A delightful day trip to Havana
Posted Feb 2, 2012 By John M. SmithEMC Lifestyles - While my wife and I were spending a week in Cuba's beautiful beach area, Varadero, we decided to take a day trip to Havana, and this was definitely a highlight of our vacation.
We left our resort in the early morning, and stopped for several hotel pickups, making it well over a three-hour trip into Cuba's capital. Therefore, expect your tour to be a full day, we were gone about 12 hours.
Upon our arrival in Old Havana, the capital's tourist centre and a World Heritage Site, we were impressed by the Spanish colonial architecture, for this city was, at one time, the most important Spanish port in the Caribbean. And as we strolled about the area (for the best way to explore "Habana Vieja" is by foot), we saw lots of grand baroque buildings with barred windows and massive wooden doors, plazas, narrow cobblestone streets, bicycle taxis, horses and carriages, cocotaxis (yellow, egg-shaped three-wheeled scooters), and old, pre-Revolution American cars. We were inevitably led to cigar and rum shops, for these are big "tourist destinations" here, and we were certainly encouraged to make some purchases. We were advised not to buy cigars from street vendors, for they may be merely selling rolled-up banana leaves!
As we wandered about, we saw lots of street vendors and people wanting money. I saw a costumed dog, with which I could get a photo, for a price, and two fancily dressed "cigar smoking mamas" who wanted a peso each for a photo. At the door of a public washroom, an attendant tried to hand me a few pieces of toilet paper again for a tip. And when we left the downtown area at the end of our day in Havana, some children were waiting by the tourist buses, hoping to receive money or a trinket from a visitor, and, of course, my wife aimed to please all these cute little ones.
While in Old Havana, my wife and I found lots of souvenir shops and a large flea market near Cathedral Square. We also strolled along the river and viewed the fortifications (Morro-Cabana Historical Park), and the large statue of Jesus. We saw El Templete, where the first mass took place in San Cristobel de la Habana, La Zaragozana, the oldest restaurant in the Cuban Capital, the National Museum of Natural History located in the Plaza de Armas, the oldest square, the Museum of the Revolution which is housed in the former presidential palace of Batista, who was ousted by Castro, the National Capitol Building, where I climbed many steps to photograph its interior (its beautiful hallway, statues, and dome), the Great Theatre of Havana where I discovered that an opera or ballet could be seen at a very reasonable price, and the Malecon, a pedestrian walkway along the waterfront. We also walked by the Ambos Mundes Hotel, where writer Ernest Hemingway resided for several years, and we saw statues of Carlos Cespedes, Cuba's first president, and Christopher Columbus.
We later drove to the Old Christopher Columbus Cemetery, which is now a National Monument. Each family has a plot here, and when a family member dies, that person is buried in the central section and then re-buried in a smaller section a couple of years later (with a name plate). One particular monument here is often visited, and fresh flowers are placed on it, for it's believed that it's the "Miracle Lady's Tomb." When she died in childbirth, she was buried with her baby placed between her legs, but when she was exhumed and reburied later, the baby was found to be in her arms and this was thought to be a miracle. This cemetery is a massive sea of concrete slabs, with over 50,000 graves and the remains of a couple of million people, the entire family can use this plot for generations at no additional cost. However, it seemed a little bit disrespectful that we tourists could wander around this cemetery, taking photos, even while a funeral was in progress!
We also visited Havana's Revolution Square, where we saw the immense Jose Marti Monument, the city's highest lookout, and the Ministry of the Interior Building, with its large painting of the head of Che Guevara. It's also a tradition to visit a Cuban cigar factory and admire their skill in hand-rolling the cigars and to stop at two of Hemingway's favourite hangouts: La Bodeguita del Medio for a mojito and El Floridita for a daiquiri. If you decide to take in some of the nightlife while in Havana, try one of its renowned cabarets or its world famous Tropicana nightclub and enjoy that lively Cuban music!
Havana is definitely worth a visit, so give up one day of simply "lazing on the beach" and enjoy the sights and sounds of this intriguing city.
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