cuba: santiago de cuba

Once I decided my basic itinerary, it was fairly easy to make it happen. I bought a ticket from Havana to Santiago de Cuba, which is the longest bus ride you can take in the country. If you want to go further east, you have to connect in Santiago de Cuba. (For the sake of my sanity, I will be calling it Santiago for short, as does everyone in Cuba.)

When I bought the ticket they said come an hour early for check in. I did so, then got to sit in the stifling waiting room for a while. No fan, no breeze, not fun.

At first I wasn't planning to check any of my baggage, but I saw that no one else was carrying anything bigger than a day pack onto the bus, so I figured it was relatively safe. The guidebook didn't warn against theft from bags under the bus, like they do in some countries.

At the last minute I pulled my malong (a sheet like thing,) from the big bag and put it in my carryon, I'm glad I did. The bus made liberal use of air conditioning.

Though my boarding card had a seat number, the seating was actually free seating. I was thrilled that I ended up with a window seat. I pulled out my malong and neck pillow and got confortable. The bus actually departed on time, much to my surprise.

During the bus ride we stopped several times, of course. I don't really know what time the stops were, but some of them were longer than others. The next morning we stopped at least once for 30-40 minutes, so people could eat. I'm not sure how those stops are factored into the itineraries, but they are taken into account at least a little.

Nevertheless, the bus pulled into Santiago 30-40 minutes late. I didn't much care, I didn't have specific plans. I noticed my feet were pretty swollen after sitting upright for 16 hours. Not pretty. The foot I'd injured a couple weeks earlier was definitely more swollen than the other, but it didn't hurt, so I figured it was fine enough.

After collecting my baggage a guy approached me and asked if I had a place to stay. I didn't, so I took a look at his photos, which seemed decent. I figured if it was in a bad location, or wasn't that good, I could go elsewhere. He said the price was 20 CUC a night, which was in my budget.

The room was plenty for me. It actually had two beds, which was more than I needed of course. I liked the rooftop terrace too, which gave me a view of the port. A perfect place for breakfast. Not long afterward they brought me a welcome to Santiago drink of mango juice. Soooo good.

I'd been told ahead of time that Santiago in the hottest place in Cuba, and after just a few minutes, I believed it already. I stayed inside until 1530 or so, then ventured out. It was still hot, even then. There was no shade, which was rough for me. I noticed everyone was walking on the side of the street, trying to get into the 2 feet of shade that did exist.

My first sight was a church. Of course. Iglesia del Carmen. It wasn't obvious from down the street, as it wasn't a stand alone building. It was obvious though when I got to the open front doors. Like most of the churches I'd already seen in Cuba, the interior was made of wood. I loved the wood ceiling, maybe because it was different from most of what I've seen in recent years. None of the fans were turned on, so I didn't stay inside very long. As I walked by this church later in the day the door was closed, so I'm glad I got to see it while I did. 

From there I walked to the main platz of the city, which is called Parque de Cespedes. It most definitely is not a park, but who am I to judge others and their names? The first 'sight' was the balcony from which Fidel Castro declared the success of the Cuban Revolution, on 1 9or 2?) January, 1959.

It is now painted blue, and looks pretty good. It's a government building, I don't think you can go inside.

Another side of the platz has the house of Diego Vasquez, the first governor (Spanish) of Cuba. The house is wood, and I loved the architecture. The ceilings everywhere were carved, and really gorgeous. There was an interior courtyard, nothing to get excited about. The wood was carved in ways over the windows and balconies to allow those in those areas to view outward, and to have a breeze, without being seen by those outside.

There was a writing desk with 'secret' hiding spots, and a kitchen. There were a few bedrooms, the beds all made of wood. There was a lot of porcelain, French if I recall correctly. My favourites were the pitcher and bowl made from transparent porcelain.

In several places I noticed stained glass in a half circle above the doorways. It's a Cuban thing, to help cut the heat of the strong sun. All in all, a pretty nice house.

Before going in my next sight I saw a guy with one of those carts for the shaved ice drinks. They were even cheaper in Santiago, only 2 CUP. I love my life. I had two.

My next sight was a church. This was actually a cathedral, and quite big. The catedral de nuestra senora de la asuncion. The guidebook told me this had been a cathedral in one form or another for 500 years, since the founding of the town.

The front altar was wood, but the rest of it was stone. The ceiling was painted too.

Across the street from the cathedral (on the corner of the platz) was a chess club. Since all the windows were wide open, I could see in, so I figured I might as well step inside. I watched two older men play for about 20 minutes. Chess is serious in Santiago.

The fourth side of the platz held a hotel and something else, neither was of interest to me. Instead, I went back to the pedestrian street on which my accomodation was located. Even though it was a bit later in the day, it was still HOT and people were still trying to stay in the shade. I was just a sweaty mess.

A lot of the signs on the street were art deco in style, the buildings were a hodge podge of architectural styles. As for the fashion of what people were wearing, that seemed to be anything goes. Clothing is clothing when you live in a place that doesn't have big malls or instant online shopping.

I walked to the end of the pedestrian street, which brought me to another platz. Plaza de marte has a monument in the middle, I'm pretty sure it's a veterans memorial. There is a shape of a red hat on top, I think that is supposed to represent liberty.

I saw plenty of people sitting and looking at their phones, so I figured this was a wifi spot. Cubans do have smartphones, but there is no such thing as data. If they want to use the internet, or apps of any kind, they have to be connected to wifi. Basically, internet is not a daily part of life for most Cubans. For many Cubans, it's not a part of life at all.

I kept walking, and noticed a hospital. The map labeled it as Los Angeles clinic, I thought the building was really pretty. Like everything else, medical care in Cuba is really limited. The doctors are educated really well, (free state education,) but the lack of money means a great lack of resources.

Pharmacies all over the country are known for empty shelves more than anything else. If you want to visit Cuba, bring everything you need. DO NOT count on being able to get anything in the country.

Not long after the hospital I noticed a small park, it seemed to be full of ice cream stands. From the signs on the stands, it looked as if they were all part of one company. Each standed was crowded with people, so the ice cream must've been decent. Or cheap. It was so hot I didn't think it would stay cold long enough for me to eat it, so I skipped it.

I walked a couple more blocks, to the Cuartel Moncada, It was a fortress, but was attacked by revolutionaries. As with many fortresses in the country, it has become a school now, but a small part of it is a museum. Unfortunately, I arrived too late to see the museum. Argh.

Since my next destination was actually on the other side of the fortress, I had to walk around the outer walls of the grounds, ugh. I love walking, I really do, but I was so hot and so sweaty, it didn't feel good at all.

My walk took me through another neighborhood, I noticed more men playing chess. They were playing on roll up mats, on the sidewalk.

Given how hot the sidewalks were, I have no idea how that was at all fun, but I figured if they could sit, so could I. I ended up watching a couple matches between an older man and a young man. Fun.

Eventually I got to my next stop, the plaza de la revolucion. Apparently every city has one. This one wasn't exciting, there wasn't anything to see or do. One side had a building with a 'picture' of a guy on it, in the same style as the plaza de la revolucion in Havana. I have no idea who this guy was.

Another side of the plaza had a small hill, on top of the hill was a GIANT statue of Antonio Maceo, surrounded by 23 machetes. They didn't look like machetes to me, they looked like giant sticks in the ground. Anywho. There is a small museum about his life under his statue and machetes, and an eternal flame just outside the entry.

On my way back to my accomodation I walked through another neighborhood, this one apparently dedicated to dominoes. I joined two older men for about 10 games. I got lucky and won about 5 of the games, yay! I like dominoes, as the game goes quickly, and you don't have to know a lot of strategy.

The pieces for these guys were homemade, and their 'table' was actually a board balanced on their knees, while they sat on chairs.

I watched another group of young men playing, they were surrounded by a number of others. Somehow those playing were partners, but I couldn't figure out how that made a difference. One of the guys in the crowd explained to me that in each area of the neighborhood everyone contribures a few pesos every so often, which allows for the purchase of a better table, or domino set, or chairs, something along those lines. I like the idea.

He also explained that it's too hot inside everyone's home, so they get together out on the street. Makes sense to me.

I kept going because the sun was going down, and I'm not a huge fan of being out in the dark in a city I don't know. The sunset was pretty, I could see the colours of the sky change as I walked along. Plus I could feel it cooling down, which was amazing.

I slept well that night, and loved my breakfast on the roof the next morning. The view was great, and this was the breakfast I'd wanted in Havana: two fried eggs, a plate full of fruit (mango, pineapple, papaya,) rolls, pieces of ham and cheese, 3 glasses worth of fruit juice in a pitcher, hot water for tea, hot milk, and jam.

I didn't eat much of the bread, but everything else was great.

My 'chore' of the day was to buy a bus ticket for my next destination. I got all kinds of macho hassling on the way to the bus station, but I was already used to it. The bus I wanted was full, so I had to settle for one leaving mid afternoon, instead of early morning. Argh. Oh well.

From there I walked to a cemetary, called Cemeterio Santa Ifigenia. The guidebook told me it was second in importance in the country, because it is quite grandiose, and also because it is the eternal resting place of Jose Marti, the guy who was the leader of the Cubans in the 2^nd war for independence.

The guidebook also told me there are 8000+ tombs, of course I didn't see them all.

I walked toward what I thought was the main entrance, only to have a guard tell me not to go there. Okay, but where do I go? He didn't tell me that. I started walking in another direction, only to be told not to go there either. I was on sidewalks, and there was no signage, so I was confused and frustrated by this point.

Finally I found a gate. After entering the gate a woman told me it was 3 CUC for the ticket, which was fine. She told me I could see the next changing of the guard in about 20 minutes, but I knew the ceremony takes place every 30 minutes, and that 20 minutes wouldn't be long enough for me in the cemetary.

I was right, I wandered around the cemetary for about 45 minutes. There were a couple memorials clearly intended for groups of people, I'm guessing fighters. There were large family tombs, and smaller individual tombs. Some super fancy, others more simple. The one thing they all had in common was being above ground.

Toward the end, I visited the tomb of Jose Marti. It's big, you can't miss it. A line in one of his poems apparently says something about eternal sunshine, so when they designed his tomb/memorial they made it so that sunlight goes into his tomb no matter what time of day it is.

(Obviously, not at night.) You're able to look down to his sarcophagus, which is draped with the Cuban flag.

I exited the gate, and went over to the area where the changing of the guard ceremony takes place. The guy didn't want me to go over there either, which made no sense, because I knew that's where people stand for the ceremony. I was okay with not standing in front of a specific line, but it felt like all this guy did was say don't go there, without being helpful, or nice.

Soon enough the ceremony started, there is music throughout. Basically it is new soldiers high stepping to the tomb, and the old soldiers high stepping back to where the others came from. (Which is the building I'd initially thought was the main entrance to the cemetary, now I think it is the administration office.) Not very exciting.

I left the area, and walked back by the bus station, on my way to the waterfront area. This seemed new, I'm guessing it has been developed in just the last decade or so. The water itself isn't accessible, but you kinda feel like it is.

There are huge letters spelling out CUBA, and a couple play areas for kids. I saw a shaved ice stand and had a couple of those. Note to self, do not get the mint flavour, it tastes like mouthwash.

From there I walked into the Tivoli neighborhood, which is supposed to be something special. It didn't feel any different to me, at least not any different than each neighborhood I'd already seen felt different from others. There were a couple viewpoints in the neighborhood though, I really liked those.

I went to a museum, the Museo de la Lucha Clandestina, in a beautiful wooden house.

This museum was about the revolution in this area of the country. The city is surrounded by mountains, the rebels hid in this area at the beginning, until they got their act together. More pictures and descriptions, not much else. This museum charge 5 CUC for photos, though the entry fee was only 1 CUC. Totally not worth it. Originally a home, it was later a police station, and is now a museum. The view of the city from the balconies is quite nice.

After going through the museum I realized I was hotter and more dehydrated than before, though I'd been drinking throughout the day. Ugh.

I walked down a set of stairs, the Padre Pico steps. They're big, but no one in their right mind sits in the middle of them because it is so darn hot. I took a photo, sweating the entire time. I think most of the photos of me during this trip are taken at a distance so you don't see all the sweat. Those that are closer have sweat spots everywhere.

I went back to my room and laid down for a bit, after drinking a heap of cold water. Between the air con and the fan I was able to cool down, but I didn't feel great.

After relaxing and cooling down for a couple hours, I went back out. I wanted to see another church, this one was closed. Argh. I don't know if some churches are open outside of service hours, and others aren't, or if there are certain opening hours many churches have that I just don't know about.

I walked the pedestrian street again, then a block over to see the house of Wilma Espin, Raul Castro's wife. She was one of the more important revolutionaries. It was closed for renovations, argh.

The street from there basically went up. I was hot and miserable, again. Next to a park I found another shaved ice guy, I had two of them. Strawberry flavour is definitely the way to go, but you can also have cola, or orange. The other stands I'd seen had coolers in the middle, where the guy opened it up and scooped out ice. This guy actually shaved the ice while you watched. His cooler in the middle had a bunch of really big blocks of ice.

The park wasn't great, but the fountain in the middle was fun. The statue in the middle of the fountain was actually two faces carved into the sides of a cube, under which the water shoots straight up.

Very cool. I was seriously considering hopping in the water.

From there I just had to cross the street and walk one block to the Cuartel Moncada, which I'd tried to see the day before. This time I was earlier in the day, it was still open. I paid the 2 CUC entry fee with a 5 CUC note, they struggled to find change. Their list price had a 10 CUC charge to take photos, but I heard them saying 5 CUC to several folks for photos. I opted not to pay, as I'd already paid one outrageous photo fee for the day. I still took a few photos, but again, it totally would not be worth it.

If they want to make more money, then raise the price of the entry fee by 1 CUC, and everyone will pay it.

Like the other museums, this one was also about guerilla fighting. This one was specifically geared toward the attack led by Fidel Castro in 1953, when 100 or so of his revolutionaries attacked these barracks guarded by Batista's troops.

It's a bit creepy in some places, as there are pictures of a number of dead bodies. One would've been enough for me, thanks.

There were (money) bills that had been in Fidel's pockets displayed, among other random items. Displays of uniforms worn by various people were up as well. A lot of the displays seemed similar to what I'd already seen in Havana and Santiago itself.

I moseyed back to my accomodation, going through a couple more platzes and seeing more closed churches. I had dinner that night on the rooftop terrace while watching the sun go down over the port. Chicken, rice and beans, fries, a plate with cucumber, tomatoes and advocados, and a dessert. It was huge, I couldn't (and didn't want to) eat all the rice and fries.

Breakfast the next morning was also on the roof. I really could get used to this life.

I wanted to go see a fort, but figuring out how to get there proved to be quite a challenge. The guy in my house didn't seem to understand what I wanted at first, then he had me totally confused with his directions about where to find a bus. I ended up walking to one of the major hotels in town and asking the front desk. The lady working thought for a moment, then told me where to go in just a couple sentences.

When I got to that spot I had about eight locals point out the taxi drivers to me, even though I stated over and over (in Spanish) that I wanted the local ride. One of the taxi drivers came over and tried to convince me, including touching my shoulder a couple times to make a point. This despite me repeating over and over and over (in Spanish) that I just wanted the local public transport.

The ladies waiting at the bus stop pointed out the bus when it arrived, and told me how much it was, and how to hold my bag. Ladies stand up for each other around the world. Men, not so much.

The bus (which was more like a truck with a canopy over the back, I think about 50 people were in there,) was 2 CUP one way. By comparison, the cheapest taxi offer I heard was 8 CUC. That 8 CUC converts to 200 CUP, so even a round trip on the public ride is heaps cheaper. Of course, there is no real schedule of the buses, so you might have to wait. But I had no schedule to keep, so I was fine.

I got off the bus at the end stop, then had to walk about 30 minutes up a hill. The fortress (called El Morro) is on a promontory guarding one side of the entrance of the bay on which Santiago is located.

Building it took so long the guy who designed it died before the building was completed. By the time it was completed, it wasn't really needed anymore, the pirates had mostly moved on. It was used for other purposes over the years, mostly military. At one point parts of it were a prison, which must've been awful for the prisoners.

Anywho. The entry fee was 4 CUC (it is a Unesco sight,) with a photo fee of 5 CUC. This city is ridiculous with the photo fees. This time I did pay.

The fortress is a star-ish shape, surrounded by a moat on most sides. The non moaty sides have stairs going down several levels, I don't know who went up and down that way. I took photos of the exterior before entering over the wooden bridge.

The inside wasn't that great. There was a room that had been used as a church, several rooms displaying weapons of the various centuries, a description of the torture room, and several of the prison areas. I ended up going down, then back up all the stairs. I know I'm out of shape, but WHOA, I was huffing and puffing. And sweating, of course.

Eventually, when I felt like I'd seen everything, I left. I walked back down the hill (much faster going down, of course,) back to the bus stop. While waiting for the bus I drank the water left in my camelpak, so I knew I needed to go straight back to my room when I got back to Santiago. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long for a bus going back to the city. 2 CUP more and life was good.

Back in the house I laid down for a while, cooling down again. After a couple hours I took cold water with me and went back into the heat. I went to see the Museo de Carnaval, which wasn't that great.

There were a few costumes on display, and a few photos of some of the older festivals. There were also posters of the more recent Carnavals, which take place in Santiago in July every year. This was another museum wanting a 5 CUC photo fee, but the entry fee was only 1 CUC. As the museum itself was three and a half rooms, I refused to pay that photo fee. There wasn't even anything to take photos of! (I snuck one, of one costume not behind a display case.)

I had dinner in the house again, up on the roof. Fish this time, with rice and beans, fried plantains, as well as the same salad and dessert as the day before. Sigh, life is good.

Another big breakfast, another beautiful morning view on the roof.

At the beginning of my walk I went past a small park, where a band was playing. One guy was running a paper organ (I'd never seen one before!) while the others were keeping the beat or singing or doing something else. Awesome. I was happy to throw into that tip basket.

I decided to make another attempt at the Vilma Espin house, after reading the guidebook and seeing that the opening hours were only in the mornings, I hoped the renovation they'd mentioned earlier was just an afternoon of moving things around. Alas, my hopes were dashed. I wonder when this renovation will end.

I walked to another museum, the Emilio Bacardi museum. This guy is the one who started the rum empire you've probably heard about. By the time the rum got famous he wasn't living in Cuba anymore, but the country still claims him.

His museum has a lot. The top floor is all artwork, that floor is air conditioned. Some of the paintings I really liked. Paintings of royals always fascinate me, as I often think they weren't at all good looking. The middle floor has stuff he collected on his travels, as well as items related to the history of the city. The bottom floor has ethnography stuff, including three mummies. Creepy, but awesome, sortof.

From there I went back to my accomodation, packed up my stuff and checked out. It was easy to catch a bici taxi (bicycle taxi, they pedal while the passenger is in a small carriage of sorts,) to the bus station. The bus to my next destination was an hour late, argh.

I think I"ve pretty much seen all there is to see in Santiago. The city is crazy with photo fees at museums, how many people pay all of them. But if I come back to Cuba and want to see anything east of Santiago, I'll have to connect in the city at the very least. 

cuba: la habana

Of course I started exploring Cuba with the capital city of Havana. Even though I hadn't been outside (only in an un air conditioned airport and a taxi,) I could feel the heat and humidity. I was really happy to see a mini refridgerator in my room, as I knew I could keep water cold in there. Just before coming I'd bought a water bottle with insulation, so my cold water would stay cold.

After resting up for a few hours, (I wasted hours, but also used the time to finally read my guidebook,) I went for a walk.

Visible from my room was a church, of course that was the first place I visited. Iglesia del Carmen. As soon as I entered I could feel the lack of air circulation. There were fans on columns everywhere, but they weren't moving. I hope they're turned on during worship times.  I'm so used to churches in Europe and elsewhere being nice and cool, this was definitely not the case in this church. I suppose when stone is constantly being baked by the sun, it eventually absorbs the heat and holds on.

Anywho, the ceiling was lovely, painted in several places. Some of the columns had tiling at the bottom, which I loved. The sanctuary was pretty big overall.

From there I walked to the end of the street, which happened to take me to the malecon. Just before the end of the street was a fake waterfall with a Cuban flag waving above it. I'm not sure what the point of it was, but it has potential to be pretty. It wasn't pretty to me because of the trash floating in the water, as well as the lack of circulation in the water that caused algae to grow.

Several cities in Cuba have them, but the malecon in Havana is the one most well known. In all the cities it's basically a walkway along the water, usually guarded by a wall. The walk in Havana is something like 8 kilometers if you start at one end and go to the other.

There are epic photos of the malecon in Havana, as the sunsets are generally gorgeous. There are also epic photos of water crashing over the wall when hurricanes and other nasty weather come along. This is the place where the whole city comes out to hang out at night.

There are families, there are couples, there are people fishing, etc...

It was boiling hot when I started walking, and it was already 1600. It felt like the sun was aiming right for me, or hitting the cement under me and reflecting heat. I saw the rocks on the other side of the wall and wanted to take a photo, but realized the wall itself was really hot, so leaning on it didn't feel good. Plus when I looked over I saw the horrid amount of trash on the rocks, it was not pretty. I did realize that standing and walking on the wall was a lot cooler, (but still hot,) as there was a slight breeze.

I got off the wall and the malecon itself when I saw a statue of a guy on a horse. My map told me this was Antonio Maceo, a Cuban general from the late 19^th century. It was actually a decent sized platz, but there was no shade, so no one was hanging out. I took my photos and moved on.

Instead of going back toward the malecon, I decided to head into Old Havana, Habana Vieja. It was crowded, dirty, and full of personality. I stopped counting the number of men/boys who whistled, catcalled, hissed, (the hissing really creeped me out,) or made other indications toward me.

It's part of the culture, but I don't like it. This is one of the times being a solo female traveller isn't much fun. Those that didn't do any of those actions tried to start conversations, but I wasn't interested.

As I walked along I could see that nearly everyone had their front door open. I inadvertantly looked into heaps of living rooms. Kids played in the streets, people sat on front steps and talked with everyone. It felt like a community.

I walked past stores of various kinds. Most of them were small, selling just a few things. Drinks were the most common, but I also saw stands selling bread, or bread with ham, or bread with ham and cheese. One place sold eggs, just eggs. Every time I walked past a place with food it seemed like I should eat something, but I wasn't hungry. At all.

I stepped around multiple piles of rubbish. Sometimes it was construction/renovation related rubbish, others times it was food, and sometimes it was just trash. None of it was pleasant. I don't know what the city does about trash, is there a pickup? Or do people just have to deal with it on their own?

The buildings had once been amazing, now it felt like I was seeing faded dignity. All of them could use a cleaning and paint job, but those priorities are pretty low for most Cubans. There isn't a lot of money for paint, if the paint can even be found.

Eventually I came to the capital (called Capitolio) building. It looks just like the US capitol buiding, after which it was modeled. The cupola was covered in scaffolding, renovation was clearly being done.

From there I found myself in tourist central. It was still Havana, but it was a bit more spruced up, and most of the people were not locals. I walked along a pedestrian street filled with shops and restaurants geared toward tourists.

Even though I wasn't hungry, I knew I needed to eat. I found a cafe with prices I didn't mind paying, and sat down for a while. My clothes were wet, I felt rather disgusting. The sandwich and juice tasted good, but I just wasn't hungry.

From there I followed another pedestrian street to a platz.

Plaza Vieja is surrounded by buildings that were originally constructed as homes, rather than government buildings. Apparently this is where the wealthiest Havanans lived, and the plaza once hosted public executions. Nowadays it isn't exciting, it's just a plaza with nice looking buildings around.

I walked back up the pedestrian street, then made my way out to another area of the malecon. On the way there I passed a fort, but it was closed. I didn't see a sign listing hours so I don't know if this is normal, or I was just late in the day.

I followed the malecon all the way back to my room, except for the last few blocks, of course. I got to see the whole thing come alive, especially as the sun went down. The sunset was lovely, I'm guessing they get this sort of thing regularly?

I finally got back to my room and pretty much collapsed from heat exhaustion. I read my guidebook for a while, and came up wth a basic itinerary for my three week trip. Then I aimed the fan straight at me and went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up thinking I could get breakfast in the house.

This was when I found out I should've ordered it the night before, ooops. She took pity on me and fed me a roll with ham and cheese, as well as a glass of juice. It was totally unexpected, and very much appreciated. I made sure to say that I definitely wanted breakfast the next morning.

My first 'chore' for the day was to buy a bus ticket to leave Havana. I walked to the bus station, which was nowhere close. My route took me through neighborhoods that don't get a lot of tourists, but I think I could say that about almost anywhere in Havana, except for the highly touristed areas.

There wasn't much of anything to see in the areas I walked through, as they had apartment block homes, and very few cars. I did see kids playing in the streets.

At the bus station I had to wait in a queue, which did not seem to move. Eventually I got to buy my ticket, after feeling heaps of sweat drip down my face and back. So gross.

After buying my ticket I was thrilled to get walking again. It was still crazy hot and sunny, but I'll take walking in heat over standing still in a building without much circulation.

My first sight of the day was intended to be the Chinese cemetary, but it wasn't open. From what I could see over the fence, it didn't look very 'Chinese.' (I've traveled in Asia enough to recognize a Chinese cemetary.) there used to be a decent Chinese population on Cuba, they were mostly cheap laborers. They left after the revolution.

I kept walking and found a memorial to Ho Chi Minh. I suppose the communist/socialist folks support each other. It wasn't big, nor particularly memorable.

My next sight was listed in the guidebook: another cemetary. It was surrounded by a yellow-orange wall, entry only through specific gates. The entry fee was $5, which seemed like a lot for a cemetary. The guard who took my money asked where I was from, and asked if I liked Trump. I gave my answer, then he asked if I liked Obama. I gave a completely different answer, and I was happy to know that he agreed with me on both counts.

The cemetary was big. I walked past a communal memorial for revolutionary fighters, which was very nice looking.

I walked past quite a few family tombs, as well as individual tombs. Some were huge, others were 'normal' sized. Some were incredibly ornate, others not so much.

Everything was above ground, which I don't think I've seen before. (Maybe I have, but I don't remember.) The water level is too high to bury people underground.

There is a church in the middle of the cemetary, and while I was walking around I'm pretty sure I saw at least two caskets being carried in. I didn't see massive numbers of people following the caskets, so I could be totally wrong.

I could've spent days by looking at each tomb/memorial, but eventually I decided it was time to go. My next sight was the plaza de la revolucion, which is well known because one of the buildings has a GIANT 'picture' of Che on the side.

One side of the plaza has a big memorial to Jose Marti, a hero of the second war of independence. (The one when the US got involved and essentially kicked Spain out of Cuba.) Marti was a poet, who ended up in exile after the first war of independence, then came back and died in battle.

He was the spiritual leader of the fight, and is one of the heroes and martyrs of Cuba. When I got there his memorial was closed, even the steps leading to the memorial were closed. Again, I don't know if it was the day of the week or my timing, or a special closing. The thing was so big though, it was easy to take photos from a distance.

Of course I took a selfie with the building with Che on the side. Who doesn't? While doing this I noticed at least four soldiers guarding the building. Is anyone planning to attack?

From there I walked home and rested for a while. I could tell I was going to need a daily afternoon break while traveling in this country, due to the heat. Just before arriving home I saw a place with pizzas for about $1.50, which seemed like a decent price. It was cheap for the size of pizza I got, at least in my opinion. They don't have takeaway boxes in Cuba, so you are handed the pizza on a few slices of paper. Since it is straight out of the oven, it's hot. Not so easy to deal with, as the heat goes right through the paper.

After a couple hours I went out again, and walked the malecon for another beautiful sunset. It was a Saturday evening, and there were quite a few neighborhood parties going on. Music everywhere, some people dancing. Awesome.

Breakfast the next morning was 15 minutes earlier than I'd asked, but oh well. My host didn't have fruit, which was a disappointment, as that was one of the reasons I'd ordered the breakfast. Even so, it was plenty of food; heavy on the carbs. How do people eat so much bread in this heat?

My walk to my first sight of the day was supposed to be about 30 minutes, of course it took longer with all my photo taking. My favourite 'find' was an indoor courtyard of sorts with a staircase next to a wall mural.

As I'd noticed the day before, all of the buildings had once looked very grand but were now very faded. I saw art deco, French colonial, Spanish colonial, baroque, etc... buildings. It was around 0900, and kids were out in the streets, stalls were selling rolls with ham and cheese, daily life going on everywhere.

I'm guessing most Cubans don't drink as much water as I need, how are they surviving? I saw a lot of drinks for sale, but most of them were high in sugar; is there a high rate of diabetes in the country?

I arrived at my first sight of the day and was a bit disappointed to see that part of it was under renovation. In other words, my outside picture of the Museo de la Revolucion wasn't going to look as good as I wanted it to. At one time it was the palace residence of various former presidents, so it was pretty spiffy, or could've been.

After paying my entry fee I found out they thought my purse was too big, so I had to check it. It was a bit awkward to carry around my tripod, camera, iphone, and water, but I made it work.

To get to the beginning of the exhibits you climb a central staircase, then hit a side staircase up to the top level. I looked up while climbing the first staircase, and as always, I'm glad I did. There is a cupola up there, beautifully painted and looking gorgeous.

The museum is one of the best in Cuba, with a big about the early history of the country, going up to modern day. But it's also (mostly) one of many about the events that have guided the lives of Cubans for a couple generations now. The socialist revolution succeeded, according to Fidel Castro, but I think most Cubans would now say he took it a bit too far. Anywho, the museum has a lot of photos and descriptions, all in Spanish and some in English. I'd be happy to do translations of all the descriptions into English if anyone wants me to do so. 

There are areas describing certain people involved in the revolution, as well as items they used in their daily lives. Eyeglasses, shoes, uniform, whistle, etc... Some of the clothing displayed had blood on it, some looked really really clean.

There were maps showing the locations of the fighting, as well as how those 'troops' moved in a specific area. There were a few banknotes (used during various times in history and especially during the revolution,) displayed as well.

One of the rooms used to be the president's office. I think I heard a guide say that 21 of the first 24 presidents of Cuba used that office. Obviously, it's a corner office. Near that office is a set of stairs with a glass door. The sign next to the door says this is the flight of stairs Batista used to flee the building when he ran away for good.

On the same floor as the office is the Room of Mirrors, which was designed by Tiffany's, in New York, the company that makes diamond jewelry.

It was designed to look like the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, and I suppose it comes close. It was under renovation when I visited, so I only got to peek in. The ceiling is painted, and I imagine it is quite grand when everything is fixed and sunlight is streaming in. Right now it is a vision of faded grandeur.

As you might guess, all of the information is presented from those on one side of the fight. There is no presentation from the US. Parts of the storytelling seemed much more one sided than others.

In one display they've accused the American CIA of bringing Dengue Fever to the island, I have no idea if that is true or not. The Bay of Pigs is presented as a Cuban victory, and a demonstration of what the Cuban people really wanted.

Just before exiting the building you walk by a cartoon representation of three US presidents and former (US supported) dictator Batista. Each of them is displayed as a character, and next to the character is a thank you. Not a nice thank you, the thank yous are all rather snarky.

Batista's thanks says 'thank you cretin for helped us to make the revolution.' Ronald Reagan's says 'thank you cretin for helped us to strengthen the revolution.' George Bush Sr's says 'thank you cretin for helped us to consolidate the revolution.' George W. Bush's says 'thank you cretin for helped us to make socialism irrevocable.' Let's just say these are viewpoints that will never be presented in the educational system in the US, no matter how much we like or dislike any of our former presidents and/or governments.

After leaving the building, I walked out the back, to the Granma Pavilion. This is where you get to see the yacht (named Granma, the province where it landed is now called Granma,) upon which Fidel Castro and 81 others arrived on Cuba, back in December of 1956. It's 18m long, so not that big for that many people. It is now in a glass building, so you can look but not get anywhere close. Around the glass part of everything are a few tanks, planes, and other assorted items used in the revolution.

Also in this area are four soldiers, in case you want to steal any of what you're seeing. (Though from what I could tell, the soldiers were more like docents at a museum, as they answered questions and told people where not to go.) There is also an eternal flame, dedicated to the heroes of the new country. (I think.)

After leaving the museum, I walked across the street to a church I'd seen, unfortunately it was closed. This happened in more than half the times I wanted to visit a church. Too bad.

From there I spied a statue, a rather grand statue, so of course I wanted to visit. It turned out to be Maximo Gomez, and the statue itself was in a rather large platz, with nothing else. To get there I had to cross a couple streets, I'm guessing this isn't a statue many tourists visit? Or maybe it was just too darn hot to be running around like I was. A police officer must've thought I was lost, because he came out of nowhere to help me cross the streets again. Or maybe I wasn't supposed to get that close to the statue? Who knows. He seemed completely surprised that I was there. 

I walked to the national school of ballet, but it wasn't open. Cuban dancers are famous, it would've been nice to see, although now that I think about it, they probably don't let tourists just wander through.

I walked along the street known as the prado to parque central, in front of a fancy hotel. Nothing much in the park except a statue in the middle (forgot to check who it was.) Between the hotel and the park was a small parkplatz full of the classic American cars used as taxis. Eye catching, of course.

Do people from other countries like those cars as much as Americans do?

I wandered through more of Old Havana, and eventually stopped for lunch. I wasn't hungry, but it seemed like a good thing to do. The food wasn't great, or maybe I was just too hot to care.

I kept walking, over to the front side of the Capitolio. There is a construction fence in front of much of the building, you can't get a photo of the whole set of stairs and building. Too bad. The guidebook mentions construction as well, how long has it been going on and how much longer will it continue?

As I was walking back toward home I stopped at a stand surrounded by Cubans. A guy was putting shaved iced in little cups, then pouring flavoured syrup water over the ice. It looked really good, and clearly I wasn't the only one who thought so. I tried to see how much money was being handed over, but I wasn't sure. After ordering mine, I paid with a 1 CUC note, and counted the change. The guy gave me back 20 pesos, which meant it only cost 5 CUP, or 5 pesos of the Cuban money. In other words, 20 American cents. AWESOME! I got another one a couple blocks down the road.

On the way home I passed a church mentioned in the guidebook, but it was closed. The spires looked pretty fancy, I wonder what the inside looks like.

I got home and rested for a couple hours, which felt amazing.

When I walked up to the malecon this time, I turned left instead of right, as I had the two previous evenings. This time my walk took me past the back side of the Hotel Nacional, which is huge. Pretty quickly I got to the memorial to the victims of the USS Miami.

I have to admit I was suprised to see this, because this was an American ship that blew up; 266 American sailors died in the explosion. The explosion was the official reason for the US to get involved in the second war of independence, otherwise known as the Cuban-American-Spanish war. There were people hanging out on the shadowed side of the memorial, but the sunny side was still way too hot.

I kept walking and got to the Plaza Tribuna Anti-imperialista, right in front of the new US Embassy.

The plaza is filled with flagpoles, they once held hundreds of Cuban flags. These were put in place because when the building was the US interests building (during the years there were no diplomatic relations between the countries,) George Bush Sr ordered a running ticker on the outside of the building to display headlines from around the world. These sorts of headlines were not news the Cuban people had access to, and the Cuban government didn't like the ticker. The flagpoles and flags went up to block the views of all except those who walked by the building, and I'm guessing very few did that. Now the flagpoles are empty, but I took a couple photos anywho.

Also, the US embassy is an ugly building. Just sayin....

I kept walking toward nothing in particular. I ended up on the malecon again, looking at a memorial for Calixto Garcia. I don't know who he is, I should look it up.

From there I turned around, and headed back into the grid of streets. I found the synagogue, which wasn't big to begin with, as the Jewish community in Havana (and Cuba in general,) is really small.

From there I walked until I found the Habana Libre hotel. It was originally the Hilton Hotel, until Fidel Castro appropriated it and started ruling the country from a suite on the 24^th floor. I didn't go inside, but I've read in several places that there are photos from that time still displayed. There is a giant mosaic on the outside of the hotel, very pretty.

On my way to another hotel I got popcorn, again only 5 CUP, or 20 American cents. Yahoo for cheap street goodies.

I went into the Hotel Nacional because I figured they had decent wifi. Cuba does not have wifi everywhere, far from it. And where you do find it, it isn't free. When I found a desk the lady sold me a card she said was good for two hours for 5 CUC, or about $5. I was online for more than 2 hours, but the card didn't seem to run out. Good for me I guess.

The next morning I walked toward Habana Viejo again, aiming for a fancy theatre. Since I didn't have breakfast in my accomodation (she still didn't have fruit, and that was what I really wanted,) I figured I should eat something.

I ended up getting a 'croissant' with ham and cheese from a bakery. So much for having fruit. While waiting in line I could feel sweat just rolling down my back, so gross. I'm glad I didn't want a drink there as well, because I would've had to wait in a second line, and neither line was moving quickly.

I got to the fancy theatre and wanted to take a tour. Go figure I showed up on the one day of the week it is closed. Argh. I should've done it the day before.

I moved on to another 'must see' sight in Havana, the city cathedral. It's on a platz of course, I didn't think much of the outside of the church or the platz itself. I'm probably just a jaded traveler. When I got inside I had to borrow a wraparound skirt because my shorts were considered too short.

I find it interesting that the standards for appropriate dress in a religious building vary so much around the world. In Rome I would've had to cover shoulders and legs. In Ukraine I would've had to cover my head, and maybe my legs depending on the church. In Malaysia I had to wear a cape sort of thing so I was covered from head to toe.

Anywho, the ceiling of this church wasn't terribly exciting, neither was the rest of the church. The altar up from was made of wood, and quite pretty.

Since the church was free to enter, I didn't mind paying 1 CUC to climb the bell tower. (The guy reminded those who were climbing not to ring the bells, of course.) The views over the city were nice, and the breeze felt fantastic.

I walked by the fort I'd seen the day before, but it was still closed. Is it ever open? I could see a guard, but I don't know what his job was, as no one is going to attack the fort anymore.

After that I ran out of things I wanted to see that day. Since the theater and fort had been closed, I didn't really know what to do with my time. I'd checked out of my accomodation in the morning, so I couldn't go back there to relax, though I was able to leave my bag during the day.

Instead, I walked. And walked some more. At one point I was in a platz and noticed a girl wearing the biggest dress I'd ever seen. I overheard some other tourists speaking English, and they said something about it being her quinciniera (sp?) and this being the traditional photo shoot.

Very apparently a lot of money is spent on these photo shoots. All I could see was a HUGE dress, and a girl with way too much makeup on her face.

Not too long after that, it started raining. To get out of the rain, I stepped into a gallery, which had some paintings I actually liked. But since I don't have a permanent home, it made no sense to buy any of them.

The rain continued for the next several hours, sometimes a little lighter, sometimes a complete downpour. I moved when it wasn't raining so hard, as did plenty of others.

I was near a cafe for a while, and quite amused at the flood level of the streets. I took one of my favourite photos of the trip then, when an American classic car was plowing through the water.

When the rain lightened up again, I started walking back in the direction of my accomodation. After several stops along the way to wait out downpours, I finally made it back to the neighborhood. There was a cafe with ropa vieja on the menu, which I wanted to try. It's basically shredded beef, and was served with rice and beans, and cabbage. A lot saltier than I expected, but not too bad.

From there I went back to the Hotel Nacional (it had finally stopped raining completely,) to use up the rest of the wifi card I'd started the night before. When I logged on, it said I had 20 minutes left. Almost two hours later it still hadn't kicked me off! I definitely wasn't complaining. That was exactly the opposite of what I expected to happen, given that everything is so tightly controlled in Cuba. 

I got back to my accomodation in time to pick up my bags, and take a taxi to the bus station. In most weather I wouldn't mind walking to the station, but I didn't feel like sweating that much.

I knew I would be back to Havana, at least at the end of this trip.