Back in Habana, a Mix of New and Old
The next day we took the bus back to Habana. It stopped a couple of times along the way so that the driver could do his shopping. I saw him buy milk, pork and some bananas.
Our driver buying pork and bananas.
This time we took a taxi into central Habana to see the sights.
We walked, though.
Again, we saw many beautiful buildings although some were in disrepair. They were renovating and building a lot, but there were still some empty lots.
The Capitolio is being renovated…
… and across the street, is an empty lot.
A facade with an overgrown scaffolding. As you can see, there is no house behind the facade.
They had many small parks, sometimes just a corner with some trees and bushes and a mural or statue. They have used old cannons and cannonballs as decoration on many of the small streets, but I also saw modern art.
Sometimes, they were placed to stop cars from driving up the streets.
“So I said to him, why would I need a torso?”
Lamps grow on trees, didn’t you know?
Last Thoughts
Cuba seems like a rather poor country. They are building and renovating a lot in Habana, so maybe in about five years Habana will not seem poor anymore, but I do not know when it will spread to the rest of the country.
A house we passed on the hike from Hotel Hanabanilla.
They seem to run out of things. For example, I did not have any ice cream while I was there, because they never had any. Some places had signs showing typical nestlé ice creams, but no ice cream.
At sunset in Trinidad.
I did not have any internet while I was there. It is possible to buy internet cards, which give one access to internet for an hour per card, if you are at a hotspot. My sister told me that they worked fine, although some homepages were blocked, typically by the United States.
On the same street as our casa particular in Habana. I think this was a school? On a side note: Education is free in Cuba. For Cubans of course.
We spent a large percent of our time in busses and taxis. The taxis were of course an experience in themselves, but I would have liked to walk around more in between. If you are thinking of going to Cuba, I recommend spending at least two nights in each place, and if you are from Europe, I recommend spending at least two weeks in Cuba, to get some more time without jetlag.
I met this man at the airport.
It took a lot longer to write about Cuba than I thought it would. I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip, and that I have inspired you to visit Cuba. It is definitely an experience.
The next post will be flash fiction, I promise.
A Bolg? 