Havana - Nostalgia, Mojitos And The Atmospheric Malecon
Posted On Tuesday, March 31, 2015 at at 8:52 PM by Alvin
Sipping a Mojito in the pleasant suburb of Vedado in Havana, tasting the fine Cuban rum and watching local life lazily go by - ahh, pure bliss ... But first things first - we arrived by Aeroflot (our current favourite airlines !), having spent a relaxing night at a boutique hotel that was attached to the Moscow airport. Changing our Euros into the local currency CUC (that's pronounced as Coke) at the Jose Marti International Airport was a breeze and we were ready to start this wonderful journey in Cuba. We found a Casa Particular (a private B&B) in Vedado (close to the Norwegian Embassy !) - a mansion with ceilings about 5 meters in height, decked out with solid old-timer wooden furniture, a massive cool shady dining hall and a smiling middle-aged couple with their teenage daughter welcoming us. It was most interesting to hear their stories during our stay (but we don't have time for those stories here I'm afraid) and they made us feel welcomed and made us huge breakfasts everyday that lasted us till dinner time.
We spent our time in Havana visiting the tourists-packed Obispo, the fort over in Casablanca, the local village of Regla, the nostalgic China town (we even met a 96 years-old Cantonese man who regaled us his troubled life during his many years in Cuba when he had lost everything ...), paid a visit to the landmarks of Hotel Nacional and Capitolio Nacional, impressed by the sheer space at the Plaza de la Revolucion and of course we walked along the Malecon many times. Havana had a unique atmosphere in that the place felt time-frozen as we saw countless old American cars (another Blog entry) being driven in avenues packed with local clothes, barber and cake shops with not an international brand name in sight; the local people went by their lives seemingly paying no notice of the world outside the shores of this island. Having adjusted fully to the heat and life style (delicious coffee, icy local cola and excellent seafood), we felt ready to move on and bought our bus tickets to Trinidad - a sleepy village on the Caribbean coast that was suddenly woken up by its UNESCO fame.
From The Elegance Of Cienfuegos To The Raw Tabacco Fields Of Vinales
Posted On Friday, March 27, 2015 at at 8:22 PM by Alvin
Leaving the (many) Che icons behind, we left Santa Clara on a midday Viazul bus for the elegant city of Cienfuegos. As luck had it, we found a very nice Casa Particular with our own terrace in the middle of the city close to the main avenue of Prado. The prosperous family cooked up some serious breakfasts and dinners during our stay and we enjoyed our post-dinner hot tea on the terrace in the gentle evening breeze. And boy did we need all that food and rest as the following day we ventured around Parque Marti and were impressed by the elegance of the UNESCO lauded landmarks of Catedral de la Purisima Concepcion, Teatro Tomas Terry and Palacio de Gobierno. We also walked about 10km return, to Punta Gorda for a fine view of the Bahia of Cienfuegos and that was where we first met Michael, the swashbuckling Dane, cycling around in his flashy Hawaiian shirt. We were to meet up and had a great chat with him later on at the Parque Marti and he regaled to us his impressive journey around Cuba - hopping on Army trucks, cycling on a faulty bike, came close to dying of thirst in the rural Cuban villages and giving out T-shirt as gratitude to the locals. We promised to visit his 1950s-themed club in Copenhagen when we visit Denmark and said our fond farewell.
Our bus leaving Cienfuegos managed to bridge the connection to Vinales, a world and scenery far removed from that of Cienfuegos. Basically, Vinales used to be a sleepy village on the western part of Cuba, where farmers just busied all year round in tending to their tobacco fields; then some clever dude one day said - hey, look at these strange looking karst hills with their tunnels and caves ... and presto, before anyone knew it, all the houses in Vinales turned into Casa Particulars and tourists arrived in coaches after coaches - yeh, the birth of a major tourist attraction in Cuba. We managed to walk around the fields and hills for one morning and it was pleasant to chill out in this little village before we headed back to Havana for our flight home.
Santa Clara - Iconic Images And Stunning Wall Paints
Posted On Monday, March 23, 2015 at at 7:34 PM by Alvin
The man was not borne here, he did not grow up here, he did not go to school here and he was just one of the lads in the squad before he stamped his mark at this very city - Santa Clara; and that man was Ernesto Che Guavara. Sure you would have come across him and his iconic image wearing his famous beret and you (or your friend) might even have a T-shirt with his image on it. No matter which side he took or whatever deeds and misdeeds he had done, Che's images could be found everywhere in Cuba - monuments, schools, garage entrances, factories, buses, monetary notes, wall paints and many more; you would find that out after a few hours traveling in Cuba. Santa Clara had a orderly city plan which was a relief after dealing with the Camaguey crooked streets and polygon plazas; life centered around Parque Vidal with its infamous Hotel Libre Santa Clara where we could still spot the bullet holes on the walls; the even more infamous train sabotage was located about 2km out of town and a poignant reminder of the days that were. One note of great satisfaction - we found a couple of giant wall paints (hunting down intriguing graffiti being my spare time hobby) as we headed towards the bus station and that really made my day !
Joyful Street Art Performances in Camaguey
Posted On Saturday, March 21, 2015 at at 11:39 PM by Alvin
We had read up on Camaguey as the Cuban city with a city plan that was laid out to confuse and deceive invading pirates and buccaneers through the use of hidden corners, dead-end streets, twisted and curved avenues - so the likes of Jack Sparrow or Captain Hook could not capture the city's women and treasures so easily; all these interesting urban features were there alright, but little did we expect that there were also live performing art troupe waiting for us ! The Camaguey Ballet Company had been a world renowned act over the past many years and similarly, performance arts formed a main part of the city's cultural scene. On the afternoon when we arrived and close to Parque Ignacio Agramonte, we were greeted with a band of artists dressed out in carnival gear and they were carefully balancing themselves on 2 meters tall stilts and surrounded by an encouraging and joyous crowd as they progressed slowly through to the main plaza. This carnival drama was followed by a number of well-rehearsed acts - dancers dressed in football gear (with knee high football socks), clowns working a huge doll constructed out of twenty or so wooden parts and joints as well as different street dramas. It was such fun to watch these acts in the shades of the cool plaza.
Camaguey also boasted its fair share of enchanting plazas and churches; we visited Iglesia De Nuestra Señora De La Merced, Plaza Del Carmen, Plaza de la Revolucion as well as the green lungs of Camaguey, Casino Campestre - a huge park on the other side of Rio Habitonico where we took some breathers from the March humidity and cooled off with the queues of laughing children, waiting for their turn to go for a ride on the goat-driven little carts. Camaguey would be the last city on our easterly route and we prepared to head back west to Santa Clara, a place famed for the iconic figure of Ernesto Che Guavara.
Cars From A Bygone Era ...
Posted On Thursday, March 19, 2015 at at 10:05 PM by Alvin
Without doubt, one of our (many) highlights in Cuba, would be gawking in awe of all the old American cars (Cadillac, Bel-Air, Falcon, Fairmont, Vette, Impala etc.); some gleaming with fresh paint and wax, some pluming out diesel fumes with their metallic tail-fins shaking as they moved along and others had nostalgic features of triangular wing windows (for you to stick the lighted cigarette outside so as not to choke the gal you're dating ... ). Our Danish friend Michael whom we met in Cienfuegos, could tell you all about these cars and their special features as he loved all things 50s'.
We would never forget the journey from Vinales to Havana, when we shared a collectivo with a nice Argentinian couple (Natalia and Ezequiel) in a converted 8-seater Ford Thunderbird, the speed meter was always pointing to zero (even when we were going like 100 miles an hour), the fuel gauge was missing and I couldn't recall the driver pulling or releasing any hand brake ... Well, the driver seemed to have registered our doubtful looks before we got on and he drove the Thunderbird like Nigel Mansell, bombing down the expressway and squeezing into any gaps he could find and as we finally arrived in Havana, we kinda got used to all these quirks and actually felt sorry to be getting off ... Yes, it's always good to be able to stay alive and tell the tale ...
