flight to habana 9mar2019

I was quite excited to go to Havana with the interesting cityscape and culture. There was salsa dancing and murals and art work and of course the frankenstein cars. The salsa bug hit me and I was constantly listening to the latin music and attempting to get Yolly to practice with little success. There was also jazz but that went got shelved when we were there. We had a 5:30pm flight to Havana with an arrival time of somewhere in the early morning. We got on board the flight in Vancouver with no problems and then it was an uneventful flight for the most part. We arrived sometime in the morning and arrival was quick and painless. A 2 hour bus ride to our hotel was part of the Sunwing package and for which I was grateful for and we were checked in and settled in just before 7am breakfast. I still can’t figure out how the flight time works but we were apparently “on time” somehow. The buffet breakfast wasn’t the best but it was good enough and to bed after for a quick nap before venturing out.

A few photos as we were waiting for our flight departure.

habana first day 10mar2019

A quick nap and we were off the Callejon de Hamel. Outside we saw the first of the classic cars and they were awesome. We got on one and headed to Callejon de Hamel a street block with lots of local art and some dancing. It turned out to be just a block and there was only one group performing and with the crowd of tourists we didn’t stay long. In retrospect we should have just to see how the music was done. But we wandered through the streets with La Guarida, a local restaurant, as our next destination.

Along the way to La Guarida…

We came to La Guarida and the first photo on top was the first photos we took. The restaurant is in the process of renovation as most of Havana seems to be and many buildings appear to be beyond repair. La Guarida was listed as one of the good restaurants so being around noon we decided to try it out.

Yolly had her first mojito, the first of many, and we had our first lobster, unfortunately a bit overcooked. Our bill arrived in a box as was customary in a few of the restaurants.

A couple of more photos of the restaurant and off we went to our next destination, the Sia Kar Cafe.

More interesting sights along the way to the cafe.

I found out about the Sia Kara Cafe from the kdrama “Encounter” which used the cafe as one on their locations. I found the outside wall quite interesting so it was a go to place for me. If anything I had to show my kdrama fans brother and cousins that I had been there.

And that was it for the day for this part of the town for now. We headed for the Parque Central where a lot of taxis were on standby and went back to the hotel. From the hotel we walked across the street and walked a little bit on El Malecon. A group of musicians played for us which was quite fun and after a while we walked back to a nearby restaurant for dinner of overcooked fish for me.

And off to bed para dos turistas extranjeeros cansados.

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tour by convertible 11mar2019

I arranged the tour by convertible before we left as well as the day tour to Varadero and I was glad as internet access was fairly limited and slow. This was a fun ride and it’s unfortunate I couldn’t/didn’t take photos while we were in the convertible. Oh doh I could have moved to the front seat and at least take photos of Yolly. We cruised down to the Miramar area a much better looking neighborhood than Havana Vieja and is where the embassies are.

It was getting a bit too unexiciting until I remembered that the Fusterlandia was in this area so I suggested that we go there to the driver and I am glad I did. The street/houses were really interesting with the tile decor. I was glad to spend some time here and so did Yolly.

After Fusterlandia we continued our tour and drove by and stopped briefly at the Parque Almendares.

From there we drove by the Colon Cemetery and then the Plaza de la Revolucion.

The convertible tour worked out as we managed to see the 4 attractions in one go. It didn’t seem necessary to go back to any of the 4 so we were able to spend more time in Habana Vieja. We asked the driver to drop us off at Al Carbon, a restaurant that was also featured in Encounter. The restaurant turned out to be Yolly’s favorite so we returned here a second time. The area too is quite nice … interesting buildings and lots of people wandering about.

We just wandered around the streets and along Obispo a main street for restaurants, shops and music. We walked by the Floridita one of Hemingway’s old haunts which was packed as usual so we didn’t bother to try to get in – one of the regrets.

We ended up at Parque Central again so we picked up a taxi there to get back to the hotel. A brief nap and I walked to El Malecon again to see the same group of musicians who were performing for a Chinese kid.

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habana vieja walk 12mar2019

Started the day with another buffet breakfast at the hotel. There is quite a selection but the fare needs improvement. The omelet, fruits (pineapple, papaya, guyabano) and coffee was good enough to keep us going for the day. I wanted to go to the habana vieja area again and take a little more time. The first stop was on the street with Sui Kara Cafe which I found out later was a very popular spot for taking a photo of a street with the Capitolo in the background was taken. So I gave the driver the location where we wanted to get off (Galiano and Barcelona) and off we went. Funny how the driver didn’t know where the location was and had to ask for directions as we got close. I helped by using my gps enableed Map-me which worked without internet access. We walked towards the cafe and Capitolo at the end of the street taking photos along the way with my reluctant model, my wife.

I was wanting to stop at the cafe for coffee and pastries but it was much too early after breakfast so we just kept on walking. It wasn’t that far to our next stop the Capitolo and the Great Theater of Havana. A few photos in front of the Capitolo and in front of the colourful buildings just across the street.

We walked to the Grand Theater famous for ballet and decided to take a quick tour of the building. There was a long line which I realized later was for locals and we were ushered quite quickly and just waited for a tour group before we entered,

Some more glimpses of the inside of the Grand Theatre.

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We continued our walk observing buildings, frankenstein cars and people.

We got to the castle and walked around a little but. It was hot as it was open space.

From the fort we walked along the water to get to the ferry across to the forts across the water. It was hot walking in the open space and we decided not to continue on. More local sightseeing until we got to a restaurant which happened to have salsa dancing which I thought was super.

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We walked a little bit after lunch to digest our meal. Along Obispo and back to the Parque central where we would get a taxi back to the hotel.

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Malecon and Morro Castle 14Mar2019

Some out of the way spots today. First was to the Hotel Nacional with a cab ride. and then a long walk along Malecon.

And then a long walk along Malecon.

A short stop for a drink at another notable hotel.

From the end part of Malecon we took another cab to the ferry terminal and took a small ferry to Casablanca and walked to the castle from there.

And so ends another long day of sightseeing. But there was still a salsa show to watch so we took a taxi to Habana Vieja to watch the show. The show was a bit of a disappointment as the venue was too small for the number of people. We were seated so far from the stage and I was seated behind a pillar. I only managed to watch the show close up because I went to the toilet which was close to the stage. We sat beside a Chinese lady who was also quite disappointed with the show.

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curved street and back to vieja 15Mar2019

We certainly covered a lot of ground today or should I say I saw more this time around. We asked to be dropped at the intersection of Galiano and San Miguel so we could walk down San Miguel to where the street curved which gives a different perspective from straight open street. The street was a bit more run down than other streets and the buildings a bit more dilapidated but with some interesting spots.

Until we reached the curved part.

We then reached an area with some street vendors and where Yolly bought a few souvenirs including fridge magnets and a pair of maracas. And for me a few vendor shots.

We continued walking this time towards Parque Central where the taxis assembled as this appears to be a tourist focal point. We came to the Hotel Plaza that was the first hotel that we booked a room with until I read the dreadful reviews so I switched to the Habana Riviera. Yolly would have killed me. We later found out it really wasn’t that bad and I wished we’d stayed there as I could have explored the area more. Taking a taxi from our hotel just made it inconvenient for me to go out and explore by myself while Yolly took it easy.

From the Hotel Plaza we walked over to the Bacardi Building which was a location for the Encounter kdrama and spoke to the bouncer who played a small part in the show. He was also quite pleased that I recognized him from the show.

From the Bacardi we walked to the Obispo Street and walked on the street and spotted two more location shoots.

From Obispo we walked through San Ignacio and Mercaderes with the latter street being more interesting with more art galleries, restaurants and shops. We saw another old hotel, Hotel Krogel, and I liked the interior so we stopped again, me for a lemonade and Yolly for another mojito.

We basically just wandered around at this point and covering old ground but seeing it a little bit differently.

And for all that it was just to get us to lunch at Al Carbon, our fave resto.

And more walking …

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And did I say I actually danced a bit of salsa?

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revisit habana vieja 16mar2019

Started the day with the usual buffet breakfast at the hotel. There is quite a selection but the fare needs improvement. The omelet, fruits (pineapple, papaya, guyabano) and coffee was good enough to keep us going for the day. I wanted to go to the habana vieja area again and take a little more time but first I wanted a brief stop at Callejon de Hamel which I negotiated with the taxi driver. I surprisingly managed to negotiate a decent fare as I thought the normal fare to habana vieja was CUC10 which I though was a bit steep considering the distance. The one block Callejon de Hamel was not busy as it was a weekday (it was packed the first
time we went on a Sunday) so I was able to get some quick shots with minimal distractions.

We zipped through the street and then got back on the taxi which then took us to the habana vieja area. We drove by a boulevard lined with art work so I told the driver to stop and we got off and checked out the art exhibited.

We reached the end of the exhibits so continued on to Obispo Street. We stopped at another hotel for a drink to cool off. Yolly didn’t feel like a mojito this time so we just shared a cuban orange pop. I looked around the hotel and observed people looking around and it stirred my curiousity so I started to look at the wall decorations. Much to my surprise it turned out to be dedicated to Ernest Hemingway who stayed at this Hotel Ambos Mundos while in Habana.

After lunch we continued walking and walked inside what turned out to be a gallery. I first thought it was a store but as we were exiting they requested donations to maintain the gallery.

Just kept on wandering around the streets.

We continued walking until deciding on having lunch. We decided to have a Cuban lunch with Yolly trying the beef ropa and I believe I had the usual tough lobster lol.

More walking after lunch.

The sunset ends our stay in Havana and we just had to wait until 10pm for our bus ride to the airport. We had a last dinner at the hotel where we had a few good dinners and treated quite well by the maitre’d. I

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