The Good Ship Magnum: Havana - Dirty, smelly but lots of character

We took the coach from Varadero to Havana, it was a 3 hour journey and it was nice to take in the scenery. We luckily had a map in our Lonely Planet so we had some idea where to go but it was quite daunting wandering around some very old what looked almost derelict buildings, 3 or 4 stories. Along the ground floor their were doorways, some with doors some without which if you looked into you could see they were family homes, often with very limited furniture, little or no paint and more than 1 generation of family sat in a small room with what looked like not many other rooms connecting. Unfortunately we did not manage to get any photos, we were feeling a little uncomfortable with our rucksacks and map and were a bit unsure whether we were safe to be walking in this area.

As we neared our Casa the area improved slightly although we still attracted some attention. We were staying with a family in Havana, in Cuba houses area able to rent out up to 2 rooms to tourists, as with everything this is govern by the Government but there Casa makes an great inexpensive way to see some real

Cuba

. Our Casa was run by Deren (not sure on spelling) and Johanna, who had a lovely little girl, Granddad also lived in the property along with Tigger the parrot.

The street with our Casa on

The ourdoor walk way from the main Casa to our room - at least it kept most of the rain out!

Tigger the friendly parrot

Mark sat in the lounge

The Casa we stayed in on the second floor

Our first impressions of Havana did not disappoint, yes it is filled with lots of old American cars which share the road with old Russian cars and as we found when we used a few of these old cars as taxis inside the car could be anything, a Peugeot car with a Seat steering wheel and a dashboard from another car was normal and don’t even think about any seat belts. We later found out a 30 year old Lada could cost 8000-10000CUC and the big American cars 40000-50000 CUC.

Some of the more significant buildings in Havana were not necessarily what we had envisaged from the guide book as many of these buildings are under going renovation or a little worn around the edges. It was a shame not be able to visit the Capitolio National which is supposed to be magnificent inside, it was built in 1929 and took over 3 years costing over $17million. Now it looks like it might need some love and care.

Capitol building

The Gran Teatro de Habana is also an amazing building which is surround by scaffolding and being worked on, many of the upper window now longer seem to be in the building and you can only assume this space is no longer used.

Gran Teatro

Lucky for us these some of the main sights were 5 minutes walk from our Casa but the old town was only 20 minutes and you could loose yourself there for an entire day or more. The buildings are amazing and within the main squares these have often been restored, they are beautiful but funny to walk just outside the square and it can be very run down.

Cathedral in old town

Cool statue in old town

Just off the main squares which have been renovated

Mark in the old town

Havana old town

Havanaold town

We spent the day in the old town, we were very lucky to return to the Casa late afternoon as the heavens opened and we had torrential rain. The houses are not really made for the rain and although the rain did not come into the house the wind whistled through the windows and we really were not keen to head out for dinner but were so glad we did. We passed a Palladar/restaurant earlier in the day and it was a few minutes from the Casa and looked nice, so we popped our heads in the door to look at the menu. We were greeted by Leonardo, a Cuban guy who spoke amazing English. Although brought up in Cuba his mother was French, his father was Indian and is Grandmother had lived in the US and so had taught him English. He was hugely welcoming and very interesting, a train Psychologist who worked in a hospital he had a job in the restaurant meeting and greeting to supplement his income and in less than a week he would earn the same as a month in the hospital, he was obviously very intelligent but working in restaurant was the best way for him to support his family. The welcome we received just to look at the menu was enough for us to book that evening and to venture out in the wet.

We had such a lovely evening, the restaurant was really nice, glamorous and interesting, it was a shame that we felt a little underdressed as we had to wear our walking shoes to dinner as the streets were so dirty from the rain and the cold front meant it was cold, so the summer dressed Amanda packed for dinner stayed in the rucksack but without any trousers we were still dressed in shorts. The food was superb by Cuban standards the cocktails were amazing; we loved our first Daiquiri and the service great. If you are reading this and visit Cuba give the restaurant a try – Sans Christopher which is on San Rafael close to Escobar.

Amanda enjoying her first daquari

Fancy Paladar

Mark and Amanda enjoying way too much rum

The entrance to the delightful Paladar - you would never know what was inside

The next day we visited the Revolution Museum which is housed in the former Palacio Presidecial, which is an impressive building. I took some good photos of the impressive interior what I should have also captured was that around 50% of the building is falling into disrepair with broken windows and door, no paint, chipped walls and floor which we were now coming to expect in Cuba. But great to see the grandeur of the place and find out a little bit more about the Revolution and the early Fidel years although still difficult to put it together with current situation, still would be interested to find out more which hopefully we can do during our stay.