Havana Cuba 8th Feb 20

8th February 2020
This time in Havana we booked a delightful little house in the old area, the booking included a walking tour of the old city.
Fantastic walking tour, through the old city squares, we then caught the ferry across the harbour to Cristo de la Habana - Christ of Havana. Past Che Guevara’s house on the hill, onto the old Havana Fort where there was a book festival happening. Amazing tour guide, he was in Havana to study at the university, excellent English he was part Scottish so joked he could speak six languages plus a seventh, Scottish. We didn’t realise he was speaking Italian to the house owner not Spanish. Feeling very inadequate with our one language.

 

Havana Cuba

We found a local restaurant down the street with the traditional food of fired chicken, pork or fish with rice and black beans and a side of fried Bananas. Don’t expect too much from the average restaurant, the meals are simple and healthy. I would not pick the pasta unless maybe at a highend restaurant most of the time it is not al dente. To us it looked like someone had just opened a tin of spaghetti in tomato sauce.
I was told by young female tourists that you can get a lot of unwanted attention from the men in Havana, I didn’t think this would be a problem for me or the girls seeing as they were always with us. But one night leaving a restaurant with the family a good looking man took my hand and told me I was beautiful, I told him it was nice of him to say so, he then lifted my hand and kissed it, and repeated what he said. Of course this sort of thing happens to me all the … NEVER. Oh no! the unwanted attention haha.

 

I really liked Havana, would love to return one day, but I never seem to go to the same place twice so probably won’t. The sad thing is that the buildings are getting close to the point of no repair. It would be such a shame to see them demolished, but with no private money to spend on them and with Trump reversing Obamas part lift on the US embargo there is not likely to be money any time soon. (March 2016, Obama was the first president to visit Cuba since 1928).

 

Electric Unicycle tour.  

We needed to get an export permit for Lucy so had to find the permit office.

Gracias y adios Cuba.

Cuba is such an interesting and wonderful country with friendly people. It is very easy to visit and they could really benefit not just from tourist dollars but for tourists to get a greater awareness of the effects of socialism and the USA embargo. I don’t speak Spanish so I couldn’t really get the finer points of how things work there. But the USA Sanctions will remain until the Cuban government moves towards democratization and greater respect for human rights. Ex Cubans in Miami are also still sore about their defeat at the bay of pigs, and want their property back, I can’t see that ever happening, it was 1961 for heaven’s sake. I know Fidel Castor killed people, confiscated property, imprisoned people, missile crisis, and all that, but still 1961. One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter and Cuba does not seem to be going to change in a hurry. Is the embargo making any difference, except to make them poor and self reliant which in todays world might be a huge bonus.
In Cuba they are very quick to point out their free medical but then some say, yes it is free, if you can find a doctor that is not off driving a taxi or on some other side hustle to make money. They also send their Doctors around the world, to make money for Cuba, currently helping in Italy, a lot of countries disagree with the treatment of their doctors, calling it slavery, but the Cubans are not all bad, they did, in the interests of international solidarity, let a British cruise ship, dock in Havana after being refused, because of the corona virus, at other Caribbean ports….. They offload passengers and bussed them to the airport so they could fly home. I hope the British remember this.

The USA might not agree with the Cuban government but in light of the current situation a person wanting a twice poached pangolin for dinner (first poached in Africa and then again in Wuhan) must be a much greater threat to the world. Or did the virus come from a bat or a lab, what ever. #liftthebloodyembargoalready.