Catch-up: Havana day 1

The flight down to Cuba from Toronto was about 3.5 hours. We flew with Westjet – a budget airline which provided pretty good service. We flew into Varadero Airport, about an hour’s drive from Havana. Most of the people from the flight were destined for hotels and resorts around Varadero. Kathryn and I, however, were going to Havana for four days before spending six days in Varadero to round out our trip. The tour company organised for a taxi to drive us to Havana. The taxi driver must have learnt to drive in a war zone - he flew along the highway at about 120km/hr dodging other cars and road hazards (like large rocks that were flying off a truck in front of us at one stage). There was plenty to see along the way – old oil rigs pumping along the shore (of particular interest to Kathryn, whose father works in the oil industry), run-down oil power stations, a new gas-fired power station being built in partnership with the Chinese, very overcrowded public transport buses, cows roaming on the side of the highway, lots of hitchhikers, lots of rundown houses with people still living in them, large apartment complexes (which we later found out were used to house workers in the city). I found everything I saw as a stark contrast between highly developed countries like Australia, the US and Canada and the third-world Cuba.

Once in Cuba we booked into out hotel, the Hotel Florida, which was located in the older part of the city. It was opened in the 1800s and is quite a lovely building – an atrium-like space in the centre with rooms around the outside. My room, while small with a single bed, was clean and comfortable. Armed with a map provided by hotel reception, Kathryn and I took to the streets in the afternoon to have a look around Old Havana. Our first stop was the Floridita Restaurant. Kathryn had read about this place so we decided to head in for our first drink in Cuba. The Floridita as it turned out was a regular haunt of Earnest Hemingway, and a bronze statue of the man stood proudly in the corner. After a couple of drinks and a snack, we walked through some back streets towards the harbour. These seemed to be poor areas – dilapidated buildings housing whole families, poor people in the streets, dirty streets. On our return trip we walked through a nicer street and passed through San Francisco Square and back to the hotel. For our first meal in Havana, we again decide to take to the streets to see what we could find. Well, that’s a positive way to put it. We set out from the hotel trying to find a tavern that was on the map provided by the hotel. Whether or not we misread the map or the tavern no longer existed, we couldn’t find it. So we decided to try potluck and find something else on the street. We ran into a very helpful chap, Alan, who tried to woo me and my “wife” (which I think Kathryn took great offence too) into eating at his restaurant. We declined, and instead ate at a place called “The Patio” which overlooked Cathedral Square. The food was quite nice – Kathryn had the lobster special which consisted of three lobster tails. I had a combo of grilled chicken, pork and beef. Pretty good food actually, cheap and came with a pretty good view of the square. Another couple of drinks and we were ready to call it a night on our first day in Havana.