The Panama Adventure

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.

It just took me less time to upload 109 photos than it did to upload 3 in Cuba. The internet there…well… You don’t realize how much you use it until you don’t have it!

So, you have been warned. This post contains 109 photos (and this is after I tossed at least 2/3 of them out!) 😀

The second day we walked in the old, historic part of Havana. This place is a dream for a photographer – endless buildings, people, scenes, and interesting things. I need to research many of these places. There were churches, squares, monuments, and other buildings that were obviously old and full of history. I’m glad I took photos of some signs to help me identify things.

Buildings seemed in many states of repair, some being well cared for or restored, and others showing the passage of time. The old section is obviously a tourist attraction and there were people everywhere speaking many languages. Many tourists were in groups with guides, and there were many many buses. Our hostess said the buses meet the cruise ships to take people on tours of the city, and others told us bus tours are also arranged by hotels for their guests.

Our hostess is really spoiling us! She fed us such a big breakfast that we had to save a lot of it for later. When we returned the bed was made and the room cleaned up. Even the toilet paper was folded into a little point at the end like a hotel service, and our towels had been replaced with clean ones. Speaking of toilet paper, she doesn’t know where so many visitors get the idea that there is a shortage of things in Havana. She says they have paper, soap, everything they need available in stores and she doesn’t know why people keep bringing these things. Maybe it’s different in other areas but in Havana, people are able to get what they need.

We had a great day walking in the old, historic part of Havana and we saw so much that our heads were swimming by the time we got back.

After a day of walking, we just relaxed for the evening. We got on line for a short while to check email, etc. But it wasn’t long before the slow internet stopped working entirely, probably because there were too many people using it on a Saturday night. Internet is a luxury in Cuba. You have to have all the equipment, and then you have to pay by the minute for something that is painfully slow if it works at all. It feels strange not to have our constant internet connection, but it’s not so bad to take a break. I’ve been able to post to Facebook so family knows we are fine and everything else can wait.

So, that’s what I wrote that night about our day. Here are all the photos!

Check out this breakfast! There’s a basket of really good rolls to the side too, and the thermos off coffee and pitcher of milk, and a pitcher of fresh made juice. It was like this every morning.

Happy Joel. This is pretty much the extent of their living room. The main door is behind my seat and there is a loveseat against the wall behind my seat.

The kitchen, small but pretty. They had decorated all the walls in this very pretty stone looking decor.

Tree trimming, on top of a 5 story buildling!

We headed out in Old Havana

Many buildings have been beautifully restored

I don’t know what this means

I love the sculpture though

a tourist oriented market

many buildings have huge amazing doors

Walking down Obispo, a car free tourist destination street

a very interesting pharmacy

more of the pharmacy, which is actually a working, medicine selling pharmacy

beautiful entrance to the Hotel Florida

lobby of the hotel with an art show

so I would remember which hotel this is

look at these elegant doors

another gorgeous doorway

there were many outdoor restaurants

there were many herds of tourists with their guides

one of many squares we found

There were quite a few of these colorful women around, probably willing to pose for photos for a price

another doorway

a building under renovation, and a couple unconcerned dogs

we just caught this cruise ship in the distance leaving port

Plaza de Armas

very cool trees

more really interesting trees

an outdoor restaurant with music

I believe most of these buildings are from the 1700’s

another tree

a little info about the Plaza de Armas so I’d know what to look up

statue of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, the man who set Cuba on the road to independence in 1868

more colorful women

Castillo de la Real Fuerza, from the 1500’s

I love you for your pink Cadillac Crushed velvet seats Riding in the back Oozing down the street Waving to the girls Peeling out of sight Spending all my money On a Saturday night

Across the water – Castillo De Los Tres Reyes Del Morro, built in the 1500’s. There are also museums, and a place used as Che Guevara’s headquarters for a while. Many executions and bad things happened there.

a military shop on the other side of the harbor

tourist ville! Many fancy old cars for tours, and a whole lot of tourist buses

interesting old car

another sidewalk restaurant, or in this case on the road restaurant

pretty colors. I wonder how old the cobblestone streets are and who’s feet have walked on them

check out this one

another beautiful square

San Francisco de Asis, late 1500’s

The port and cruise ship dock

customs

rum museum, though we didn’t realize it at the time

Catedral ortodoxa Nuestra Señora de Kazán

Russian Orthodox, built in early 2000’s, consecrated in 2008, an attempt to improve Cuba-Russian relations

lowering down the pail to buy something from a street vendor

entrance in an apartment building, pretty, but all the paint falling off the walls

a colorful market

We found our way back to the rum museum, but decided it wasn’t worth the $7 admission fee

another heard of tourists heads in

a pretty lady in her colorful clothes, and a young lady not looking as thrilled with her day

Back out in the square again near the San Francisco de Asis

I stopped in the entrance long enough to get a quick photo

a few outside shots

and, we set off walking again

another square, not sure exactly what this was

back to the church again

I think she was available to tell your fortune or pose for a photo. Check out the cat

meat market, with some prices but in which kind of pesos?

Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, late 1700’s

we happened on quite an event in the street!

There is a youtube video

lunch, pizza and beer, enjoying the sights on a beautiful day

interesting man hanging out in a doorway

Ahh, here come the musicans

pizza and beer. we like this local beer

the cats hang out

fun music!

interesting ornament

Cathedral of Havana 1700’s

A guy trying to lure us into his restaurant told me this used to be a bath house and public bathroom. I can’t find this backed up anywhere on line though

fortune tellers

Plaza de la Catedral habana cuba

I’m glad I photographed identifying info or i’d never figure out what all these places are!

Everyone was signing their names on the walls of this bar

I asked our hostess and she doesn’t know why, just a tradition

entrance to someone’s courtyard

Museum of the Revolution

more displays behind the Museum of the Revolution

Museo de Bellas Artes

heading back home

Whew!! That was a crazy lot of photos!

How do you explain what is Cuba in words and pictures? It is something that has to be experienced, but I will do what I can.

We landed in the airport, not the newest and most modern airport but a perfectly good and functional airport. It was recommended that we bring Eros to avoid the 13% exchange fees of dollars, and go upstairs to avoid the huge line at the money exchange. Upstairs they were only selling euros though, not buying them so downstairs to the long line we went.

The long money changing line at the airport

After a while I asked one of the taxi guys recruiting passengers if we could pay in euros. Sure, 30 euros to Havana Central, a fair price so off we went in a comfortable modern yellow cab through Cuban countryside and soon, through the city to our destination. When we pulled up our hostess was waiting outside as promised to welcome us and show us to our room.

The buildling of our new home for the week

looking left from our balcony

looking down from our balcony as a vendor walks down the street, and men play on the sidewalk

neighbors talk between their balconies

Our hosts were wonderful, friendly, helpful, really good people. I felt somewhat guilty though. It’s a small two bedroom apartment and the four of them are in a small bedroom on bunk beds while we have a spacious bedroom and balcony overlooking the city. But, they made the guest room as their business. He used to work at a government job but says he doing much better working privately, and that is what gave them the money to fix up the apartment.

We settled in a bit and then went walking to see some of the city. There isn’t a lot of traffic for a big city, but a lot of the cars on the road are the antique cars, most looking shiny and beautiful. If you want to take pictures of cars you could totally fill your camera in a short time because there are so many of them everywhere!

The buildings are in all states of repair or disrepair. Some are gorgeous, elegant, and just beautiful. Others are also beautiful but showing many years of neglect, and some are literally falling apart. Many buildings are also in various stages of renovation. Space is expensive and many apartments are tiny. Many people leave their doors open so as we passed we could see into their apartments. Even where we are staying the space is small for a family (by our standards), and now even smaller since it has been remodeled to accommodate guests.

There is so much life in the street! There are people walking, vendors selling things, kids playing, men hanging out and socializing, and neighbors talking together. In the morning and especially in the evenings vendors come around, often with whistles shouting out what they have to sell. Our hostess said if you are on an upper floor you can lower down a basket or pail to complete your purchase.

We arrived in the afternoon so we had a little time to walk around before we turned in for the day. These are some pictures in the area of the Parque Central (Central Park). There is a bit of information on this park Here.

there are a lot of gorgeous trees

Many buildings have courtyards. This one is a pretty one

Of course Cuba is known for its classic cars. There are enough of them that it is hard to take a photo of a street scene without catching one, if not many of them.

And now the rest of the photos, just some random shots of things we saw in the area.

There is lots of street art

a woman in her tiny apartment

We went to the Malicon, the road along the waterfront

The Malicon, and a tourist train

a zoom shot of an old fort in the distance

more on this interesting piece of art is coming

the closed apartment second from the left is for sale

Many buildings have courtyards. This one is a pretty one

Our street and the guys across playing games

an old theater

we happened across this old theater. Word is now it is only used for dances and social things when it isn’t raining

this is why it’s used only when it’s not raining

we found it because a guy sitting out front tried to sell us cigars

hamburger and beer for lunch

there are a lot of gorgeous trees

a lady in white, member of the Santeria religion – more on that later

it seems like every restaurant has musicians

self expression seems to be quite acceptable

These were just a few photos and thoughts put together while having conversations with our host and hostess on our first evening. There is a lot more to come!

Last Friday on a really windy day, part of a huge tree fell into our yard. It just happened that our landlord was on vacation in Chiriqui (he and his family live in Panama City). We had only met briefly some time ago so I didn’t recognize him when he showed up on Saturday morning to see the damage and plan for cleanup.

After a few messages to confirm plans and time, he arrived on Monday morning with his brother, and a workman with chainsaw and machete in hand. This began a very fun day. Teo, our landlord sent me many photos and most of these are his (thank you Teo!). I was glad because I missed part of the day. I went off for a planned meeting with folks from International Living who showed up 40 minutes late (no apologies), and proceeded to ask me all the same questions I’d been asked in previous interviews *sigh*.

Anyway, you would be amazed at what a strong and capable Panamanian man can do in a short time!

You can see where the tree broke.

Here is the large part that fell down

The large part again. Word was when the worker cut enough of the part that was in the yard, the main, biggest part just fell down the cliff.

Man with chain saw!

He picked up the pieces and heaved them over the cliff like it was no big deal.

We tend to be lazy in our retirement and not get up early, and Joel was just starting breakfast when the work begun. He wasn’t about to let some hard working guys smell bacon and not share, so there was a breakfast break mid morning.

Teo, our landlord, standing and his brother Alvin talking, while the workman looks at his phone

When I got back home from my meeting, I was amazed at how much had been done! There were only leaves and twigs left.

Joel and Teo

Alvin and the workman taking a break (though Alvin had brought a chair so he was mainly supervising 😀 )

The tree took out the fence, a couple posts, and part of the supporting wall.

Farther down the fence the supporting wall was also broken

We were very thankful that our landlord was in the area. He and his brother arranged all the cleanup and consulted with Lucho our friend and neighbor. Later Lucho will rebuild the wall and fence. The tree is on land owned by the government, and it still has some very large limbs that could come down. The concern is that the tree is diseased and weakened which is why it broke, and the other limbs should also be cut before they fall. No one wants to repair the fence until this is done and as owners of the land, it is the government’s responsibility to cut the tree, and also pay for the damage on this property.

This is one big reason why it’s nice to rent. It would have been quite a task for us to figure all this out and make all the necessary arrangements!

Anyway, you can’t expect hard working guys to get things done with no fuel. When I came back Joel had put together some lunch for everyone.

From the left, the workman, Alvin, Teo, Joel, and Lucho

I had SO much fun! We all talked and laughed at meal times, and I spent most of the rest of the time talking with Alvin and some with Teo. Teo also speaks English so he and Joel were able to communicate easily. Alvin lives just up the road in Dolega so who knows. We might see more of each other in the future.

The last of the cleanup, leaves and twigs

Heave Ho, over the cliff!

the yard looks cleaner than it ever had before

What a great silver lining in the cloud of the tree incident. Up to now communication was always through our realtor which is fine, but I’m happy to have these great new friends. Hopefully in the future Teo and his family won’t hesitate to visit when they are in the area. They never wanted to bother us, but it certainly wouldn’t be a bother for us to see them again.

Tomorrow we are heading to Panama City and then to Cuba on Friday. We are supposed to have internet but who knows. Or more likely, we will be too busy seeing the sights and experiencing the country to spend time on line. I will return eventually though! Meanwhile you all continue with the sentiments of yesterday and send loving greetings. We never need to wait for a holiday on the calendar to do that.

I love how this holiday is treated here. I have been getting greetings – Feliz Dia de la Amistad  (happy day of friendship). It was explained that Valentines Day is for everyone, your friends, your family, anyone you love even including your dog and your goldfish. How nice is that?!  How inclusive. Many single people feel depressed on this day, but you can’t do that here when you get greetings from everyone who cares about you.

So, to all of you, all of my friends out there – Feliz Día de la Amistad!

I got a Happy Valentines Day from my husband though, and a Happy Anniversary. 21 years! Our lives have taken twists and turns we never would have imagined when we first met back in 1990. It’s going wonderfully and we have decided to do one more year and see where this one takes us 😀

We came home Saturday night to this. This is the woods across the street from us, behind our neighbors’ houses. It is supposed to be dark. There is not supposed to be this red glow.

It is summer, dry season, and it hasn’t rained for weeks. Everything is getting more and more dry and these brush fires are starting to pop up. No one seems to know how they get started and the general opinion is that they are started by people for reasons not understood. This woods burned twice last year so I knew immediately what was going on when I saw the red glow.

the light gets brighter as the fire comes closer

we are thankful that the winds aren’t blowing the fire and smoke towards us, though at times there is still plenty of smoke

Before long, the fire is close to my neighbor’s house and tool shed

The wind was blowing mainly from the far right side of the woods to the left, but it was still pushing the fire towards our neighborhood. The light intensified, and soon we could see flames. Before long it was close to the property line of the people across the street. It made for some beautiful photos but otherwise it was not a welcome sight.

The fire comes closer

Smoke and light billow above

My neighbor looks on as the fire approaches. That’s his tool shed on the left

The flames are beautiful in the distance as they go up the hill

At first I wondered why people were so meticulous about keeping their yards clean of leaves and debris. Now I know it’s because they don’t want anything that burns near their houses and property. This night the water pressure was so low that there wasn’t enough water to fight the fire. What kept the fire away was the excellent cleaning job. There was nothing for the fire to burn as it came close.

Panamanian houses are they are made of concrete block and tin roofs, and none of that burns. I have seen more serious fires that burn the shrubbery and send showers of cinders down on homes, but the houses don’t catch on fire. The people mainly don’t want to lose plants and trees in the yard and of course they would rather not breath smoke and ash. But, the risk of property loss is much lower here because of the construction materials and diligent removal of anything burnable in the yards.

Today, I went to see how things look in the woods.

Things look a bit charred but the trees still have green leaves, and the pine trees in the distance look very good

The low plants even look less damage than I expected

The fire looked quite impressive in the night, but in the daylight the damage looks less than I expected.

It’s been a crazy few days! First we had the tree come down. We were supposed to go to the Jazz and Blues festival in Boquete on Friday night but the weather was terrible up there, high winds and lots of rain (we had a lot of wind too but none of the rain). Saturday we did go to the festival but came home to the fire. Sunday we went to the festival again, and today (Monday) was cleanup day for the downed tree. We have been having so much fun! Well, not so much with the tree and the fire, but everything else has been great. Now I need a little time to catch up before the next adventures start.