I can’t remember the last time I ate guavas or got so excited about themJ and certainly when the other half announced that we were off to Havana for ten days guavas were the last thing on mind.
Having settled in our rented flat we went in search of the best joint to hang out in and we came across the elegant Hotel Nacional Cuba, we were so take in by this place that it became our second home for the duration of the stay.
It was here that I ate guavas to my heart’s contents and all of you foodies out there if you are ever in Havana, this is the place to be. The buffet provided at breakfast is broken down into a seven course mealJ
Havana is full of life and rustic charm. The neo classic crumbling buildings are full of colour and reminders of their splendour. This must have been one beautiful city! Havana, is laid out on a grid making it very easy to find your way around unlike organic cities.
Old Havana is especially interesting; it may feel like time ahs stood still in places. We came across an pharmacy dating back 1853.. with all sorts of medical contraptions from bygone days, the asthma inhaler looked like one of those camping stoves with a nozzle..Babes, you would have loved this place.
There are street dancers every where in colourful costumes, going through the narrow streets, and happy to pose for a pic for you for a few pesos. A visit to the Cigar factory is recommended even for non smokers. But I tell you folks there are things we do for a living, but can you imagine passing your day sorting tobacco leaves in a room with no windows? You sit on a bench and are given sack after sack of leaves and your job is to straighten them and arrange them according to size and the next team takes out the stem!
Life in Havana is lived on the door step pretty much, people sit on their steps, have a chat invite strangers in for coffee etc, I don’t exaggerate when I say this but walking through the streets I saw a young woman huddled by a window ledge, and being the noisy type I discreetly got closer to see what she was up to! She had bought some Blue/white false nails and she was applying them right there on the street!
You are however warned against the overfriendliness of some of the locals, who will ask if you need assistance locating accommodation, sight seeing etc, they expect a fee for this but worse, they will leave off you for the rest of your stay if you are not careful and in worst case scenarios they will expect you to take them with you when your visit ends. Sometime they work in pairs, as we discovered, they joined us as we walked through the street, having discovered that we were from the UK they asked us whether we were related to Ali G or lived in Liverpool! The man concentrate on my other half whilst the woman concentrated on me and even offered me a bread stick from her bag!
Ironically they reassured us how safe Havana is (which is very true by the way) the man told my husband that they 2,000,000 people in Havana with 9,000, 000 police looking after them and therefore no room for MAFIA!
Almost anything and everything that you haven’t seen in years is in Havana, classic American cars, the old European cars like Skoda and LADA!, they even have those old yellow buns (bread rolls) that we used to call (mwana akaaba) ok I am giving away my age here..
On Sunday everyone is out in public gardens of which there many but be ware of the baseball players, as this thought run my mind that I should avoid them a baseball landed bang smack on my shoulder blade.. And I can’t even begin to explain how excruciating that felt
The Malecon (sea front) is where most young people hang out with bottles of rum and if it is a warm night chance are that they will be out the whole night. It’s is very well designed and visitors are able to sit on the perimeter wall. I would not like to contemplate what happens after a few bottles of rum!
We took in an excursion that took us two days out Havana to the quaint towns of Trinidad and Saint Clara. I couldn’t believe it when our guide told us told us how passionate the Cubans are about their guavas and that the usual way of eating them is with cheese! I tried this and it does work especially with the yellow ones.. and not so much with the green skin red flesh type!
A visit to a city for me is never complete without calling into the local Jazz club and so it was that we took ourselves off a night of Jazz at the longest street that I have ever seen called La Ramba and further up this street is the longest Ice Cream queue that I have ever seen. People queue up for hours to get in!
The Tropicana Cabaret is a must too; this is set in the most amazing garden I have ever seen. Having looked forward to visiting, booked the show and a taxi to take us there we almost didn’t make it. As we turned into the venue’s drive the Mercedes we were travelling in was hit by a car leaving the venue, the driver failed to stop at the give way sign and my side of the door was hit throwing me across to my husband and then to the driver in front of me. Thanks to the driver’s skills and the quality of the car we made it without injury.
What surprised me about this is that both drivers stopped and exchanged details, waited for the Police too. I found that Cubans are very disciplined drivers who observe traffic rules etc but was surprised at the man who hit us.
Cubans are also very proud of their country and will tell everyone that cares to listen and are big on their heroes, Che Guevera, Jose Marti, Fidel and there are monuments of them nearly every where as well as memorials that can be visited. It is illegal to sell and buy property in Cuba but it can be exchanged, they operate a two currency system one for the tourists and another for the locals.. Well this had me confused!
All in all we had a superfine time; lots of cocktails enjoyed the sun and guavas, and if you haven’t been but have always wanted to go please go as soon as you can!
I have a gazillion pics so will post as and when I get a moment