PHOTOS LINK –>> 1st https://photos.app.goo.gl/CCac11M0117AzcT33 The village and Hemingway Marina
2nd https://photos.app.goo.gl/PEpm1jZUDld0W4LE2 Casablanca and Havana
Hemingway Marina and the local village
The day following our 1st visit to Havana John and I rode around the marina. It is of an unusual design comprising of 4 long deep channels. The outside being just a rocky shore with a large seawall.
We rode to the very end of the marina where the entrance to Marina Hemingway is located.
There we saw a couple of sailboats that looked like they had recently been rescued from the rocks. Not sure if they are there as a warning of the entrance or for lack of any where to put them or any means of getting them there.
The sea is often rough due to the winds that predominately blow eastwards down the shore. It was a pleasant ride, but as it was a hot day we were dripping with sweat.
The afternoon we set off to walk around the village and check out a seafood restaurant that our taxi driver had recommended.
So out the marina, over the bridge and turning right we entered the village. We needed to ask the way to the tiny restaurant, finally finding it at the end of a narrow lane between homes and at the end where we had to ring the buzzer of a large door to be admitted to the restaurant.
We ordered some ceviche to share and sat on the porch over looking the small fishing port and boats. The ceviche was excellent, not sure what fish had been used but it was very good and a large portion. From there we wandered the tiny streets making our way to the shoreline. There we saw fishermen cleaning fish, the boats were made of Styrofoam strapped together in the shape of a boat.
Off of a large breakwater there were a few windsurfers. They must be excellent at their sport as the conditions were very windy and rough and without easy access to the shore it is not a coastline for amaturers.
Casablanca and 2nd visit to Havana
Our 2nd visit to Havana was on a Saturday and the whole atmosphere was different but very enjoyable. This time the children were not in school and were playing on the streets, families were relaxing and congregating in the alleys, mothers were shopping and family groups were out for the day.
Once again we caught a taxi into Havana. This driver was speedy as in like a racing driver he even had us strap into our seatbelts in the back seats!
We alighted at Castillio del la Real Fuerza which we had previously visited on our last visit and made our way through the plazas and narrow lanes to the
Cross Bay ferry for Cassablanca.
Along the way we stopped at a small plaza where venders were selling old, old books and antiques. Most of the books were political in theme and many of the antiques were old currency, stamps, commemorative medals and such. It was really interesting almost like an out doors museum.
The Cross Bay ferry was small, ancient and quite crowded, there seemed to be many young folks heading to Cassablanca.
It was interesting looking at the buildings along the harbour for example the Sacra Catedral Ortodoxa Rusa – the Orthadox Russian cathedral next to the old port, quite sad to see the deterioration of the docks.
Upon reaching Casablanca we followed the crowd up the hill noting that most of them headed towards the gates of Castillio de los Tres Reyes del Morro aka El Morro.
Our first destination was the massive statue of Christ upon the hilltop – El Cristo de La Habana. It is made totally of marble and was erected just before the take over of Cuba by Castro. Our reason to visit was for the views of Havana across the waterway. The view was excellent and the statue really awesome in its size.
Our second destination was El Morro and again my reason to visit was for the view and to see the old fortifications.
We entered the huge gates and again noted all the folks heading the same way, thinking it must be some sort of pilgrimage or such. Inside the gates the walls rise to a great height around you, realizing they were built between 1589 – 1630 makes them even more impressive. How did they ever cut the huge stones and them haul them into place?
We followed along and up a rampart where there was a small opening to El Morro. Inside there was just a huge crowd of young people. Unfortunately I needed the banyo, well that proved to be a most unpleasant experience as the line was long, the smell very horrible and the conditions nasty.
We headed to the top of the ramparts and walked along enjoying the amazing view across to Havana.
The majority of the others were in the lower areas of the fortifications and it appeared to be some sort of fair, or festival for the young. Long story short we walked the ramparts, enjoyed the views and headed back to the Cross Bay ferry.
Havana again
Once back on the other shore we set off to explore areas of Havana we had not see previously.
“Ah…Havana, city of jarring paradoxes and unfathomable contradictions where seductive beauty sidles up to spectacular decay and revolutionary iconography is juxtaposed with sun, sea, sand, sex and a diluting slice of austere socialism. There’s fascinating history here, wrapped up in erudite museums and foresighted restoration projects, and tremendous music too, from gritty street rumba to kitschy cabaret.
But Havana’s greatest allure is its street theater, the raw snippets of everyday life that go on all around you: the mother in rollers and the baseball-playing schoolkids, the wandering troubadours and the cigar-smoking doctor trying to jumpstart his 1951 Plymouth. The attraction is the authenticity. Habaneros (the people of Havana) don’t just survive: they duck and dive, scheme and dream, create and debate, but most of all, they live – with a rare passion.” – Lonely Planet
Once again we were totally absorbed by watching life unfold around us in this amazing city.
Our starting area was Plaza Vieja – Old Havana with its restored porlicoed buildings and its cobbled streets we wandered.
We did enter the Convento de Santa Clara de Asis and admire the architecture and artwork. Plus at the Plaza de la San Fransisco we visited the Convento de San Fransisco de Asis which was a Franciscan friar missionary school built in 1739 where we had a marvelous view from the upper floors over the plaza.
From plaza to plaza we explored the streets and alleyways of Havana until we were exhausted and headed home in an old taxi of American heritage, from which we could see the road through holes on the floor driven by a father and son. Another thoroughly enjoyable day in Havana.
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.
How we pay attention to the present moment largely determines the character of our experience and, therefore, the quality of our lives. Sam Harris
