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Havana….the last of the Mojitos (aka the walking tour….)

When we last saw our intrepid explorers they were making their way through old and New Havana……it was a long day.

We stopped at a few random spots to snap some pics before we stopped for a cold Cubata…..be the first to name the ingredients of that drink in the blog comments (not on Facebook) for a chance at a prize !!!!)

here we are at the Police Station…..voluntarily….

Our new “friend” …who was a bit of a stiff…..Antonia Gades….a famous Spanish Flamenco dancer

A message in a bottle ……from the maritime museum inside the fort…

on to the rooftop bar for a break…

It’s time for a ”Cubata” which is a dark rum and coke as opposed to a Cuba Libre which is white rum and Coke…

Jose’ Marti…..one impressive fellow….

Jose’ Marti, “The Apostle of Cuban Independence” who has statues everywhere, seems to be the true hero of Cuba.

Marti, (January 28, 1853 to May 19, 1895) was a poet, essayist and political activist. He was considered an important revolutionary philosopher. Through his writings and political activity he became a symbol in Cuba’s bid for independence from Spain in the 19th century. He was killed in combat at the battle of Dos Rios.

Below is a bronze statue of a woman who is surveying the horizon to her north and is located on top of the Castillo de la Real Fuerza in old Havana, Cuba. (If you’ve been paying attention, you already know what that is !!!) The local Cuban people claim that this bronze statue is a depiction of Dona Isabel de Bobadilla and it is suggested that it was placed there to honor Inès de Bobadilla, who is said to have watched every day the return of her husband. She is also graces the label of Havana Club Rum !!

The fort….at the top of the dome you can see the statue “La Giraldilla”

So you weren’t allowed to take photos inside the fort museum….oops…

A forbidden photo op from inside the fort museum….

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Our Walking Tour of Havana

Spreading outward over time, Havana has become a sprawling city, but the scope of this growth can be hard to understand for those who don’t live in, or study, the area. As an effort to display this growth, a scale model of the city was created and offers an interesting and insightful view of the city and if you can get there it is something that you will not want to miss.

In 1978, the historical center of Havana and its system of military fortifications dating back from colonial days, were declared a National Monument and in 1982 were included in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Old Havana, covers an area of 2.14 square kilometers. This primarily consists of two distinct areas: the old walled city and the surrounding strip that was developed following demolition of the walls from the mid-nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth.

The Scale Model of Havana was designed to provide a clear look at how the city was originally laid out and how it expanded over time. The model is color coded according to the age of the buildings and landmarks, making it easy to understand how and when growth occurred.

Cuban artist, Orlando Martorell, his wife and a team of modelers were the creators of the Old Havana Scale Model, a work that took them 3 years to complete and it was built to at a scale of 1:1500.

Among Martorell’s work is also the scale model of the historic center of Alcalá in Spain.

The Scale Model of Old Havana also features a beautiful lighting system that simulates day and night, sunrise and sunset, the lights and shadows of the city. This system also integrates sounds like the singing of birds, the authentic sounds of the city, the murmur of the waves of the sea, the bells of the nearby colonial churches, and even the noisy genuine sound of the firing of the canon at 9pm. The canon was originally used to signal the closing of the city gates, which stayed closed until dawn, it is the only way to experience what the city looked like over the centuries.

The harbor….

In 1890 there was a serious explosion which destroyed a hardware store in Havana….this is the text from the newspaper article from the Los Angeles Herald ……

THIRTY-FOUR PEOPLE KILLED AND ONE HUNDRED INJURED

“A Barrel of Powder in a Burning Hardware Store Was the Agency of Death.

Terrible Effects of the Explosion.

Havana, May 18. —During a fire in a hardware store last night a barrel of powder exploded. The whole structure was blown to pieces, and twenty-two persons killed. Among the dead are four tire chiefs and the Venezuelan consul, Seiior Franciso j Silva, who happened to be in front of the building at the time of the explosion. In addition to the killed, over one hundred persons are injured. The explosion caused the wildest excitement throughout the city, and thousands flocked to the scene of the disaster. The municipal authorities were promptly on the ground, and did everything in their power to aid the injured.” Several houses adjacent were damaged by the explosion. Later—The number of dead up to this morning was thirty-four. A gang of men is at work on the debris. Many human limbs have been taken out. The relatives of missing persons are gathered on the spot, and as the bodies are brought out the scenes are distressing. The proprietor of the hardware store has been arrested. It is feared that several more victims are in the ruins.”

The powder had been stored there illegally and the owner, despite being at the scene, did not warn the volunteer firemen who rushed in just before the explosion.

The monument to the volunteer Firemen…..

On a lighter note, there is a mysterious brass statue in what is called Plaza Vieja (Old Plaza). A woman sits atop her big, feathery rooster mount, completely naked except for the stilettos on her feet. A massive forks rests on her right shoulder. The rooster, stoically gazes ahead.

No one seems to know what the meaning is behind this statue. Some tour guides say it is a tribute to the history of prostitution in Havana. The sculptor, Roberto Fabelo, installed the piece at Plaza Vieja in 2012 without explanation or context. The artist, who won the country’s 2004 National Arts Award, frequently features nude women with birdlike features in his work.

Downtown is filled with amazing architecture…..

A statue of a protective monk and an indigenous Indian boy at the Church of St. Francis Assisi and Convent…..and a random woman in the bottom left corner….

The church….

Below is a statue of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes del Castillo, who was a Cuban revolutionary hero. Cespedes, who was a plantation owner in Cuba, freed his slaves and made the declaration of Cuban independence in 1868 which started the Ten Years’ War, which ultimately led to Cuban independence.

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Havana…… ooh nanana 🎼🎤🎹

As promised here is the start of the Havana pics…..

a couple of interesting street shots to start off….

One side of the Hotel Nacional de Cuba…originally designed as a casino in the 40’s the hotel was nationalized after 1959…..

A little history about Havana ……

Founded in 1519 (this year is the 500th anniversary of Havana) as a city of the pirate age, and the even more frequent naval attacks by other countries, the area known as Old Havana was at one point a walled city. The city and bay were stopover points for the treasure laden Spanish galleons returning to Spain from South and Central America. In 1555 the pirate Jacques de Sores burned Havana while sacking the city in search of treasure. He destroyed the existing fort in the process but he didn’t find much. After that incident, the Spanish sent soldiers, built a wall and a new fortress (the Castillo de la Real Fuerza) which still stands and is now a museum.

Let me just move this cannon out of the way ….ouch…those cannon shells are pointy

As the pirate and a military naval warfare age faded the wall became obsolete and was slowly removed as the city expanded.

This is one of the remaining corners….

Mike reaches back in time …..and breaks a rule by touching the wall….

A different type of warfare in 1961…..remnants of the weapons supplied by the USSR ….the small SAU-100 tank which was used by Castro to fire shells at a US Naval vessel during the Bay of Pigs invasion.

And now….Hemingway’s former haunts in Havana ……Sloppy Joe’s and the Floridita (home of the original daiquiri)…….

Sloppy Joe’s was originally opened by Jose Garcia as the Rio Havana in the 1930’s and was allegedly nicknamed Sloppy Joe’s because of the constantly wet floors from the melting ice in the seafood cases. The house sandwich also adopted the name and was made of Ropa Vieja, a slow cooked wet beef.

Garcia came to Cuba from Spain in 1904, moved to New Orleans, and returned to Havana in 1919. Garcia was a career barman. As a barman it was obviously difficult to make a living in the US during prohibition. The building was a grocery store and warehouse before Garcia opened his bar. Hemingway recommended the name Sloppy Joe’s for a bar owned by his friend Joe Russell of Key West in honor of Garcia. Russell, a bootlegger and speakeasy operator, ran the Key West bar under a few names before he took Hemingway’s suggestion. Hemingway had an apartment on one of the upper floors of the Rio Havana prior to 1959 when the bar was closed by the government until 2008.

Hemingway’s favorite spot for a daiquiri…..

An interesting angle of the original Bacardi building…..the Bacardi family left Cuba in 1959 and relocated to Puerto Rico.

I once read an article in Sail magazine by someone who took a sailboat to Cuba, but elected to stay in a rented apartment in Havana for the duration of their visit???? The author whined throughout the article about the air quality in Havana due to the poorly maintained old cars throughout the city. Nothing could be further from the truth.