TOURING CUBA: PART THREE - CIENFUEGOS and HAVANA

The 75-minute drive from Trinidad to Cienfuegos was scenic.  Much of it was along the coast, with excellent views of the Caribbean.  Cienfuegos is a relatively new city, established in 1819.

Most of the city's major buildings of significance are near the main square, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Jose Marti (1853 - 1895) is known as the Apostle of the Revolution.

Statue of Jose Marti, a Cuban national hero, in Cienfuegos main square

I appreciated the architecture of this city

We explored the streets on our own and then regrouped at the Museo Historico Provincial where we were ushered inside and treated to a live performance by a very talented choral group.  Their voices were beautiful and in perfect harmony.

Museo Historico Provincial

The choir performs for us.  Wonderful, but not your typical Cuban music

Lunch was at D'Carmelina on the outskirts of town.  It was another family-owned and operated paladar with authentic Cuban cuisine served family-style.

It was a three-hour bus ride to the capital city of Havana. We checked into our rooms at the historic 5-star Hotel Nacional de Cuba which was built in 1930.  It is located in the center of Havana and stands on a hill that overlooks the sea.  Hotel Nacional was our home for our final four nights of the trip.

Gerry and I got up before the crack of dawn on Friday morning and took a short walk along the malecon. It was overcast with a light drizzle. Very few other people were out and about.

Gerry walks ahead of me along the malecon

A view of Hotel Nacional pre-dawn

Friday morning we gathered in a banquet room where we were joined by Cuban musicologist, David Faya, a well-known teacher, musician, arranger, composer and producer.  He gave us a one-hour presentation, "Intro to Cuban Music" followed by a Q and A session.  His theme was transculturation, and how Cuban music evolved over the past 500 years.  His talk was fascinating.

Next we boarded the bus to Old Havana.  We visited two of the main historic plazas, Plaza de Armas and Plaza de Catedral.  Plaza de Armas is Havana's oldest square.  In the center of the leafy square is a statue of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, rebel president and leader of the first War of Independence in the 1860s.

At the Plaza de Armas

A view from the Plaza de Armas

Old Havana was filled with hordes of tourists.  We had some free time to roam the streets on our own before lunch.

One of my favorite photos of the entire trip.  Loved seeing these guys

Milling about in Old Havana

Local Cubans in bright colorful apparel

A delicious seafood lunch awaited us at El Rum Rum.  When we were seated we were served a welcome drink, a mojito, naturally.

Entering El Rum Rum

We explored more of Old Havana after lunch.  You could spend a week in Havana and not see even half the sights.

Plaza de Catedral

Street life in Old Havana

Time for a group photo.

Late afternoon we had another people-to-people connection when we visited one of Cuba's preeminent dance companies.  After their performance, we were given a dancing lesson and then were privileged to sit down and talk in small discussion groups with the young dancers.

Cuban dancer Andy, 22 years old, gives my mother a twirl

Back at the hotel we had some down time.  We spent an hour poolside, with views of the ocean in the background.

Gerry takes a refreshing dip

Friday evening we boarded the bus to Amos Studio, located in downtown Havana.  Amos is the photography studio of Alex Castro (Fidel's son) and his partner Ramses H. Batista.  We didn't meet Alex, who was out of town, but we did meet Ramses, a brilliant photographer who gave us a slide presentation.  A catered dinner was served to us after his presentation.

Saturday was my favorite day in Havana.  Gerry and I began the day with a walk at sunrise along the malecon.

Havana sunrise

Our group visited Museo Nacional de Belles Artes, also known as Cuban's Fine Art Museum.  No photographs were allowed inside the museum.  We were given a guided our of the large gallery, which contains the largest collection of works by Cuban artists in the country.  Our hour tour focused on the 20th Century pieces by Carlos Enriquez, Wilfredo Lam, Rene Porocarrero, Servando Cabrero Moreno and Raul Martinez.  Many of their themes were related to the revolution.

Walking the streets of Old Havana after our museum tour

Checking out the local vegetable stand

Colorful homes on this residential street

We boarded the bus to Cojimar, the fishing village ten miles from Old Havana, popular for its Hemingway connection and the wharf where Ernest Hemingway kept his boat, the Pilar.  The village is the setting for "The Old Man and the Sea" and is where Hemingway celebrated the Nobel Prize in 1954.

We ate lunch (delicious grilled lobster for me) at Las Brisas close to the sea.  We sat at two long banquet tables.  A local fisherman joined each table and ate lunch with us and told us about the trials and tribulations of life as a fisherman.

Our fisherman is in the orange shirt.

The elderly gentleman behind the fisherman was a boy of 12 when he first met Hemingway.  He had fond memories of Papa Hemingway and is proud that he got to spend time with "the great man."

The pier at Cojimar

Bust of the famous author

We left Cojimar and headed to the Hemingway Museum at Finca Vigia.  Hemingway lived in Finca Vigia for twenty years, from 1940 until 1960.  The house, a former cattle farm, lies at the end of a long, leafy driveway and is surrounded by lush gardens.  The mansion looks much as Hemingway left it, when he moved to the USA in 1960.  The home has been restored and reopened to tourists in 2007.  Visitors are invited to walk around the house and to peer into all of the windows, but cannot enter the house.

Outside the Hemingway house

The house contains over 9,000 books

The living room of his house

Adjacent to the house is a four-story watch tower that Hemingway's fourth wife Mary had constructed as a writers' workshop.  However, Hemingway supposedly only spent 20 minutes writing there before he decided he preferred to write from his bedroom instead.
 

The room in the watchtower

 Saturday evening a group of us decided to splurge and check out the famous Tropicana.  The tickets were expensive, at $95 a pop, but we figured "when in Rome"... The Tropicana, Havana's most famous cabaret since it opened in 1931, has operated continuously since 1939.  It survived the austere years of the revolution and is internationally famous as one of the best shows in the world.

The Tropicana at night.  It is billed as an open-air paradise

Singers and dancers in dazzling costumes with bizarre headwear

What did I think of the Tropicana?  Not really my cup of tea and I would never do it again.  The Cuban street music and small bands are more my style.

Sunday was our final day in Cuba.  We visited a farmers market and then headed again to Old Town Havana  where we were given a tour of the Plaza de San Franciso, and also Plaza Vieja.  Plaza Vieja was built in the 1500s but has been extensively renovated and is considered one of the most beautiful plazas in Havana.

Plaza Vieja

Plaza Vieja from another angle

San Francisco Plaza with the Fuente de Los Leones (Lion Fountain)

Gerry and I (and Paul and Corinne)  climbed the eight stories of the yellow and white building on the northeast corner of the Plaza Vieja to the Camara Oscura.  From the 8th floor we gained a fabulous panoramic view of Havana.  The camera obscure was interesting.  It hones in on the details of the nearby buildings as well as the general vista.

Looking at the Camara Oscura

View from the 8th floor of the building with the camara oscura

A final shot of Old Havana

Our final night in Havana we were told there would be a surprise at dinner time.  We met in the lobby of the Hotel Nacional at 6:30 pm and walked outside where we saw our "surprise."  Five vintage cars were lined up in front of the hotel!  We were instructed to "pick our car" and hop in.  Gerry and I joined Vince and Liz in a bright yellow 1957 Studebaker convertible.  Gerry rode shotgun, while I sat with Liz and Vince in the backseat.  Our Studebaker had its original engine.  We cruised the malecon and then the beautiful tree-lined streets of Miramar, past the various embassies and mansions.

Cruisin' Havana in style

This  Chevy was another option

We arrived at La Bonita restaurant for our farewell dinner.  Of course, there was an awesome band and they serenaded us this final glorious evening.

The setting and music couldn't have been better on our final night

An impromptu line dance on our final night in Cuba.  Life is good!

Monday was departure day.  We flew from Havana to Miami on a noon flight.  Gerry and I caught a late afternoon direct flight to LA from Miami.

I am happy to have seen Cuba with my own eyes.  It was a pleasure and privilege to meet the citizens of Cuba.  I learned a great deal about the history and culture of the island and its people. I highly recommend a visit to Cuba and my advice is to go soon, before it all changes and becomes commercialized.