Last night I woke quite a few times. Not because of noise, or light, or even because my body clock told me to, but because all I could smell was cigarette and cigar smoke. Coming from Melbourne, where smoking has pretty much been banned from everywhere, it seems so weird to be in a place where it is not only accepted, but expected!!
Mental note, close my bag, otherwise it's going to smell like an ashtray!!
Once my alarm went off, I got ready for my day ahead!! I had a full day tour of Havana booked today, which I was looking forward to.
I had a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel. Then grabbed my camera and my bag and I was ready.
I made the short walk to Central Parque Hotel, where I was to meet my guide. So I waited for a couple of minutes, when a lovely Cuban girl Janet introduced herself. Then she said, let's go. What? Where's the rest of the group?? Janet explained that as it is low season, I was the only one booked in for the tour today. Brilliant, a personalised tour of Havana.
So we set off. The plan to walk all around old Havana, then catch an old convertible Chevy to check out the 'new Havana' (which let's face it is still pretty old). First stop we went to the Museum of Revolution which was great. It was nice to hear a Cubans perspective of their history, and the revolution headed by Castro. A large proportion of the population love him. He has a hero or cult status. They love the lifestyle that he has introduced here in Cuba. Education and health care are all free, literacy has increased and he introduced a Robin Hood plan for Cuba, take from the rich and redistribute to the poor. All this is the perspective of a beautiful young Cuban lady. Whether she is telling the truth or too scared to tell it, it is what she tells me she believes. She is the one living here, and she has heard the stories past down from her family regarding life before the revolution. She is more than happy with the way of life here! In fact she speaks very highly of it!! Isn't that all that matters?
After the museum of revolution we continued on our tour. We walked past many buildings of interest. This part of Havana is so beautiful. Even in its run down state, it is rustically stunning!! Cuba is doing a lot of restoration work on the old buildings. They are doing a great job. Many of the buildings have been restored to their original beauty. There is actually a school to teach young men how to restore these magnificent buildings. I have to give it to Cuba, they are trying very hard to beautify their city. It's the tourist dollar which is funding this restoration project, and they are doing it to attract more tourists. Sensible plan!! They have a long way to go though - I don't want you to be mislead that all of the buildings have been restored. That's not the case, as there are a hell of a lot more buildings that still need restoring compared to those that have already been restored...... However you can see that they have already made huge in roads. It's just a slow old process.
We walked through countless plaza's, cobble stone streets and past monument after monument. You can really see the colonial Spanish influence on this town, as per much of Central America.
We headed to the rum museum, however soon realised that it was closed due to problems with the running water. That's the problem with visiting an old town, things go wrong. I must admit I wasn't too disappointed. Instead I was taken to a tower lookout point, which gave me a 360 degree birds eye view of the city. Now this is way better than any rum museum. The piece to resistance was being lead into a room that projected a periscope image of the entire city onto a white disc (something that Di Vinci had invented). It was amazing!!
Next stop, learning how to roll a cigar. Now this skill I could use. I don't know where the hell I would get all of the different types of tobacco leaves from, but I'm sure I could rustle up something with eucalypts leaves.... They would be alright, wouldn't they???
So, they gave me a cigar to smoke, along with a shot of top shelf rum and a small espresso. So I had a couple of puffs, however it went out. Obviously I'm not a very experienced cigar smoker. So rather than go through the embarrassment of them relighting it for me, they wrapped it up to take home.
It was fast approaching lunch time, so we headed to the ocean front strip to a restaurant. A 3 course lunch... veggie soup, pulled beef and veggies and fruit and icecream. I also had a mojito. Not bad for an included lunch!!!
Then it was time for my convertible Chevy ride. Now this was cool.... Well it wasn't actually cool as the sun was blistering hot. But by far the best way to get around this sensational town. Wind blowing through your hair, enjoying the sun.... although I could see how this ride could very quickly turn from brilliantly amazing to a misery with a downpour quite often seen in Havana every afternoon at this time of the year. I'm so lucky that the rain held off for me to enjoy my ride. In fact I had the opposite problem.... I felt myself melting, well at the very minimum burning to a crisp. We eventually made it back to my hotel.... just in time for me to get changed and jump straight in the pool. Now this is what I needed to cool down.
Surprisingly I'm not burnt. Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining, however I sure as hell thought that I was going I be a beetroot.
This evening I decided to have dinner at the lobby bar. It is such a great atmosphere. They have live music playing. So you can sit, have a drink, something to eat and just enjoy life. It is seriously just one musical act after another. It starts at 8 o'clock in the morning at the restaurant serving breakfast, and continues throughout the entire day up until 11pm in the stunning lobby. As soon as one act finishes their set, the next is set up and starts playing. Playing everything from classical, to soul searching blues, to Cuban rhythm (enough to get anyone off their seat to salsa) to old quartets and jazz. Just a great vibe for a hotel!!
So another day in paradise has come to an end. Let's see what tomorrow has planned for me!!