Saturday morning our ship entered the harbor of Havana, Cuba as the sun was rising. We had an early tour booked for the day so while Lynda was preparing herself for the day in our state room, Tim was on his way to breakfast. The breakfast buffet was on the same deck as the swimming pool and as Tim was crossing the pool deck on the way to the buffet he stopped to watch the ship enter the harbor. In the early morning dawn, under a cloudless sky the Havana skyline was quite beautiful. The first thing Tim noticed was the absence of any modern skyscrapers. The skyline was dominated by the domes, spires and towers of obviously old buildings. Tim’s first impression was that Havana was going to be a beautiful city to explore. Our previous reading about Havana had mentioned the beautiful old architecture. Upon leaving Havana on Sunday we reflected back on our two days in Havana and decided she was like an aging movie star, still beautiful from afar, but up close you could see the wrinkles and the aging.
Our Saturday excursion was a day long bus tour of Havana. The tour started at Revolution Square. This was not a square in the sense of a beautiful Italian Piazza or a lovely village square, a green space surrounded by buildings. Rather it was a huge open area dominated by a tall obelisk built in memory of Jose Marti, a national hero who led the fight for Cuban independence from Spain. Across from the Marti Memorial Tower and a very large green space are two large government office buildings. Each of the buildings is about 10 stores tall and each features the image of a famous revolutionary figure. One is Che Guevara and the other is Camilo Cienfuegos a renowned guerrilla fighter. Revolution Square is one of the largest squares in the world. In the parking lot just off of the square we discovered a least a dozen restored 1950’s era American automobiles. The Chevy Bel Air seemed to be the most popular. Most of these cars were convertibles and were for hire for the driver to take you on a tour of Havana. Our guide told us that while the exteriors were beautiful, replacement parts for the cars were impossible to obtain so that most the cars did not run very well. Still, it was a nostalgic delight to see.
Our next stop was a rum and cigar store. It was one of several in Havana that owed its existence to the tourist industry. We were there for about 45 minutes, the sole purpose being for us to buy rum and cigars. As we don’t really enjoy either we pretty much sat and watched Jeff and Rob as they were in seventh heaven. Our biggest disappointment was not being able to see a demonstration of the rolling of Cuban cigars.
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| Two babes in a vintage car |
Our lunch stop was a lovely open air restaurant that, like the cigar and rum store, catered to bus loads of tourists. We all sat at large tables with the meal being served family style. The meal started with a small glass of rum and plates of hors d’oeuvres consisting of chicken wings, potato croquettes and plantain chips. The main course was roasted chicken and rice with black beans. We enjoyed a Cuban beer with our meal. As we ate we were entertained by a Mariachi Band. As far as tourist lunches of this sort go, this one was very nice.
After lunch our bus took us to the Colon cemetery, named in honor of Christopher Columbus. It was very large and the tombs and grave sites were crowded so close together we needed to walk single file between them. We were shown two notable graves. The first was actually a memorial to 37 firefighters who had entered a burning building not knowing the building contained TNT. The massive explosions killed these 37 men. The second site was that of St. Amelia, also known as La Milagrosa, the Miraculous One. Amelia died during child birth with her baby dying a day or two later. They were buried together with the baby at Amelia’s feet. Some years later the bodies were exhumed and Amelia’s body was found to be uncorrupted, a sign of sanctity in the Catholic faith. Her baby’s body was reportedly found in her arms. It has become a tradition that people bring flowers to be placed on the tomb of St. Amelia with hope of St. Amelia solving the flower bearers’ problems.
The last stop of the day was a large indoor market next to the harbor. This market had hundreds of small booths selling t-shirts, leather goods, wood carvings and other souvenir type goods. These booths held little interest for us, but we did discover and enjoy a section of the market that had displays of art work by local artists. During our last several trips we had been looking for something new for our dining room with little success. As we were nearing the end of this section of the market we finally found a painting we really liked. The artist took the painting off of the frame it was on and rolled it up, placing it in a tube for us to safely bring home. We are looking forward to getting it reframed and hung.
Saturday night was a real treat. We took a cruise sponsored trip to the Tropicana Club, the iconic Havana cabaret that opened in the 1930’s, and has hosted such entertainers as Nat “King” Cole, Josephine Baker, Carmen Miranda, and Frank Sinatra. It was also a meeting place for many infamous Mafioso from the States. Since the revolution in 1959, the government has taken over the operation of the club. The Tropicana is a large outdoor venue and on this Saturday night was packed to overflowing as the result of two large cruise ships docked in the harbor. As we entered the club, it appeared that there were no seats available. However, as we followed our guide we discovered we were sitting at a table that ran perpendicular to the very center of the stage. Once the show began we were virtually in the middle of the show as there were stair steps right next to our table that the dancers were using throughout the show. With the exception of opera in the middle of the show, it was entirely Cuban music. There was a live orchestra accompanying the dancers and singers. The music and dancing was frenetic and at times sensual. The costumes were exotic, colorful and often skimpy. The men were treated to the joys of observing the female derrière. At times the women were treated to the same view of the male dancers. It was a specular show, unlike anything we’ve ever seen, that at times overloaded our senses. It was a wonderful end to our first day in Havana.
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| Sensual dancing at the Tropicana |
Sunday morning we awoke to our first day of lousy weather. Unfortunately, we had booked a walking tour of Old Havana. Lynda decided to skip this tour but the other five of us soldiered on. It is unfortunate that it rained, sometimes quite hard, during the entire walking portion of our tour. The architecture in Old Havana was beautiful, although a bit shabby at times. We were able to see of bit of how the locals lived. Eventually, all of us, soaked to the skin, were led to a bus that took us on a ten minute ride to a neighborhood tavern. While this tavern regularly hosted tourist groups it had a feeling of being a place locals visited often. Once we were seated we were each brought a shot of rum and a small cup of coffee. The five of us were at a table right next to a small raised stage where a five piece jazz combo began entertaining us. After a few numbers, the band took a break, cigars were passed out and we were all given a lesson on the proper way to smoke a cigar. It was interesting to see how many women in our group participated with the men in this lesson. Soon the band was playing again and we were given the opportunity to relax and enjoy the rum, cigars and music. We all agreed that as spectacular as the show at the Tropicana had been, this seemed more authentic. Reluctantly, we got back on the bus and returned to the ship. Sunday was the last day of our cruise. Tomorrow we would dock in Miami and be on a plane flying back to Michigan and reality. This was a different trip then we usually take. Other then the two days in Havana there was no sightseeing. But we were ok with that because the purpose of the trip was to share a major life event, our 50th anniversary, with our family. That being the goal, this was the best cruise we have ever taken.
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