The Panama Adventure

On our last day, we woke up to rain. Our hosts said rain was predicted for the next two days. That was OK. Since we had already seen so much of Havana, we didn’t feel like we were missing out. And, our host was home recovering from his cut hand, so more interesting conversations were in store.

the roads were wet and the bicycles were covered

bit of street art across the street

our apartment building

But, soon there were spots of blue in the sky, and by noon it was bright and clear! We decided to head out for some more exploring. One thing I enjoyed was getting a closer look at the sculpture. Check out the artist’s website http://www.artsanjuan.com/  He’s Cuban, from Havana and does some really interesting stuff. I wish the photo of the sign had come out better. It says – “Faces can show the soul of the people, the diversity of gender. It is impossible for me to avoid beauty, confrontation and transculturation among us. Today our globalized world is this. It is presence here and there. Why women? Because they are the utmost expression of life. My interest, as an artist, is to donate this piece to the heart of the city. May it beat among us, so that passerby may coexist with it and forever treasure it in their memory.”

it cleared up beautifully

a bit more street art

look, way down there on the right, the American Embassy!

I love this art

Visit the artist’s website. It’s worth your time. IMO

We decided to set off for the Malecon, and turn left towards a different part of town.

You see quite a few pay phones around the city

just a street

and another

is there anywhere without tour buses?

very interesting street art

I backed off to get a look at the whole building with the ornate tile while Joel enjoyed the street art. Apparently the building is not in use, judging by the trees growing in the second floor.

we passed this pretty church

the church looks to be in very good condition

what a beautiful building

We ended up in a more commercial part of the city. It looked like this is where the citizens lived and worked, not a tourist area.

a theater for concerts and other events?

a department store

check out the trees in this park!

there must be a WiFi hot spot here, judging by all the people looking at their phones

a bridal shop

I didn’t feel comfortable walking into stores and taking photos, but I did snap a quick one of this crowded shoe store

Interesting 3rd floor. Is it just a facade?

just walking around

It turned out to be a really beautiful day so it was a pleasure to be out exploring again!

another entrance to Chinatown.

The papaya tree up there had a fruit on it

more street art

I don’t know what is up with these dolls stuck up on the wall

After wandering for a few hours, we decide to turn towards home. We felt like we had been in an entirely different part of town but we actually weren’t that far from our home base.

sometimes some of the trash bins get full to overflowing. But in general the streets are kept clean and trash is put where it belongs.

This was very weird! Read below. Chickens…

and goats…

more veggies for sale

more run down but elegant buildings

my exploring partner 😀

and a bit of street art

About the red car and the goats and chickens… something caught my ear, like a child hollering but when I spotted the source, I realized it was a guy putting a couple little goats into that red car. Soon he came back with chickens, and then the bigger goat in the picture, and then more chickens. I mentioned this to our hosts and they explained it was the Santeria religion, that they use the animals for sacrifices. They didn’t know what was done with them later but according to some information I found on line, they are eaten. This BBC article talks about it.

It rained later in the evening and during the night, but we got lucky with the weather all day. We had a great morning talking with our hosts and did a bit more exploring as well. And, when we got back we found out our hosts had enjoyed a much needed nap. His parents aren’t well so he, and often both of them go to their apartment every evening to take care of them, sometimes returning after midnight so along with their daytime activities, our hosts have a lot going on.

I spent some time on the balcony one late afternoon just watching the neighbors. These photos were probably taken in the space of 5-10 minutes, and as you can see a lot of living is done outdoors even if there is only a small balcony available.

I think these guys were raising pigeons. I saw some fly towards and away from this spot, and I think here the guys were looking for the pigeons in the air.

A street vendor makes a sale

and another sale. Sandwiches?

hanging out on balconies. The guy on the upper one was having a conversation with someone across the street.

a conversation between neighbors

another lady on a balcony

some friends come to visit

I’m very curious to know what is going on with the cardboard in the upper parts of the doorways. We were told that most old apartments have very high ceilings, even 18 feet. Is this the case here, and they are trying to block the elements from the upper parts?

a guy exercising on his roof

more conversations

this man and wife seemed to take turns on the balcony

apparently she keeps her water supply on the balcony

laundry time – the ladies came from the small building on the left. We were told that extra living space is often built on roofs

Isn’t that the guy from the balcony a little while ago? Now it looks like he’s sending something up to the neighbor lady.

Someone asked about trash. These blue trash bins are found everywhere.

Now a man came out and starting washing clothes in a bucket

such a pretty sunset

more colors in the sky

About the blue trash bins in one of the photos, they are found on every street and sometimes later in the day they are overflowing. We were told that trash trucks come around every night. And, the lady with the water on her balcony – no one drinks the tap water in Cuba. Our hostess boiled the water and then put it through a filter in a big jug on the counter. Any time we or anyone else needed water we would go there.

I also mentioned the extra living spaces on roofs. Our host pointed a number of places that had been built on roofs by people who needed living space, and it seemed that almost every roof had these places. He also said it’s common to build an extra floor in apartments that have very high ceilings. Living space can be very expensive for people on limited incomes so they have learned to be creative and use every resource they have.

I liked hanging out on the balcony, enjoying the warm breezes and sounds of the city. It reminded me a bit of New York City in my distant past, when spring would finally come and you could open your windows, and then the sounds of the city would flood in and you would feel so much a part of the energy of the city.

Today we walked north to the water, thinking we hadn’t seen that area but it turned out to be where we got off the bus and walked towards old Havana. But, there were still quite a few things we hadn’t seen in this area and more things to photograph.

street art

Parque de los Enamorados (park of lovers)

doing something on her balcony

Young Communists offices

Tunnel under the water

Plaza 13 de Marzo

Young Communists Offices

A sports event at a school

It was being filmed and the media van was parked outside

in Cuban pesos?

are you looking at my meat??

A funky entrance to a building, not unusual

a cool tree

police offices, no you can’t visit in here

This is still the historical area full of tourists so of course there were dozens of fancy old cars, mostly convertibles, and we were approached countless times for taxis, rides, tours, cigars, anything anyone thought they could sell us but this led to a few pleasant conversations as well.

Yep, tourists = cool cars

check out this Cadillac

this one is interesting too

a few boats in the water

a small Neptune

a very large Jesus statue on the other side of the water

that’s quite a yacht!

Gueogui Gueorguiev who started and ended his trip around the world here (1977)

another cool car

on the top of a building

Italian cruise ship (though registered in Panama)

People had apparently climbed up there for a view

I like the pink and purple one

Feeding pigeons outside the Basílica San Francisco de Asis

We stopped into a few art galleries, but for me the street art is the most interesting.

A very pretty courtyard in an art gallery

bust of Mozart

I should have taken notes on who is this artist

more art on the walls

I like this one

these are interesting too

a model on a photo shoot

another art gallery

I like the glass

school kids

in a back corner of Basílica San Francisco de Asis

another model on a photo shoot

the first model, again

We arrive at plaza Vieja

Somehow we missed Plaza Vieja before. This dates from the mid 1500’s, and has gone through a number of name changes and uses.

I like this sculpture

cyclists walk through the square

ride that chicken!

gorgeous old building under renovation

another very contented cat at a beer brewery place

more art galleries

things that make you go ummmm

I saved the signs but they are talking about something else, not the works behond

we would see this car again…

more ornate old architecture

veggie and fruit market

building? renovating?

down another street

more interesting art

We saw many buildings under renovation but for me, the old untouched buildings are almost more interesting with their remnants of paint and trees growing on the top floors. If they could talk, what stories would they have to tell?

check out the trees growing on the top floor

this is one of my favorite photos

laundry everywhere, always

a graphic workshop, some info

the art studio, printing area

ahh, we’ve been here before

today the fortune teller is busy

a herd of tourists, and a car that can’t quite make the turn

back to the museo

it looks like the kids have gym class on the square

more renovation

another interesting building

almost home

Back in front of our place, a car under repair, supplies being delivered somewhere

We had been doing hours of walking and our legs were starting to feel the strain, so we returned to our place in the late afternoon and stayed in for the rest of the evening, napping, sorting photos, and relaxing. The next day, our last, we would visit some of regular Havana instead of the touristy historic areas.

We relaxed over breakfast and didn’t hurry out this morning. Our hostess put on a Mel Gibson film after breakfast. I think I know better than to watch any more Mel Gibson films. Blech. We aren’t here to watch movies anyway.

Out destination today was Chinatown and a highly recommended restaurant. We set off in that direction, took a detour to a parallel street and got somewhat lost, but in time got ourselves straightened out thanks to some saved maps in my tablet that I brought just in case.

This scene was too pretty to pass up

But, around the corner was a guy hauling vegetables on a cart

Lines outside the bank

lines outside another bank. One day our hostess said she waited 2 hours in line at the bank

pretty little church

YMCA?

I believe this is Iglesia Nuestra Señora de La Caridad

flower vendors

more flower vendors

Chinatown is not really a Chinatown like we would expect. I saw one person that looked like she could be Chinese. I saw one sign and a our destination restaurant, and that was about it. The rest of the area was very Cuban, but not as prosperous or upscale as the areas we had seen before. I saw some furniture making businesses, some shops, lots of flowers for sale on the street, but otherwise mostly very small apartments and buildings in somewhat poor condition.

We walked around exploring a new park and some new areas until we were hungry enough for lunch, which took a while after our typical hearty breakfast served by our hostess.

Too bad my interior pictures of this gorgeous building didn’t turn out!

more street art

Parque El Curita

love the trees

people just hanging out

El Capitolo isn’t far

a family enjoying the day

the entrance to Chinatown!

Eventually we decided to make our way back to the Flor de Loto (Flower of the Lotus), our restaurant destination.

A fruit and veggie store

A Chinatown street

Happy Joel

shrimp chow mein, loaded with shrimp! Joel’s chicken cordon bleu, half got taken home

Salsa Brava? LOL Brava is an adjective used a lot for bad tempered guard dogs.

Entering the restaurant was like entering a different world of linen tablecloths, attentive waiters, and excellent food. For less than $20 we had two large dinners and three beers, enough for Joel to bring home a lot and to keep me full for the rest of the day. That a great thing about staying with a family. They know the area and can recommend the best places.

Our legs were feeling the effects of daily walking so after our late lunch, we slowly ambled home and spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Back out on the streets of Chinatown

School kids on the left

This guy had vegetables and a scale in his cart

There is always laundry hanging out everywhere you go

pretty colors

Camden, a mighty machine! They were digging a trench for cables

More mighty machines on the other side of the street

another great tree in Parque de la Fraternidad

I’m not sure why this tree was fenced

There were quite a few women with tarot cards ready to tell your fortune

Fuente de la India o la Noble Habana

back on the Paseo de Marti near the Capitolio

el Capitolio (under some renovation)

You can see the ballet Giselle this weekend

back to land of tourists and convertables

and, in the same area a guy selling onions

A pretty place on the way home

art shop

with interesting art

beautiful staircase in a building under renovation

elegant building

the Arab center had great doors

pretty colors around the corner from us

street art on our street

more street art – peace, love, hope

Out host was also home, having cut his hand at the base of the thumb at work. He said he had to go to three different clinics/hospitals to find someone who could take care of him. The first said the cut was too deep and bleeding too much. The second was afraid he had cut the tendon and sent him to a specialist. The specialist determined that the tendon wasn’t cut and stitched him up. It has been very interesting listening to him talk about work, health care, the economy, business, etc etc in this very different country though of course it’s still just people trying to live well and take care of their families.

PS his hand was doing well when I left, healing with no signs of infection and minimal pain.

We went to the Paseo de Marti one evening, the beautiful boulevard a block away from where we were staying. We walked up to the Parque Central and enjoyed the buildings all lit up, the balmy evening air, and all the people out enjoying themselves.

I only brought a cheap little Canon (my decent one is repaired and waiting for me in the US). It did OK on these photos though.

We took a tour bus today. There is a hop on, hop off bus for $10 so we got on in the Parque Central not far from where we are staying. Here’s a few photos from the boulevard on our way to the park. It was Sunday and there were a lot of vendors on the boulevard.

We drove down the Malicon and through the city to the Plaza of the Revolution. We could see plenty from the bus so we didn’t get out.

We set off down the Malicon

a very stark looking concrete apartment building

We head into a pretty area. We were told that the homes here are newer, built just before the revolution

Plaza de la Revolucion

National Theater of Cuba

We did get out at the cemetery though. It was a huge cemetery! They wanted $7 per person  so we decided not to go in. We could see quite a bit from the entrance and through the fence and we were fine with that.

Beautiful entrance to the cemetary

Apparently a large group had hired a whole fleet of convertibles for a tour

Then, this large group of little taxis came by

They look like a bunch of bugs in the road 😀

The next bus that came along was full so we had to wait for another. We got in but there were no window seats, so not as good for looking out and taking pictures. It took us through some beautiful neighborhoods and an area that we were told had many embassies and offices, and then along the waterfront where there were some big hotels including the Copacabana (who would have thought we would ever see that!)

A protest in the street, people waving flags and signs, and a film crew recording the event

Habana Libre hotel

a street market

I wanted to go around again but we were getting hungry, so we got off and looked for a restaurant in Old Havana (check the videos in the previous post for some fun music and dancing). We also did some shopping for gifts, and then got back on the bus.

walking back towards Old Havana, more street art

Our lunch restaurant, check the videos post!

the dancing lady

I found a beautiful crochet sweater for my friend, and got a picture with the lady who made it by hand ($12)

We went back to the boulevard and found two cute dressed for my granddaughter, hand made by this lady

When we got back on the bus there was hardly anyone riding. We had our choice of seats and windows so we could see everything really well.

I love this sculpture

This time there were very few people on the bus and we had great window seats.

Interesting archways, and a thousand flag poles??

archways, flag poles, and…

the American Embassy!!

an old stadium that could use some paint

Avenue of the Presidents, with statues honoring Cuba’s former presidents.

I didn’t succeed in getting pictures of any of the statues though

Back at the Plaza de la Revolucion again.

Back to the Plaza de la Revolucion

Where there are tourists, there will be shiny classic cars

Then, driving back through the city.

We pass many upscale hotels

The Russian embassy

The National Aquarium

The Copacabana!

more Copacabana

more nice buildings in a pretty area

They have cool bus stops

a hospital

Havana University, just a tiny bit of the very large campus

Art, cultural exhibitions, music

We got off at the park again, and set off down the boulevard towards home. We came across some people dancing the tango and others watching, sometimes singing along with the music.

Tango dancing in the park. Joel has a great video I must find

This little man tried to get some ladies to dance, but ended up just enjoying watching

We were tired when we got back so we relaxed for a while, and then went back out later in the evening to visit the boulevard again.

It is still a bit strange waking up without internet. The family gathers every night to check email and do what they need to do. It seems to be enough to get my email, write a couple short responses, and make an entry on Facebook but not much more. It doesn’t take long for the connection to break down entirely and then you are finished. We forget how we managed in the time before Internet, when we couldn’t just contact anyone instantly or look up information on any subject. Thankfully Cuban Spanish doesn’t seem that different so I’m able to talk easily with our hostess and ask her lots of questions, and she is always happy to answer.

It seems like everywhere you go there is music. Even small restaurants often have a band, and there is more music in the street.

Here are some musicians we passed as we walked around.

Here’s another three minutes of music, including a fun street event with dancers on stilts.

Here is a really fun group in the restaurant where we had lunch one day. There were also a great pair of dancers. Check it out! I love the woman outside the door who couldn’t stand still when she heard the music. The dancers get going more and more as the video goes on so watch this one to the end.

I also loved hanging out on our balcony and watching the activity below in the street. If you want to spend five minutes on the balcony with me, watch this video.

That’s it for videos. Now I have more pictures to sort from Sunday, then Monday, Tuesday…. 😀  This is fun for me. It’s like reliving our Cuba time all over again.