That first day, once we were on the road again, we went to Revolution Square where Michael impressed our guide with his extensive, childhood knowledge of the key players and the history of the time of the Revolution. Past the Capitol Building. More monuments. Along the sea wall to lunch at a local restaurant started off with, of course, Mojitos. A little more driving out to the hotel in the Miramar area. A little orientation. And then finally time to relax before dinner.
The buildings in Cuba are just as promised – dilapidated and decaying. Don’t get me wrong. I live in the Caribbean. I realize how hard it is to maintain a building in this environment. And these buildings are a whole lot older than my house. So it is not surprising to me at all that they look the way that they do. Nevertheless, when we were driving to dinner the first night and the bus slowed down, even I looked out the window and thought, “THIS is where the restaurant is?”
We were eating at a paladar which is a privately owned restaurant. Post revolution, all businesses were government run (which I imagine is why the gas stations and markets and restaurants don’t have names but appear to simply be marked by the location – like “4th and Main Gas” or “Downtown Market”). Anyway, some years ago the Cuban government apparently decided to insinuate a wee bit of capitalism into the economy by allowing private enterprise. Hence the paladars which are privately owned (a percentage of course which is still government owned) restaurants established in people’s residences. We ate that first night at a famous one called Paladar Guardia which is known for being the setting of a very successful movie called ‘Fresa y Chocolate’ (Strawberries and Chocolate. It reminded me a lot of a restaurant we went to in Brazil. We entered the building on the first floor into a huge courtyard and then climbed 3-4 long flights of stairs up to the restaurant passing water tanks and clotheslines and residents on the way to the dining rooms that are all small, very personal spaces since they used to be rooms in the residence.
Sunday morning we headed out on a walking of tour of Havana’s four main squares (Vieja, de la Catedral, de Armas and de San Francisco). Michael did manage to buy a cane for his collection from an elderly gentleman who actually wanted to be paid to have his picture taken but was willing to sell the cane instead (no doubt for a much better profit). We were supposed to visit the Fine Arts Museum showcasing Cuban artists’ works but a national day of mourning had been declared in honor of the passing of Nelson Mandela so that museum was closed. So we substituted a visit to the Museum of the Revolution across the street where we saw lots of mementos from the glory days of Castro, Che Guevara and Cienfeugos including the preserved and highly-guarded boat that delivered the band of brothers from Mexico back to Cuba to start the fighting.
Sunday night was dinner ‘on our own’ so a few of us elected to catch a cab into Old Havana to stroll around and catch a bite. I have to say that I did not find the area as charming at night. But it was definitely good to get a feel for the night life of the city even if it was a bit subdued as a result of the day of mourning. We were on a mission to find Cuban sandwiches which seemed on the verge of certain failure when we finally found them at a little bar that reminded Michael of his grandfather’s bar in his old photos. They didn’t press the sandwiches like we expected but the bread was abundant and it was definitely a local’s place. So sandwiches and beer made for a perfect evening capped off with the requisite daiquiris at (presumably) one of Hemingway’s old hangouts, The Floridita.
A good day.
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