I have 2 ‘best’ mates, Kes (who know works on Turks & Caicos) and Giz, who has lived in Spain for 7 years. I have tried to see Giz at least once a year since he moved, and 2007 was the first year that we did not manage to catch up. So when I received a mail from him to say he was flying from Mexico (where he was on holiday) to Cuba for 2 days, it seemed to good an opportunity to miss. Kes and I both booked time off work and set out to book flights, which is easier said than done. There used to be a direct flight from TCI to Cuba, but American pressure put pay to that, the best option was from TCI – Bahamas (3 hour stopover), then Bahamas – Cuba (Habana). Various flight issues meant we would arrive day before Giz, leave a day before him and have to spend one and a half days in Bahamas – it was still 2 evenings and one full day to catch up. We arrived in Bahamas with no trouble, then went through the farce of Cubana airlines, which meant having to queue at 3 separate desks (one to check ticket, one to issue boarding pass and one to check in luggage) which took about 2 hours. The Cubana plane was like something from a horror movie, you had to crouch to get through the doorway, the seats were broken (if you pushed the seat in front of you it fell forward), it made horrific noises as it lurched along the runway, to top it all the cabin filled up with smoke ! Luckily there was free Habana rum on offer to settle nerves. Landing and breathing a sigh of relief, we passed easily through customs, changed currency (you cannot get Cuban currency outside the country and it is a tourist currency – there is a separate one for locals), jumped in a taxi and headed for our hotel.
The journey into Habana revealed derelict factories and buildings, lots of revolution billboards, 1950’s cars, Russian ladas and masses of people by the roadside trying to travel to and from their destinations. Once at the hotel, we checked into our room and chilled for a while. The hotel was old and weary looking but our room was comfortable, during our stay one of the 2 lifts broke down and the separate annex where Giz and Lidia stayed had no working lifts or hot water during there stay.
Due to a lack of preplanning, Kes and I had no idea where we were in relation to anything, so randomly wandered around the backstreets for a couple of hours. The streets were dirty, smelly and dark, this said at no time did we feel in any sort of danger, in fact Cuba is meant to be one of the safest countries in the Caribbean. There were apartments directly onto the streets, a smattering of poorly stocked shops, ‘hole in the wall’ places where the locals bought cooked food, some amazing vintage cars , and to remind you of the poverty old men and women going through the bins looking for bottles and cans to sell. We ended up back near the hotel, sat down in a bar and proceeded to consume far too many Mojitos and ‘Bucanero’ beers. There was a mix of tourists and locals and live music all night, this seemed to be typical of a lot of bars we saw.
The next morning we went for ‘breakfast’, which became an experience everyday. Firstly we found ourselves locked out by a ‘bar’ inserted through the handles on the inside – this was to control numbers having breakfast ! Once in it was a gamble whether there would be plates, cutlery, glasses or cups, in fact I think I ate without cutlery each day. Breakfast itself consisted of fruit, black beans, potatoes, bread, omelettes and strange meat paste sandwiches.
Fortified from our hearty breakfast we set out to explore Habana by daylight. As blokes we felt no need for a map or advice and so spent 2 hours wandering around wondering where the hell everything was (not that we even knew what everything was). Finally conceding defeat, we asked the question, and on advise jumped into a taxi and headed to the Plaza Cathedral to start our day of sightseeing. It was only a 10 minute taxi drive away (about 45 mins walking), however, we did now find ourselves in Old Habana, a real hive of activity. We wandered through a tourist market selling the generic tat, before reaching Plaza Cathedral and the impressive Catherdral. The square itself was full of hawkers selling cigars, musicians, artists and tourists, the atmosphere and architecture reminded me very much of Barcelona, an impression that only grew over the two days (albeit a run down Barcelona). We wandered down backstreets, enjoying the whole atmosphere, hussle and bussle of life, the people are so friendly, the colonial architecture is amazing and you never get used to vintage cars passing you buy. We bought some cigars (under the counter at $1 each) and then headed to the Museum of the Revolution. To be honest it is probably a ‘must’ when here, the amount of material is impressive, but it is presented in a very ‘dry’ format, which means you soon lose interest – the corner of the cretins, featuring caricatures of Bush, Reagan & Batista and the words of ‘thanks’ to them for helping the revolution is very amusing though ! Hungry and dehydrated (mid day and still no water consumed!) we found a local eatery and then went to the famous and popular Club Habana, to enjoy a Mojito and live Cuban music.
We spent the next few hours leisurely wandering back towards the hotel, enjoying the sights and sounds. It is evident that this is a beautiful city in decay, and despite the friendliness of people we met, there is very evident poverty here, bought on by a great extent to the American embargo. There are often old women on the pavement selling toothpaste, razors etc, ‘luxury’ goods to them. The children come up to you, asking for the soap from the hotels or pens so that they can go to school ( education is free and illiteracy is the lowest in the Caribbean), and old people try and sell you the local currency as a ‘souvenier’ in exchange for £ or euros so that they can shop at the black market shops. There are often queues outside shops, with people being restricted inside (bar across door on inside) for what we would consider basic products, and there are very large spaces on the shelves in many shops. We wandered along boulevards full of local artists, plazas with outdoor markets, and side roads with people sitting in their doorways, getting on with everyday life.
We eventually found our hotel, and waited in the bar (with a mojito) for Giz and Lidia to arrive. It was great to see them both (even though Giz had a stupid beard) and we spent the evening drinking mojitos (notice a theme developing), smoking Cuban cigars and catching up with life in general, its always great to catch up with Giz, within 5 minutes you feel like its only been a day since you last got together.
The following morning we headed back to the Plaza Cathedral and followed a similar route to the previous day, we visited the Capitolio Nacional (seat of government until 1959 revolution), before heading back to Club Habana for more mojitos and music. We left there for ‘El Floridita’, an old haunt of Ernest Hemmingway and the birthplace of the daiquiri. We had said drink, sat next to a life size cast of Hemmingway and listened to more live music. The walls are adorned with photos of Hemmingway, pride of place being one of Hemmingway and Castro shaking hands. Next stop was Edificio Bacardi, an amazing art deco building, which now has a small restaurant with great views of Habana. For the equivalent of $10 each we had 2 cocktails, a starter, main course and coffee. We then took a lift and then stairs to the top of the building which offers breathtaking panoramic views of Habana.
Jumping in another taxi we headed to Revolution Square, where some of Castros greatest speeches and rallies took place. The Che Guevara image on the Ministry of the Interior building is world famous and impressive, however, the square is dominated by the Jose Marti Memorial. That evening we drank (you guessed what) and finished the cigars, enjoying good company and a great day generally.
The following morning we left Giz and Lidia, headed back to the airport and flew to Nassau, Bahamas. We just chilled for the day and a half, taking advantage of fast food chains (which don’t exist on TCI), and the curry house I tracked down during my last stay. We did a bit of sightseeing, before heading back to TCI.
I had an amazing time in Cuba, I fell in love with the city during my brief visit. It reminds me so much of Barcelona, which is my favourite city in the world. The people of friendly, the atmosphere is vibrant, the people enjoy free education and medical care, but there is poverty wherever you look. Within a week of returning, Castro announced his retirement after 49 years in power, I may have visited just before the change of an era, only time will tell.
Lastly, catching up with Giz and Lidia was the reason for the trip, and certainly made the trip. The thing about great mates is that even after not seeing them for long periods of time, within minutes it feels like its only been an evening since you last met.
