Cuba - Havana

After travelling from Cienfuegos, our Road Scholar group checked into our Havana hotel for four nights. We enjoyed two very revealing expert lectures on Cuban history/geography and the Cuban identity. We spent two half-days and one full day within Havana (as well as two short excursions outside Havana). We developed an understanding of city life in Havana, some major economy and development issues of Havana, tourism, and we visited a modern dance group, the art museum, an art/print shop, a craft fair and we made a home visit. This post includes a scattered variety of photos from these events.

We first saw Havana from the fortress (Morro Castle) across the bay. Built in 1589. the fortress dominates the entrance to the port where so much commerce took place from the 16th through the 19th centuries.

In this telephoto shot, taken from the Fortress, the yellow building with two turrets is our hotel, Hotel Nacional de Cuba.

Doug, Jean, and Ruth walk bravely in front of the cannon.

In 1762, the British took the Morro Fortress (from the land side, not the sea). It was returned to Spain the next year.

Our hotel, the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, was a five-star hotel. It was built in 1930 in the Spanish neo-classical style. In the 1930's, it was closely associated with the Mafia. For us in 2014, it was very comfortable!

Our first lunch in Havana was at a marvellous restaurant called La Casa Espanola. It was in a residential area and reflected the sumptuous glamour of the Spanish colonial era.

Stained glass windows were devoted to each of the provinces of old Cuba. Note the crests in the main windows, and the maps in the smaller windows above..

We received a guided tour around the expansive and beautiful Colón cemetery.

See the marker for Afro-Cuban singer and Grammy Award-winner Ibraham Ferer. Ferer was internationally popular, performing with the Afro-Cuban Allstars and the Buena-Vista Social Club.                                                                                                            

Old Havana is a very popular area for tourists. I took the photos below in Cathedral Square near the centre of Old Havana. 

Other parts of Old Havana reveal beautiful colonial architecture (old and restored), restaurants, shops, and a chocolate shop.

I was taken with three sculptures in Old Havana. They showed contrasting styles and themes.

This sculpture is called "Conversation". I thought it was expressive and clever.

Sandi appreciates Chopin - for his music!

John always likes to have fun.

Doug poses in front of the hotel where Ernest Hemingway spent much time in the 1930's. Some people thought Doug WAS Hemingway!

The photos below focus on street scenes and city life in Havana.

In our lectures, we learned that families living in the apartments own their units for life. It is often unclear who owns the corridors and common areas and exteriors.

We visited a family of three who live in a suburb of Havana where we had a fascinating discussion about daily life, work, and family life. My photos of the  blossoms in the courtyard turned out to be better than my photos of the family and house. 

Outside the home of our hosts, eleven Road Scholars lined up against a concrete wall. The puppies were just above them on the wall!

This photo was taken behind the craft market in Old Havana. It was in the harbour near this pier that the U.S.S. Maine blew up in 1899, precipitating the Cuban-Spanish-American War.