Mambo de la Luna Day 4+: Havana still

Today was the big Havana tour day, taking in the old and the new cuidad. The old cuidad is UNESCO recognised, free from cars, and quite beautiful in an under restoration kind of way. So after meeting our trusty Beberli, it was off to stroll around basically where I’ve strolled around for the last couple of days, but this time with someone to explain what I’ve been seeing.

I could go into great detail boring you about all the things about the history of Havana, but suggest you’re better off reading Wikipedia or something. Basically, in very condensed form, Havana is a semi-strategic isthmus with water on three sides, making for a sheltered port and great place to load and unload ships full of sugar, slaves, and whatnot. It was also a great port for the Spanish to use for bringing together all the gold looted from various local civilisations like the Incas, before taking this back to Spain. As a result, pirates made a habit of regularly stopping by and burning the city down, at least until the locals started building houses from stone, and an abundance of big navy ships with big guns, combined with a dwindling supply of looted treasures, led to pirates giving up the sea and probably becoming conservative politicians who could then plunder without any real threats to their safety.

With pirates out of the picture, and a brief interlude involving the British, Havana was now able to focus on treating slaves badly, building churches and big homes, and generally doing what it wanted as long as Spain said it could. By the 19th century, a few folks were over being a Spanish colony, wanting instead to be a little bit more independent, only to have these dreams crushed by force. These folks now have statues dotted around the old cuidad.

As a result, the old cuidad is full of old buildings, tourist traps, statues, and fortresses that folks can walk around and see, which is what we did before stepping into Havana’s most recognisable attraction, a 1950s American chevy.

Hot pink, because the Cuban machismo is a strange thing.

Three on the tree, original engine, and actual horns under the bonnet. The ability of Cubans to have kept so many old cars going is legendary, but it’s not just old American cars but Volkswagon Beetles, and old Soviet Ladas and Moskowiches. The streets of Cuba are a weird fusion, colourful, especially with the addition of bright yellow taxis and big old style American school buses.

The driving part of the tour took in post-colonial and modern Habana, lots of huge art deco houses, a park dedicated to John Lennon, the big Capitol building — a replica of the US Capitol building but just a little taller because every Batista had a small dick — some embassies, including the now empty US embassy (I’m beginning to think that the only or at least most effective sonic weapon in Cuba is the inability to dine without a full band present), the promenade (including some of the 7km bench), and assorted other sights and sounds before dropping us at a place where the party has a more African-inspired soundtrack. All I know about Latin American-African culture wouldn’t fill a shotglass, and I’m not sure I’m any more knowledgeable now, but certainly appreciated the musical experience.

Then it was back to find some lunch — our guide’s first recommendation was booked out and had a queue, so we wandered back to the older parts where we found a spruiker with an acceptable menu and promise of airconditioning. Here the band were a more mellow three-piece, so we could actually converse and eat. I chose the fried chicked, as I’ve not had any so far and it seemed a solid safe bet (I’ve been avoiding the seafood so far due to an irrational fear of local refridgeration not being up to the task). The fried chicken was good: salty, crunchy on the outside, and chickeny on the inside. Again, not strongly spiced or seasoned but still a good lunch.

After lunch, it was back to the casa for a bit of a rest before a stroll to the big market shed (San Jose something), which was sadly closing and seemed full of the same souvenirs in every fifth shop. So far the souvenir pickings have been very samey, lots of wood things, prints of old cars, and many many Havana Club and Che Guevara t-shirts. No snow globes sighted.

The rest of the day was fairly standard for Havana: a search for food, punctuated by a mojito or two, then dinner at a street food inspired restaurant, Ernest Padre (?) where I had some very good pulled pork and beans and rice. We followed this up with some icecream — a quest fulfilled as we’d asked at a bunch of places that had it on the menu but not actually available. This gelateria is just off the Plaza Vieja, and I recommend their fresa, guayava, and dark chocolate.

If this reads a bit rushed that’s because it is. It seems I’m perpetually a day behind with this blog right now, so will try to race through the next couple of days to catch up. Until then, the hightlights of the next ones are Santiago de Cuba, good food, and lots of walking.