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La Havane (2/2)

#Day 19 Early departure to Baracoa airport. The taxi driver makes a detour to the *obelisco José Martí*, which is situated where he arrived from the Dominican Republic to fight against Spain. Then, there is a long wait at the airport. The plane to Havana was expected to leave at 9.45 but will only do so at 11 am. The flight goes North-Northwest following the coast. It goes over Cienfugeos and the view over the bay is very nice! It is less cold in the plane than in the bus. In Havana, a walk to the city to do some bars: one on the Malecón and the *Bodegita del Medio*, which wasn't so nice. There is a lot of hype around the Bodegita bar. It is supposed to have the best mojitos in town but they are only average. In the evening, a nice restaurant mostly filled with Cubans. Good food for a low price! #Day 20 The day starts by following Gervasio towards the Vedado. There, the Focsa building is the host of the Emperor bar, which has a view. Unfortunately, there is no room upstairs. Continuing to the Malecón, there is the American embassy. There are 136 flag poles in front of the embassy, which stand for the number of years Cuba has been independent. Then, there is a statue of Macéo, and one of Martí, pointing at the embassy from 500 m away, saying that Cuba will always be free. From there, a long walk (5 km!) towards the Orthodox Church. Ice cream and mojito at the coffee nearby. Museums are closed on Mondays. More walking around in the old Havana. The Granma is inside the *Revolution Museum*, but it can be seen from the outside. From the Malecón, cab ride to the Castillo which is on the other side of the channel. It is not possible to cross it by food or bicitaxi. There are a few things to see, the Castillo, another fortress, the museum of the Missile Crisis, the house of the Che and the white Christ of Havana. It is an easy walk but the cabs try to extend the ride to include a tour of all that. A very nice red Chevrolet makes the ride back to the casa. #Day 21 Late departure to the Central Park. On the park, it is possible to take an *hop on hop off* bus for only 5 CUC which goes to the end of Havana. However, there are only two interesting things on the way: *plaza de la Revolucion* with the monument to Martí and the Necropolis de Colón. The plaza is not that interesting in the end. It looks like an oversized parking lot. The monument has a statue of Martí and a tower. From the monument (it is not possible to get into the tower), it is possible to see the palace of the government, which is highly recognizable by its large building and its *area prohibido* signs. The Necropolis de Colón is more interesting. It is 5 CUC to enter if you do not have family there. There is even a barrack called *oficio de turismo*! Most of the tombs are made of white marble and bear statues. However, after walking a few *quadras*, it looks like statues are part of a catalog where they can be picked. Back to the Habana Vieja, finding the museum of the city is hard. The building itself is nice and was the previous palace of the Spanish Captains. The museum itself is interesting for the furnished rooms. Sadly, you need a guide to visit but it can be seen from the doorstep with the normal ticket. Back to the casa early. It feels like the end of the trip. Lots of walking in the recent days and the crowd of the city makes Havana exhausting to visit. Luggage are packed! One last day tomorrow to spend the remaining CUC. #Day 22 Last day in Cuba! I dropped the luggage at Martha’s before heading to the city. I passed by Floridita (skipped), the home to the Daiquiri, before going to Obispo street to look for postcards. I went to the museum of the *bellas arte* for Cuban art, which is apparently one of the most interesting museums to see in Havana with the museum of the city. It is nice and has lots of modern art. There was also an exhibition on a photographer who covered historical events. One ice cream on the Malecón nearby the Orthodox Church before walking back to Gervasio. Surprisingly, during these last days in Havana, I had less requests in the streets. That's very nice. Maybe I got used to decline even before the question gets asked? Or maybe I a tanned enough to look local? Back at Martha's to wait for the taxi who's coming at 5 pm to drive me to the airport. At the checkin I learn that you cannot be upgraded twice. Mmmm. At the control, there is a problem with the system and I have to wait 10 minutes. In the end, it still doesn't work but upon saying I had no issue on arrival, they stamp it and let me go through. With tickets bought recently, there is no need to pay the tax at the airport as it is now included in the ticket. Hence 25 CUC remaining. One bottle of rum and two cigars at the 'duty free'. Quotes are mandatory since goods do not have taxes in Cuba.

Baracoa

#Day 17 Departure for the Viazul station at 7 am to get the ticket. The departure is almost on time. One stop at Guantanamo (GTMO) bus station. After leaving the town, on the right side, there is the road that goes to the US Naval Base. The road is a good 1 hour of turns, with large valleys looking very tropical. In the mountains, the bus stops as a break for the driver, then starts again. Less than 1 km later, the EON bus is broken and we take some passengers to Baracoa. Arriving in Baracoa under a grey but dry weather. The city looks empty and there is almost no cars. There is a few museums to visit such as The Matachin museum, which is located in a fort the Spanish built to protect the city and the cathedral. There are a few more, but as the weather is expected to be worst tomorrow, this is a leftover just in case. #Day 18 The weather is getting better around 8 am and by 10 there is a blue sky everywhere. Following the Malecón of Baracoa, there is the stadium of baseball and then the *playa del miel*. It is a black sand beach. At the end, is the *rio miel*. At high tide, the path crosses water! To cross the *rio miel*, there is a small bridge made of wood and a couple of boats as well. The area is part of a national park. Entry is 3 CUC for The mirador. There is no need to pay for the access to the *playa blanca* as the sea is too agitated to swim. The beach is not interesting though. The mirador is about 160 meter high, but the hike is rather easy. From there, the view on the bay of Baracoa is very nice. There is also the Yunke in the background, which is the highest point around here. A quick drizzle over the beach on the way back. After a stop at the casa, a visit at the hotel *El Castillo* which gives a nice view on the North of the city. From there, a walk to the North of the city, to the port and the end of the city, where the Viazul station is. A walk back on the Malecón to go home, passing in front of buildings just a few stories high. Everything looks desert and poor here. Just nearby the casa, is a group of people preparing a fire to cook a pork just outside their building.

Santiago de Cuba

#Day 15 The day starts by going to the Viazul station to make a pre-reservation for the journey to Baracoa in two days. Then going to Park Ferreiro with a bicitaxi. It is a long way and it is uphill. The driver will only ask for 5 CUC for the ride. Not having the change on 20 CUC, he says he will take the 4.80-ish CUC! From there, a walk to the centre of the city. The first monument is the *cuartel Moncada*. There is a guided tour and the guide answers lots of questions I had on Cuba history. The visit is made with a stick, like the teachers have. The rest of the *cuartel* is a school. This might explain why. A stop at the *Plaza de Marte*, where there are statues of four famous people who made Cuba. In Aguilera, going down to the centre, a stop at ARTex, which has very good cocktails and live music. It is filled with Cubans, which is nice. The museum of the carnival is just in front of it. The carnival had a role during the beginning of the revolution as it was supposed to help Fidel Castro hide after the attack of the *cuartel Moncada*. A few blocks down is the Park Cespedes. Here is the building of the province, the cathedral and the Gran Hotel. From the Gran Hotel is a very nice view on the square and the cathedral but there is no good view on the South-East. It's 3 CUC, with 2 CUC as a credit for drinks. However, from the right tower of the cathedral, there is a nice view on the whole city. On the waterfront, there is a small Malecón, but nothing particularly interesting. There is a brewery though. In the neighborhood of the casa, is the natal house of Antonio Macéo. The visit is very interesting and gave a lot of details on the Cuban history before the revolution. On the walls of the city, there is a lot more inscriptions about the revolution and the PCC as Santiago is the place where it all started with the attack of the *cuartel Moncada*. In the evening, night out at the *casa de la Trova* and then *la Claqueta*. For the *casa de la Trova*, only a *very* drunk person gave the proper direction. For other directions, different people tried to redirect to other places. It was shallow. #Day 16 It's a rather short day today. Visit of the casa of Franck Pais, who was a hero of the revolution. Then, on the Parque Cespedes, there is the *casa de Diego Velasquez*. The house itself is Spanish style, with windows in Moorish style. Lots of furniture from the 16th century to the 18th century. Adjacent to the museum, is another house of French inspiration. One of the guides asks for money, saying she had her house destroyed by hurricane Sandy, so she needed money. In the museum Bacardi, the guide made a French/English tour. The museum covers from the pre-Colombian immigration from South America to year 1958. Lots of pieces from the different times. There is no bicitaxi in the centre as it is on the side of the hill. This explains why it was difficult to get a bicitaxi the day before. The bicitaxi only rides on flat areas, which are along the water. Moving in Santiago is sometimes suffocating due to the pollution. Lots of vehicles are throwing huge clouds of smoke! It can happen that a street is hazy because of that. To conclude the day, I'm going to the Iphigenia cemetery where lots of the famous people of Cuba are buried. Heroes from the war of 10 years (1868-1878) against the Spanish, the war of three years (1895-1898) where the American intervened, the four years of American colonialism (ending in 1902), and finally the revolution (1956-1963). There is Cespedes, Martí, Macéo, the people who where tortured by Batista and the ones who died during the revolution. Each of them have a special mausoleum. There is also Bacardi and Cumpay Segundo. There is a lot of marble tombs everywhere, either from the famous people area or in the older part. In front of the cemetery, is a huge road, much larger than what is on the street just outside, most likely due to the state celebrations being held here. Due to the rain, there won't be a military ceremony in front of the Mausoleum of Martí. Also, when Fidel Castro dies, he will be buried next to him. While Martí has died way before he revolution, he's considered the father of the Cuban nation, as the one who inspired the ideas that Fidel Castro used to do the revolution.