. has resumed diplomatic relations with Cuba, there will be a lot of changes in this country in the near future when American start visiting. 

It seems that there is a mad dash of tourists visiting Cuba before there these drastic changes.

 We are one of these people.

Cuba is an island and there is water view everywhere. Cruise ships are coming in with tourists flocking to visit this island nation.

We took a stroll along the water front and enjoyed some authentic Cuban dishes at a restaurant by the ocean terminal,

It was a great place to enjoy the harbour view of Old Havana.

We went for a horse drawn carriage ride and passed by some famous monuments and buildings.

Statute of Mother Teresa in one of the cathedrals  

We would have learned a lot more about Cuban had we known a little more Spanish. 

We are glad that we are able to use the few Spanish words and phrases on this trip! 

Exploring and enjoying the beautiful architecture in Cuba!

R.T.

Old Havana, Cuba

  

Watching Obama's Parting Speech in Cuba

9:00pm ,Tuesday, January 10, 2017 

We  watched the live broadcast of Obama’s parting speech to Americans from Chicago in Cuba!

The last couple of days since we have been in Cuba, we could only get channels and news reports in Spanish and about Spanish speaking countries such as those in South America.

Though we could not get Wifi service while vacationing here,  we were pleasantly surprised that we could get 24 hour reporting of BBC World News, CNN  and CGTN right here in our hotel room in Cuba!  There was no censorship of these programs and Cubans are free to goggle anything they want about any news in which they are interested. 

Obama’s parting speech focused on “ the state of democracy and understand that democracy does not require uniformity.. What it requires is a basic sense of solidarity. The work of democracy has always been hard…… Politics is a battle of ideas.  ……All of us have more work to do on race relations."

He was tearing up when he paid tribute to his wife, his two daughters, and Joe Biden.  

Obama also paid tribute to the young generation of Americans urging them to be involved and participate in the democratic process of electing and being elected as government officials.

I thought I should mention Obama’s parting speech in my blog since it was a historical moment.We missed the nightly entertainment at the resort this evening because of the Obama's speech but it was all worth it!

R.T.

Cuba

Picture Source - BBC World News