Domingo, el 2 de Abril…
We splurged on breakfast at a swanky hotel
on the Prado. The buffet flanked 3 sides of the room and included everything
from sushi to dessert as well as familiar basics like scrambled eggs and
waffles. Afterwards we took the city bus tour – not a whole lot of new
information, but a great way to see parts of the city we can’t walk to. Pics
below:
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Not my photo, but we saw this bldg several
times. The story behind the words "Vas
bien, Fidel" is worth reading. Check out
http://www.johnthorndike.com/?p=1090 |
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| Another shot I missed: Cementerio
de Cristóbal Colón |
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Tribute to Antonio Maceo, 2nd in command
in the war for independence. |
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| Memorial to José
Martí |
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| (I don't think this mural has political implications.) |
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| Modern apartment buildings. 😃 |
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The Miramar neighborhood retains
some of the pre-revolution mansions
and embassies. |
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El Morro, a fortress dating back to the 1700s,
guards Havana Bay (and greets the cruise ships) |
After lunch at Blanco y Negro, a neighborhood cafeteria, we headed out to find a music festival (which we did) and ended up taking a very long walk. More pics...
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| Waterfall cascading from grounds of the Hotel Nacional. |
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| Hotel Nacional, 1930s art deco |
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| View from Hotel grounds |
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| Restored classic-car taxis near the hotel |
Cuba is… CLASSIC CARS. They’re everywhere and in every state of repair and/or restoration
imaginable. The ones above are beauties (but even a pristine ’56 Chevy is likely
to have a Russian diesel engine). The drivers love their cars and loved the
fact that Greg asked good questions. A couple of them also scored car caps
(Mazda, Sovren Racing, Hoosier Race Tires) that Greg had brought along. The
most appreciated gift, however, was a newsprint magazine about car shows, drag races, etc with lots of pictures that went to a young man we met at the music festival. He and Greg talked about several of the pics, and the guy had this huge grin when Greg told him the magazine was his to keep.
The taxi we took back to the airport was a '50 Chevy that had not been restored. Every few minutes the driver would tug on his door to make sure it was still latched. $25 to the airport, which seems high (for Cuba), but diesel is $1/liter and gas $1.75.
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| Just like old times (my first car was a '56 Chevy) |
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No un coche a la vista.
(Not a car in sight.) |
BlogThought... There are no crosswalks along the Malecón, and until today we haven't even considered trying to cross it (notice that all these lanes are eastbound; another 3 or 4 are to the right of the lamppost.) Maybe b/c it was Sunday, folks were elsewhere, so I stepped out and captured the moment.
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