Monday, November 26,
2012: Fly from LAX to Miami, Florida
via Houston
Cuba has been on my bucket list for decades. It was the last country in the Americas for me to visit. I jumped at
the opportunity to legally visit when Debbie my travel agent at Cruise
Specialists sent me a brochure earlier in the year advertising the Tauck Cuba
People to People Cultural Exchange.
Their after Thanksgiving 9 day tour fit nicely in my schedule after my
Horn of Africa Trip and before Judy’s December 11th birthday, so I
signed up.
My scheduled flight to start by trip to Cuba was not until
13:30 so I had a normal eight hour’s sleep and was able to finish my last
minute packing without the customary early morning rushing around. I had elected to drive since it was a
relatively short trip. It was my first
trip to the airport in my 2012 Miata and I was happy to discover that my bag
fit in the truck. The 2012 Miata’s have
a larger trunk than the 1990 Miata I used to own.
On the morning news I heard that as part of the 405 Carpool
Lane project that Sepulveda was going to be closed at 09:00 for the day. I was concerned that it would affect the 405
traffic so I left for the airport at 10:15.
The traffic was not as bad as I expected and I was parked in the Parking
Spot garage before 11:00. Check-in was
fast but the TSA Security check point was slow and not very well
organized. They had removed the full
body scan and didn’t seemed to have the staff to hand check all the people that
triggered alarms passing through the x-ray machine. It took me thirty minutes to clear security which
was unusually long for the United Premier Terminal at LAX.
I still had over an hour to kill before boarding my flight
so I spent some time in the United Club and then at 12:30 I checked out the
lunch options. The food concessions at
United’s Terminal 7 had changed and where Wolf Gang Puck and MacDonald’s had
been there was construction and just some shelves of very expensive
sandwiches. It appears that the food
concessioners are setting their prices to match the prices of the food sold on
the flights. The days of people
purchasing a cheap MacDonald’s hamburger and carrying it on the flight is gone
for at least at Terminal 7. I decided I
would buy my lunch on board – at least the drink would be free.
During my food investigation my departure gate was changed
and I didn’t catch the change until I realized they were boarding another
flight at what I thought was my assigned gate.
I got to the correct gate just as the flight attendants were going on
board. When my group was called and I
boarded I was presently surprised to have a vacant seat next to me in Economy
Plus. The aircraft was an ex-Continental
B-737-824 with Direct TV installed. I
hate those aircraft because one you have to pay almost $8.00 to view a movie
and two if you don’t want to watch a movie there is no music channels or
channel 9 flight following options which I usually listen to on flights. Before takeoff they announced that Direct TV
was not operating on the aircraft. I dug
out my iPod and listened to a book-on-tape.
We landed in Houston ahead of schedule and stopped at a
Wendy’s in the airport for a quick sandwich before my flight to Miami. The Miami aircraft was also a B-737-824 with
Direct TV. On that aircraft the Direct
TV was working. Next to me were a father
and son speaking Spanish. They paid for
the TV so the son could watch a soccer game.
We arrived early in Miami and I took a shuttle bus to the Marriott
Residence Inn for the night.
Tuesday, November 27,
2012: Meet with the Tauck Tour Group
at the Hilton Miami Airport Hotel
I didn’t get a full eight hours sleep because I did not fall
asleep right away at 01:00 since it was only 22:00 Pacific Coast Time. I was able to fall asleep by 02:00 but I woke
at 08:30 to enable me to get the free breakfast the Residence offers. After breakfast I packed and did some work on
my computer and transferred all my African pictures off my camera. It was soon noon and check-out time at the
Marriott.
I took the Marriott airport shuttle to the airport and then
took the Hilton shuttle to the Hilton Miami Airport hotel where I would join
the Tauck tour group. At check-in I was
handed an instruction sheet from Tauck informing me that the Tauck Director
would have a Hospitality Desk open from 15:00 to 17:00 and there would be a mandatory
briefing at 18:00.
At 14:00 I went for a walk.
I discovered a shopping mall about 30 minutes away and stopped in to
purchase a wall charger for my cell phone to replace one I had been using that
had broken a wire. I returned to the
hotel at 15:00 and checked-in at the Tauck Hospitality Desk. The Tauck Director, Ulla Salafrio, informed
me that there would be 25 people on the tour.
It was a bigger group than I have been used to traveling with.
At 17:45 I went to the Cove Meeting room for the mandatory
briefing. Ulla and a couple from
Phoenix, Arizona, Mary & Dennis Schumer were the only ones there but the
bar was open and snacks laid out. Ulla
handed me an envelope with the information and paperwork we would need on the
trip. Panic set in when I reviewed the
paperwork and discovered that it had my 2 year passport numbers on the Cuban
Visa and that passport was with UTS obtaining visas for my January return to
Africa. Ulla told me she could fix it
after the briefing.
The others arrived and we sat at a U shaped table. Ulla handed out everyone’s envelopes and had
us introduce themselves to the group.
Six were from California, four from Pennsylvania and the others were
couples from Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, New Jersey, South Carolina, and
Massachusetts and one lady from Vermont.
They were:
-
Mr. Joseph (Jerry) and Jan Schumb, Kihei, HI
- Mr. Christopher (Chris) Schumb, San Jose, CA
- Dr. David Schumb, Oakland, CA
- Mrs. Elizabeth (Liz) Sheppard, Mill Valley, CA
- Ms. Susan Arnold, Middlebury, VT
- Mr. Elliot Young and Vedrana Grgas, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
- Mrs. Martin (Marty) and Judith (Judy) Schwartz, Princeton NJ
- Dr. Albert (Buck) and Suzanne Frederick, Chestnut Hill, MA
- Mrs. Cecile Natt and Judy Zon, Bryn Mawr, PA
- Miss Mary Kopa, Wayne, PA and Mrs. Judy Duffy, Clarks Summit, PA
- Mr. Douglas (Doug) and Susan Kish, Brevard, NC
- Mr. Charles (Chuck) and Karen Northrop, San Francisco, CA
- Dr. Dennis and Mary (Dr. Mary Kass) Schumer, Easton, MD and Scottsdale, AZ
- Mr. Lloyd and Susan Hendricks, Columbia, SC
After the meeting I talked to several of the people and
retired since we had to be checked out by 05:00 in the morning.
Wednesday, November
28, 2012: Fly Miami to Havana and
tour Havana
I awoke at 03:30 to shower, shave and pack. At 05:00 a porter picked up my bag and I went
down to breakfast. I sat with the Judy
and Cecile. It was a quick breakfast
since we had to be on the bus by 05:15.
It was a short ride to the airport but flight check in was a
long multistep process. First we lined
up behind a desk that checked our paperwork, then we went to the check in
counter and had our luggage weighed including our carryon and then we told them
our body weight. They also checked our
paperwork and issued a boarding pass with the luggage tag fixed on the back. After that we had to go to another station
and pay a $33 fee. From there we passed
through Immigration and then security and finally we could go to the gate. The security check had the full body scan but
they still did a quick pat-down after the body scan.
The airline was Sky King, a charter airline founded in
Sacramento, CA in the early 1990’s but after a bankruptcy it moved its
headquartered to Florida where they mainly fly to Cuban cities. The plane we flew on was a B-737-400 painted
all white. The seats were comfortable. My seat mates were Elliot Young and Vedrana
Grgas. Vedrana was originally from
Croatia and we talked a little bit about my proposed trip next year to visit
the Balkan countries. Elliot was
originally from New York City.
The flight took ninety minutes and arrived on the scheduled
time of 09:00 at the Havana Airport.
There was no sky bridge at the airport so we had to walk to the Arrival
Terminal. There we passed through
Immigration where they took our pictures and took half of the visa. Next we passed through a security checkpoint
where I set off the alarm and had to be "wanded". From Security I had to go to another desk for
another paperwork check. Following that
we were ushered into the VIP Lounge where we gave an agent our luggage
tag. She retrieved our luggage and took it
to be x-rayed. The VIP Lounge had free
sandwiches and drinks (Rum, beer, Coke and juice). When everyone's luggage had been x-rayed we
were led outside to retrieve our luggage and board a bus.
On the bus we were told that it was too early to check in at
the hotel so we rode to the Museum of the Revolution and then Revolution
Square.
The airport parking lot had been full of new Korean and
Japanese made cars but at the museum and the square we saw a lot of 1950 era
cars. I got some good pictures. The old cars in excellent shape were used as
Taxis. There were a lot of old Russian cars
and the old American man cars that were not taxis were not in great shape but
there were a lot of them on the road.
The Museum of the Revolution was an interesting mixture of
indoor and outdoor displays of the rise of Castro and the demise of
Batista. The museum is housed in what
was the Presidential Palace of all Cuban presidents from Mario García Menocal to
Fulgencio Batista. It became the Museum
of the Revolution during the years following the Cuban revolution. The museum was designed by the Cuban
architect Carlos Maruri and the Belgian architect Paul Belau and was
inaugurated in 1920 by President Mario García Menocal. It remained the Presidential Palace until
1959. The building has Neo-Classical
elements, and was decorated by Tiffany & Co. of New York.
The museum has the pock marks of the bullets shot during the
March 13, 1957 by a group of university students who stormed the Presidential
Palace with the aim of executing dictator Batista. The assault failed and most of the young
attackers got killed. . The inside tour was of three floors and
included, a Chapel, Hall of Mirrors with a beautiful painting on the ceiling,
Flag Hall, Presidents Office (where we were shown the closet stairway Batista
used to leave his office and hide from the students) and Council Ministers’
Office on the second floor and the Liberation War period, and Che Memorial on
the third floor.
To the right side of the lobby was a mural that Isabel
warned us that we might find offensive.
It had large cartoon caricatures of:
- Batista saying: “Thanks you cretin for helping us TO MAKE THE REVOLUTION”
- Ronald Regan in a cowboy outfit saying: “Thanks you cretin for helping us TO STRENGTHEN THE REVOLUTION”
- George Bush Sr. dressed as Caesar saying: “Thanks you cretin for helping us TO CONSOLIDATE OUR REVOLUTION”
- W. Bush with a Nazi helmet saying: “Thanks you cretin for helping us TO MAKE SOCIALISM IRREVOCABLE”.
Across the street we saw a nice line up of vintage
convertible taxis including two Model A Ford replicas, a 1932 Ford with rumble
seat. Outside the front of the museum
were the remains of the old city wall of Havana.
We rode from the museum to Revolution Square, one of the
largest city squares in the world. The
square is dominated by the José Martí Memorial, which features a 358 ft. tall
tower and an 59 ft. statue of Martí. The
National Library, many government ministries, and other buildings are located
in and around the Plaza. Located behind
the memorial are the closely guarded offices of former President Fidel Castro. Opposite the memorial on the far side of the
square is the famous Che Guevara image with his well-known slogan of
"Hasta la Victoria Siempre" (Until the Everlasting Victory, Always)
that identifies the Ministry of the Interior building and an image of Fidel
Castro on another building.
Next to where the tour busses parked was a street bordering
the square lined with many beautiful 1950 era Taxi convertibles and a few
“Coconut” Taxis. The “Coconut” Taxis are
three wheel motor scooters with a round yellow shell that resembles a
coconut. I took more pictures of the
cars than the monuments and statues.
It was then time to check in to the Melia Habana hotel. But first we had lunch at the La Scala
Restaurant in the hotel. Lunch was a
salad and pizza and I finally got to my room at 15:00. It was a 5 star hotel and I had free Wi-Fi in
the room.
At 16:30 we met in a hotel conference room to attend a
presentation by PhD Camilo Garcia Lopez-Trigo, a graduate of the Institute of
International Relations in Havana in 1991 and a former Cuban diplomat on the
subject of the Cuba-U.S. relationship.
Camilo had lived in New York City when he was assigned to the Cuban
delegation to the United Nations.
He told us of the implementation of the Monroe Doctrine in
1823 by John Quincy Adams, Monroe’s Secretary of State. In 1848 the U.S. attempted to buy Cuba from
the Spanish. During Cuba’s second war of
Independence in 1895 the U.S. became involved in 1898 when the USS Maine was
blown up in Havana harbor. After Spain
surrendered the U.S. was granted control of Cuba. The U.S. military governor of Cuba drafted a
constitution that included an amendment by US Senator Platt that guaranteed
America’s right to intervene in Cuban domestic affairs. It also forced Cuba to lease in perpetuity to
the US a naval base at Guantanamo Bay and required the Cuban government to:
"maintain a low public debt; refrain from signing any treaty impairing its
obligation to the United States; to grant to the United States the right of
intervention to protect life, liberty, and property; validate the acts of the
military government; and, if requested, provide long-term naval leases.
In 1902, following the elections of 1901, Cuba was
proclaimed an Independent Republic under official protection of the U.S. During the next three decades the relationship
was rocky with many interventions by U.S. military and business interests that
eventually lead to the “Sergeants Revolt” and the overthrow of the government
by Batista in 1933. Batista backed
several presidents and served several terms as President himself. When he ran again in 1952 he did not win but
he simply decided to take over in a bloodless coup. On July 26, 1953 Fidel and Raul Castro lead a
group of revolutionaries in an attack on Moncada Barracks and the Cuban
Revolution begins. They are captured and
imprisoned but were released in 1955 and they fled to Mexico. They returned in 1956 and force Bastia to
flee in 1959.
A U.S. embargo on Cuba begins, in 1960 prohibiting all
exports to Cuba. In response, Cuba strengthens trade relations with the Soviet
Union and the following year the U.S. ends all diplomatic relations with Cuba
and closes the embassy in Havana in January 1961. In
April, a group of Cuban exiles invade Playa Giron on the Bay of Pigs. The Soviet Union began to install missiles in
Cuba in 1962 and despite Castro’s desire to fire them at the U.S. Soviet
Premier Nikita Khrushchev agrees to remove them after he negotiates with
President Kennedy.
During the next thirty years there were several programs to
allow Cubans to leave for the U.S. The
Cuban economy limped along with Soviet aid until the collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1991.
In 1992 the U.S. implemented the Torricelli act which forbade
foreign subsidiaries of US companies from dealing with Cuba, prohibited any
ship that has docked in Cuban harbors from entering US ports for 180 days, and
called for a termination of aid to any country that provides assistance to
Cuba. The act did not bring down the
Castro regime so in 1996 the U.S. Congress passed the Helms-Burton Act that
allows the USA to penalize foreign companies that invest in Cuban properties
seized after the Revolution. The Helms
Burton Act also deprived the US President of any discretionary power to end any
aspect of the embargo. The bill permits
Americans with claims to property expropriated by the Cuban government to sue
for damages foreign corporations or individuals that "traffic" in
such property. The US also denies entry
to the executives and major shareholders, as well as their immediate families,
of firms found to be "trafficking" in expropriated property. The legislation also restricts US aid to
independent states of the former Soviet Union if they provide assistance for
intelligence facilities in Cuba, but also provides waivers for humanitarian aid
or aid to promote market reforms and democratization. It reaffirms the embargo under the Trading
with the Enemy Act. The act has severely
hurt the Cuban economy but the regime is still in power. President Obama eased travel restrictions to
Cuba in 2011, allowing for more educational, religious, and cultural programs.
Camilo also told us about the “Cuban Five” which is a very
emotional issue in Cuba. The five men
were Cuban intelligence agents caught spying on Miami's Cuban exile
community. The men were sent to South
Florida in the wake of several terrorist bombings in Havana masterminded by
anti-communist militant. The five were convicted
in Miami of conspiracy to commit espionage, conspiracy to commit murder, acting
as an agent of a foreign government, and other illegal activities in the United
States.
In the Q & A after his talk Camilo told us that because
of the Helms-Burton Act there are limited things a President can do to ease the
tensions between the countries. It would
require an act of congress to change the provisions of the Helms-Burton Act
which severely restricts the Cuban economy and interaction between the
countries. Cuban’s don’t understand why
the anti-Castro lobby is still so effective since the Cubans that fled in the
1960’s are are dead or passed the age of retirement.
I left the meeting wondering what the Miami based
anti-Castro lobby expected to achieve.
Their property has been lost for so many years that in many cases they
wouldn’t want to return. I went to sleep
wondering if had been worth the effort to attempt to bring down the Castro
regime.
Thursday, November
29, 2012: Art in Cuba
This was my first morning in Cuba. After two nights of less than eight hours
sleep I slept until 07:00. We had a
choice of two restaurants in the hotel to eat breakfast. I selected the VIP Bar on the 9th
floor which was just one flight of stairs from my 8th floor room. It was pretty much a standard hotel buffet
breakfast bar. I was not impressed with
the texture of the bacon and the fact there were no whole oranges but I filled
up and returned to my room to check my email and get ready for a 09:30
departure.
Our first stop was the home and studio of Jose Fuster, one
of the most celebrated artists in Cuba.
I was not prepared for the sight as the bus drove close to his
studio. The houses had walls alone the
sidewalk and a large arch over the gateway covered in colorful bits of
tile. Even the street names were in
colorful tile. When we arrived at his
studio we were greeted by the sight of many arches, geometric shapes and
figures of people all covered in colorful tile.
Fuster’s son met us at the entrance to the three story studio. I noted that there were two late model
Japanese cars in the yard. The son told
us that over a dozen men assist in the creation of the display. I counted at that moment at least four men on
the various floors applying cement to walls and railings and imbedding pieces
of tile. Another man was breaking tile
in different colors into pieces the others would apply.
I walked upstairs to visit a room where the tile was
created. Many 6x6 tiles had colorful
scenes and some were hanging on a wall for sale. In another room was Fuster’s oil paintings,
and one of etchings. He is called a
visual artist with the paintings alone the style of some of Picasso’s and his
tile style from Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona.
After touring the three floors of his studio and taking dozens of
pictures I wandered around the neighborhood.
Across the street was an artist with a display of wooden VWs
and figures of musicians. His house had
a fence decorated by Fuster as did all the houses in a two block area. Many had the house walls decorated in
Fuster’s style.
Our next stop was the Institute Superior de Arte (ISA). It is an impressive set of brick domed
buildings built on the grounds of a former Country Club’s golf course. The ISA teaches college level classes in art,
theater, dance and music. The ISA guide
told us that it is highly selective and as an example only 15 students were
selected from 400 applicants this year.
We toured the various art classrooms and workshops which covered a wide
range of specialties from paint in various styles and mediums to ceramic and
metal sculptures.
I was impressed in some areas but overall it impressed me
that the artists are morbid tortured, unhappy souls. There were no displays of landscapes. Many works were colorful but many were dark,
bloody and gloomy.
From ISA we went to lunch at Don Cangrejo’s, a seafood
restaurant on the coast. We were greeted
in the yard in front of the restaurant by a large ceramic tile crab. It was raining lightly so we had to eat
inside. I could see that they normally
setup tables overlooking the sea wall.
The meal was delicious. It started with a family style dish of crab
balls, olives, cheese, and fired fish fingers.
The main was a medley of clams, calamari, fish, shrimp, mussels, crab,
lettuce, tomatoes, cabbage and beets. Drinks were a rum mojito and wine or
beer. Dessert was a scoop of peach ice
cream with a nickel size creme burlee.
During our lunch a jazz band with an outstanding female
singer performed. She sang several Nat
King Cole songs, “Mack the knife” and “When the Saints Come Marching In”. Al and Suzanne Frederick danced to one of the
songs and then Judy Zon and Mary Kopa did the Mummers Philadelphia New Year’s Parade
dance to the “Saints”.
After lunch we visited Casa de la Cultura in Plaza de la
Revolution. There are a number of
neighborhood culture centers around the city where people of all ages can take
extracurricular classes in art, music, dancing and theater. We visited a ceramics lab and a knitting
class and then were treated to a special performance in the theater. It started with a young girl around eight
years old singing a ballad, a group of younger girls doing ballet and then an
old man singing a ballad, followed by a younger man singing a salsa tune with a
couple dancing in back of him and ended with six couples dancing what they
called a casino dance where they jitterbugged and changed partners in a circle
similar to square dancing but in more of a circular pattern.
After the performance we visited the Center’s Art
Gallery. They had some nice pieces on
display. I thought they were better than
in the ISA. We returned to the hotel and
left for dinner at 18:30.
Dinner was at the La Moraleja restaurant which is not
government owned. I had a very nice
Greek Salad, braised lamb with ice cream for dessert. We were sitting at three tables with the
Schumb family occupying one of the tables.
The wine was flowing freely and they started telling family stories in
louder and louder voices which really drowned out cross table conversations at
the other tables. It dampened the spirit
of the dinner. Isabel, the Tauck Director,
was sitting at our table and when we could converse she had some interesting
stories to tell us. She has worked for a
number of different tour agencies including Grand Circle and OAT. She mainly works the Panama Canal and Costa
Rica Ecology Tours.
The service was slow at the restaurant and it was close to
22:00 before we returned to the hotel and since we had an early departure
scheduled for the next day I went right to bed without updating my journal.
Friday, November 30,
2012: Farm Day (or as I would call
it “Cigar Day”)
We rode out in the country southwest of Havana on a four
lane highway to the city of Pinar del Rio.
Along the way we stopped at the Las Barrigonas rest stop. There were several busses already there and
more arrived following us. Las
Barrigonas was a brick shelter with clean rest rooms and arts and crafts for
sale. Near the building was a farm with
a several pigs a cow and a donkey hooked to a cart. As we were returning to our bus the farmers
rode off in the donkey lead cart.
When we arrived in Pinar del Rio I noticed that the taxis
were not the 1950’s era cars but were three wheeled bicycles with a double size
seat over the rear axle and a roof over the driver and passenger.
We toured a Cigar Factory set up for visitors, no photos
allowed I guess because it showed each step in selecting the crushed tobacco,
forming it in the size of the cigar, compressing it, and then wrapping it with the
outer leaf. From Pinar del Rio we rode
north stopping on the way at Hotel Horizontes Los Jazmines one of the most
renowned hotels in Cuba. It has a
stunning view point of the Viñales Valley UNESCO site. The valley is surrounded by lime stone
mountains with spectacular cliffs full of indentations and caves. The parking area was full of tour buses of
Europeans. There were a number of tables
with arts and crafts displayed and a saddled Ox. Doug Kish from our group climbed on for us to
take his picture.
Leaving the vista we rode past the village of Viñales to a tobacco
farm. As we drove into the farm we saw a
turkey slowly wandering around the yard.
In the back of two white farm houses there were two oxen hooked to a
cart and a group of farm workers on a break.
When we got off the bus we were ushered into a tobacco barn
for a presentation by the farmer, Benito Camejo, who was out of Central Casting. A handsome man with a bushy mustache (for
those of you that know my neighbor Gary Wales that restores and shows Bentleys he
reminded me of a young version of Gary, you can also see his picture if you
‘Google’ his name). As he sat talking to
us he rolled a cigar and lit it up. He
then led us to his house for a cup of either Cuban coffee or rum or a mixture
of both. I was the first to have just
the rum and he took a liking to me and led me to his garage to see his 1953
Chevrolet. It still has the original
engine but the carburetor has been swapped out so he could burn diesel which is
significantly cheaper and as I understand easier to get. I learned most of the old cars have converted
to diesel because gasoline is about $7 a gallon. He also showed us his tobacco crop and told
us how he transplants the seedlings from a wet area next to the river to fields
next to his house. He also showed us his
coffee bushes and fig tree.
From the farm we headed back towards Viñales and stopped at El
Estanco II, a tobacco processing plant where they remove the stems, grade and
size the leaves then ferment the leaves and bundle them up for shipment to a cigar
factory. We were given a briefing on the
process. I found the process of
fermenting the tobacco leaves interesting.
They stick a thermometer in a compressed bale of tobacco until the
temperature no longer increases and the leaves no longer feel slightly sticky
to the touch. Another interesting fact
is they bundle up the removed stems and use them to control insect pests.
We ate at lunch at Palenque de los Cimarrones in a valley out
of town between mountains full of caves.
The restaurant was a symmetric structure of open log cabins joined by
halls, with roofs made of leaves taken from the royal palm tree and displayed
as in an ancient African village. The
restrooms were in round structures with murals on their sides. We were serenaded at lunch near a cave. The lunch was family style. It was Susan Hendricks’ birthday and somehow
the guides were able to have a birthday cake baked and served for the
occasion. After lunch I decided to walk
through the cave.
Near the entrance were two life size figures of a slave
fighting a runaway slave hunter. Runaway
slaves hid in the caves. At the entrance
were a couple of local performers. One
of them was a fire eater and he entertained me.
The limestone cave was narrow in many spots and had deep crevices
branching off of the path. There were
also carvings in the limestone of snakes and rats. At the other end of the cave was a stage for
band concerts and a bar constructed of limestone. Outside was an ancient sugar cane press which
I noticed was manufactured in Buffalo, NY.
I walked back towards the restaurant but the bus had started to leave
and picked me up on the way.
We returned to Viñales and spent an hour walking around the
town. It was set up for tourists and
several of the European Tours were already there. It had showered as we approach the center of
the city but soon the covers were removed from tables of arts and crafts. In the city center there was a beautiful
little church and a statue of Jose Marti dated 1895. After our tour of the town we boarded our bus
for a two hour ride back to our hotel.
Dinner that night was on our own in one of the six
restaurants in the hotel. Our choices
were:- Sabor do Brasil
- Miramar (Buffett)
- Vedado Restaurant (where we ate breakfast)
- El Bosque de la Habana (Lobby Bar)
- La Scala (Italian Restaurant)
- Bella Cubana (Fusion Asian Restaurant)
Saturday, December
01, 2012: Literary Arts in Cuba (or
as I would call it Hemingway Day)
After a breakfast of a fried egg a link sausage and two
Danish rolls we met for a presentation on the life of Ernest Hemingway and his
relationship with Cuba. We were supposed
to visit Hemingway’s home but they are filming a movie on his life and the home
was closed to visitors. Sharon Stone was
scheduled to be in the movie and was staying at our hotel although I never saw
her.
We left the hotel with the intention of visiting Hemingway’s
old haunts in Old Havana but it was raining so the guide changed our schedule
and dropped us off at the Havana Club Rum Museum. At the museum we were assigned an English
speaking guide who took us on a tour of the museum. She explained the differences between the
white and dark rum and the distilling and aging process. One of the rooms had a detailed model of a Sugar
Mill including a model railroad with model trains. It was very impressive. She then led us through he distilling vats
and aging barrels. After the tour we had
a sample of the seven year old dark rum and saw a $1,200 bottle of rum in a
glass display case.
We boarded the bus and rode out of town to Cojimar, the small
fishing village east of Havana where Hemingway fished and found the inspiration
for his novel “The Old Man and the Sea”.
His house is in the area but set back from the road so we didn’t even
drive by. The rain appeared to be
letting up when we arrived at the old fort on the sea wall across from a bust
of Hemingway. We got out of the bus to
take pictures but the rain increased and we quickly got back on the bus.
Next we stopped at the La Terraza de Cojimar Restaurant
where they have a table roped off in a corner with a view of the sea that was
Hemingways favorite table and where he dined with Gregorio Fuentes, captain of
Hemingway’s yacht “Pilar”. It was in
this restaurant that Hemingway met Cojimar’s fisherman. The restaurant’s walls were covered with
pictures of Hemingway and paintings of the sea and fisherman. It was very colorful.
On the drive back to Havana we stopped for lunch at Divino’s
Restaurant. The restaurant was already
decorated for Christmas and we were greeted by a large statue of Santa Claus at
the door. I had salad and fish for
lunch. When we left the restaurant the
rain had stopped and I was able to take some pictures of a nice four door 1931
Ford sedan.
Back in the city we got off the bus at san Francisco Plaz
and started our walking tour of Old Havana.
First stop was the old fort of La Real Fuerza. We then walked up the narrow streets to Hotel
Ambos Mundos where Ernest Hemingway stayed and wrote many of his short
stories. We took an elevator to the top
floor where we were served a Mojito and had great views of the city. The open rooftop bar had pretty art decorated
panels on the walls.
After a crowd of European tourist left the area we were able
to visit Hemingway’s room which has been setup as he used it when he stayed
there. A typewriter with pages from a
short story is in a display case on the standup desk he used when he wrote. The closet has one of suits and tie hanging
behind a glass door. A model of his
yacht Pilar was on display on top of a bookcase. A case displayed cards, poker chips, dice and
a small roulette wheel.
On the way out the lobby was full of European guests
checking in and out with their luggage.
We were then on our own to explore Old Town Havana. I walked up the narrow streets and visited
several shops. Of interest was the
restored Johnson Drug Store with a display from floor to ceiling of ceramic jars
used to contain drugs. Along the way I
walked through a large open market with arts, crafts and clothes for sale.
At the end of the walk was another Hemingway hangout the
Floridita Bar home of the original daiquiri.
Inside was a spot where Hemingway liked to sit and pictures were on the
wall of him with famous people such as Errol Flynn, Castro and Mafia Dons.
We returned to the hotel before 17:00 and had a rest before
leaving for dinner at 19:00 to dine at El Tocororo a privately owned restaurant
until recently only open to foreigners.
It had plaques on the wall from various tour groups and a great jazz
band. Dinner was delicious.
After dinner we rode to the Tropicana Night Club where we
took in the show. It was spectacular
with dancing, singing, many costume changes and lots of colorful lights. It ranks with the best Las Vegas shows.
It was a great way to spend Saturday night in Havana.
Sunday, December 02,
2012: Spirituality in Cuba
Our first visit for the day was a tour of the Colon Cemetery
founded in 1876. Named for Christopher
Columbus, the 140 acre cemetery was noted for its many elaborately sculpted
memorials. It is estimated that the
cemetery has more than 500 major mausoleums, chapels, and family vaults. The cemetery was entered through a massive
stone gate called the “Gate of Peace” in the form of the Arc de Triumph with
three arches over openings. We were met
by a guide that showed us around the cemetery describing the many large
mausoleums, chapels, and family vaults.
He pointed out several notable people’s graves, the Chapel of Constante
Ribalaigua, a friend of Ernest Hemingway and founder of the Floridita, famous
Hemingway bar in Old Havana. Ribalaigua
is credited with having invented the famous daiquiri drink. The most impressive grave site was the 75 foot
high monument to the firefighters who lost their lives in the great fire of May
17, 1890. We were impressed by the clean
condition and massive size of the sites, many dating back to the late 1800’s
and early 1900’s. It indicated that
there was once great wealth and taste for the arts in the history of the
nation.
We toured the chapel in the center of the cemetery between
funerals, which go on all day, and then visited the very popular grave of La
Milagrosa (The Miraculous One). The
story goes that when Amelia Goyri de la Hoz died in childbirth in 1901, she was
buried with her stillborn daughter placed at her feet. When the tomb was opened a few years later,
the baby was found in her arms. Amelia
is now considered the protector of pregnant women and newborn children. Pilgrims paying homage must not turn their
backs to the tomb upon leaving. We saw many
woman visiting the grave and laying flowers on the tomb in just the few minutes
we were there.
The cemetery has more than 800,000 graves and 1 million
interments, space is currently at a premium and after three years remains are
removed from their tombs, boxed and placed in a storage building. The cemetery ranks right up with the most
impressive in the world such the ones in Paris and Buenos Aires.
Our next visit was to the area called Muraleando Mercado de
San Jose. Muraleando means mural-making
and what started out as art classes taught in the street because there was no
local room to teach, the classes grew into a community beautification project
where trash areas were cleaned up and metal sculptures installed and murals
painted on the walls. Even Charles
Schulz’s estate has contributed by allowing pictures of Snoopy to be painted on
the walls. The community gained
permission from the Government to turn an old concrete water tank into an art
studio and in front of the tank they built a covered stage where we were
entertained with the talents of the local musicians and a ‘rap’ artist.
The music became a group dance where the locals had us dance
with them. It was great fun and followed
by a showing and selling of their art work.
Of course I had to buy a small print of a painting by the young lady that
had asked me to dance with her.
From the community center we boarded our bus and rode to the
Arts and Crafts Market that occupies the old warehouse space along the seaport
docks. There I was able to purchase a
few small art objects for the grand kids. We then rode to the San Francisco Square where
we had the official Group Photo taken in the archway of the cathedral.
We had lunch at Cafe de Oriente on the square. It was very elegant and we had the whole top
floor with a jazz trio serenading us while I had a delicious seafood
lunch. After lunch we had the choice of
staying in Old Havana or returning to the hotel. I choose to return to the hotel to catch up
on my email and journal.
At 17:30 we departed to the Belle Arts Museum to attend
musical performance by six local music teachers called the Groupo Vocal
Elé. They sang a number of songs in
Spanish and English. Their rendition of
‘Summertime’ was outstanding.
Following this surprise event we rode to Casa Espanola for
dinner. The meal was a traditional Cuba
meal with beans and a potato quiche.
It had been another memorable day on my visit to Cuba.
Monday, December 03,
2012: Education in Cuba
On our many trips back and forth to and from the hotel would
pass by a beautiful old three story mansion on a corner which Isabel called the
“Green Tiles” house. Well, we finally
stopped and visited the house. The house
had been owned by a wealthy lady with a lot of land holdings in the
country. After the Revolution she had to
give the State all her holdings but could keep one house to live in. She chose this beautiful house with a large
lot and water fountains and reflecting pools in the backyard. When she died the house passed to her niece
as her only living heir in the country.
When the niece died she had no heirs and the property was turned over to
the State.
The government restored the house to its former glory and it
was then used by the Havana Revitalization Works as an office, reception and
briefing room. We were lead up to the
third floor past beautifully decorated rooms to a large room where we were
given a presentation on “Restoring the Memory - Approach to Cuban Architecture
and Havana Revitalization Works”. The
presenter was a female architect from the Havana Revitalization Works. She traced the history of architecture in
Cuba through its history, the influence of wars and the renaissance influences
in fortress, the Spanish-Arab influences in houses, the colonial period, the
cathedrals, convents, neoclassic buildings, and the period from 1902 to 1958
which included the ‘Capital’ building which is a replica of the US Capital and
the Casinos and hotels. She then
described the damage to the buildings caused by strong storms over the years.
That background lead to the establishment of the
Revitalization Works – Cultural and Touristic Infrastructure. She talked about and showed us before and
after pictures of the projects her department has undertaken and some of the
artists that perform the work including the National School of Arts, the Mills
Farm in central Havana and the Green Tiles house. In the Q&A following her presentation she
talked about the funding which comes from tourist fees and how the US embargo
hampers the funding by reducing the tourist trade.
After the presentation we were given a tour of the house. Fabulous!
We then rode to the famous Hotel National. The New York architectural firm of McKim,
Mead and White designed the hotel, which features a mix of styles. It opened in 1930, when Cuba was a prime
travel destination for Americans and the hotel has had many famous and
important guests.
The hotel was built on the site of the Santa Clara Battery,
which dates back to 1797. Part of the
battery has been preserved in the hotel's gardens, including two large coastal
guns dating from the late 19th Century.
There is a small museum featuring the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. During the crisis, Fidel Castro and Che
Guevara set up their headquarters in the hotel to prepare the defense of Havana
from aerial attack. The Hotel Nacional
de Cuba is a World Heritage Site and a National Monument, and it was inscribed
in the World Memory Register.
At one end of the long ornate lobby I entered the ‘Hall of
Fame’ which has a panorama of the famous guests that have stayed or visited the
hotel since it was built. On the walls
are large collage of famous peoples photos grouped by decade. In addition there were individual photos of
famous people and even a full size bronze statue of Nat King Cole. At the other end of the lobby was a bar which
also had pictures on the wall of luminaries.
Our side in the back was a beautiful view of the harbor.
I didn’t visit them but a number of rooms that have been occupied
by the famous have been zealously conserved, several having been declared
historic (those of Nat King Cole, Compay Segundo, Ava Gardner and Frank
Sinatra, Fred Astaire, María Felix, Johnny Weismuller, the Mafia bosses, Bola
de Nieve, Tyrone Power, Gary Cooper, Agustín Lara, Jorge Negrete, Mario Moreno,
Stan Musial, Paul Casal, and Errol Flynn). On display in each are photographs and a
biographical profile of their celebrated former occupant.
Out front as I waited for the bus to arrive I saw a beautiful
1957 red Chevrolet convertible pull up to pick up a passenger. Outstanding condition!
Our next visit was to an Art Museum where we entered the
side to a long room with a band set up at one end. We sat on folding chairs on each side of the
room. We were introduced to Cuban Folkloric
Dance. The group was from a family of
three men and three women. There danced
what I considered a very wield gyration and I didn’t think the movements were
in sync with the rhythm of the music.
They looked like they were on drugs.
I was not impressed. At one point
they performed a mating ritual where the female danced with skirt which she
would raise teasing the male who had a handkerchief he would flick at the
raised dress. If she didn’t like him she
would drop her skirt if she liked him she would encourage him to get closer.
During the dance the female dancer tried to get Buck sitting
next to me to dance the man part. He
declined and told her to pick me. I
gyrated with the handkerchief and turned my back to her and flicked it between
my legs. I felt silly since I still
didn’t sense the correlation between her movements and the rhythm of the
music. Chris came to my rescue and took
the handkerchief and enabled me to sit down.
After the mating dance we all paired up and danced a sort of
a square dance where we danced up and down and then in a round. Finally it was over and we left for lunch.
Lunch was at the El Aljibe Restaurant, an open sided
thatched roof building. It was a good
lunch and a popular place full of tour groups including a group from the
Hemingway movie crew. (No star actors included).
After lunch we visited the Santovenia Senior Home, a
catholic run home since 1886. We toured
the various areas of the home. One wing
held males another wing females and across the rear small apartments for
couples. In the middle was the
chapel. We were shown the common
facilities like the Physical Therapy room.
Our host was one of the women living with her husband and we visited her
small apartment which had a patio and a garden in back.
We returned to the hotel and prepared for our farewell
dinner. At 18:30 we gathered in the
hotel lobby to board the bus and were told the bus had broken down. Isabel then told us she had ordered taxis to
take us to the Saratoga Hotel for dinner.
I was elated and boarded a 1957 blue Ford convertible with Cecile and
Judy. The driver took our picture and
then Isabel jumped in the front seat.
She confessed that the bus was not disabled and the surprise was to give
us a ride in the old cars we had been drooling over all week. The driver told me he had replaced the Ford
engine with a Hyundai diesel and that almost all the Taxis had diesel engine
replacements. We had fun on the way to
dinner passing some of our colleagues or being passed ourselves.
Our farewell dinner was at the
roof top of the Saratoga Hotel in the center of the city. It was a clear night and we had spectacular
views of the city. I sat with Dennis and
Mary and Isabel. It was a delicious meal
and a fitting end to our visit to Cuba.
Back in the room I read an email
that informed me that my youngest daughter Robin was going to arrive in Miami
to attend the Art Basel Miami Beach at the same time I was scheduled to arrive.
Tuesday, December 04,
2012: Return to the US
I arose early to pack and have my luggage ready for pick up
before I went to eat breakfast. We
departed for the airport at 08:00 for a 25 minute ride. Check in was a little confusing because
another large group was checking in at the same time. I was motioned to be first in line at one of
the counters but the agent had not set up his system so it took me a little
longer than those in the other line. I
was assigned a window seat. Immigration
and Security went fast. Some of the
group carrying pictures in a tube had to show the contents of the tube. Once inside the Departure Hall a man with a
Tauck sign directed me to the VIP room overlooking the hall. We gathered in the room and waited until one
of the group noticed people lining up at our assigned gate. I hustled down to the hall and the line
started growing to be the length of the hall.
I got in near the front with several of the members of our group.
The flight on a World Atlantic B-737 charter took off on
time and landed ten minutes early at Miami International. I hurried off the plane to try and get
through Immigration and Customs to meet Robin when she landed. I don’t know the layout of Miami
International but I think we parked as far away from Passport Control as
possible. I walked as fast as I could
passing by everyone from my plane and finally arrived to find the Passport
Control Hall full of passengers from other flights. It took me forty minutes to pass through
Passport Control. My bag was just coming
off the carousel and then I had a ten minute wait to pass customs. Robin had landed and was trying to contact me
but cell phones are not allowed in the area.
Finally I was able to talk to her and we agreed to meet at the Hertz
rental building.
We met all right and used her iPad to direct us to her small
hotel in Miami Beach on 18th Street.
She checked in and I found a parking lot. We then had one of her staff join us for
lunch. They had meetings to attend so I
left them and drove to a Residence Inn in Coconut Grove to spend the night.
Wednesday, December
05, 2012:
I went to the airport early with a plan to take the first
flight to the west coast that I could.
Finding a gas station near the airport was more difficult than I
expected and I had to drive around side streets before I could gas up. Them I could not believe how complicated and
long the route was to get to the Rental Car turn in lot. I was not a happy person and then to top it
off when I got to the United check-in counter I found the first available
flight to LAX was not until 15:00 and there was no longer a Red Carpet or
United Club at Miami so I had to kill time in a bar near my departure
gate. The flights home went off without
a hitch and I was home for dinner. Trip
over!
I highly recommend the tour for everyone.
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