Finally, we arrived into Havana, Cuba - the prime port of call for this cruise! We would be overnight here, and were supposed to dock at 1:00pm - we had to wait for another cruise ship to leave so we could tie-up at the dock. Then once our ship was cleared by customs, we had to wait (and wait) to get through immigration.
We had arranged a private tour with a local company: AVEC Guías de Turismo en Cuba (highly recommend them), so we had the same great guide for both of our days in Havana. This first day would be a walking tour of Old Havana. It was awesome to have our own personal guide - so much better than being in a large group on a cruise ship shore excursion. It really made for a great cultural exchange as we walked and talked, both about Cuba and Canada. Our guide Liena was very knowledgeable and made for an awesome host as she took us to the various sites around town.
Forewarned - this is a long post. There is a lot to share about our experience in Havana. I would have broken it up - but there is another long post coming for our second day in Havana!
As we entered the Havana port, we passed by the impressive Morro Castle - "Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro, named after the three biblical Magi, is a fortress guarding the entrance to Havana bay. ...originally under the control of Spain, the fortress was captured by the British in 1762, and was returned to the Spanish under treaty terms a year later."
We waited outside the harbour for this TUI cruise ship to leave the berth that we would tie up at. The day before, at an onboard presentation, the captain mentioned the TUI ship, saying "If they can get their engines started." We all laughed, but it turned out the week before the ship actually didn't make it into port, because they couldn't get their engines started leaving their departure port. Luckily, no problems this time, though they were a little late leaving.
We sailed past the city of Havana as we entered the harbour. Part of the Malecón is on the right side of the picture, with Old Havana on the left.
This park, with the Maximo Gomez Monument is also the access point to the tunnel that runs under the water from the city side to the fortress side of the harbour.
"The Castillo de la Real Fuerza (Castle of the Royal Force) is a bastion fort on the western side of the harbour...set back from the entrance, and bordering the Plaza de Armas. Originally built to defend against attack by pirates, it suffered from a poor location; it is too far inside the bay. The fort is considered to be the oldest stone fort in the Americas."
Our first introduction to some of the many "Yank Tanks" that we would see throughout our visit. The cars are impressively kept up, and colourfully painted. There were many more of these old cars than we expected. And there will be many more pictures of these old cars too, with the next day's post.
Part of Old Havana, with the Capitolio building in the background.
Looking across the harbour to the Casablanca neighbourhood on the north side.
The old, the new, the colourful, the drab, the ornate, the plain - all side-by-side. This is the mix that is much of what we saw of Havana.
Pulling in to the cruise pier, a re-purposed shipping dock, limiting the size of ships that can visit Havana.
We were docked on the right side of the pier, with Royal Caribbean's Empress of the Seas already alongside the left side of the pier. We would be sailing on Empress of the Seas the following week, for our third Caribbean cruise, and our second Cuba port of call.
Once the ship was cleared for disembarkation, we had a long line-up (about 30 minutes) onboard, before being released into the terminal, only to line up for another couple of hours or so to get through immigration. (We all felt like the guy in the blue hat in the centre of the picture - kinda grumpy and frustrated.) Each individual immigration processing only took a couple of minutes - so I'm not sure why it all took so long to make it through the line-up. We snaked back and forth, in the heat, for what seemed like forever.
Finally we were ashore (albeit over an hour late), and met up with our tour guide. We had arranged to meet in the Plaza de San Francisco, just across the street from the cruise terminal. Thank goodness our tour guide Liena had waited patiently for us to arrive. We started off on our walking tour of Old Havana.
This is the cruise terminal in Havana - Terminal Sierra Maestra, San Francisco.
Our introduction to the beautiful old architecture of Old Havana. Many buildings are being restored to their former glory, but it is a slow process.
"La Conversación' by Étienne Pirot (Etienne), Plaza de San Francisco." And this was our introduction to the many pieces of public art that we would encounter on our tour.
One of the streets of Old Havana leading off the Plaza San Francisco. A much more European style to the buildings than the other Caribbean ports of call that we had visited.
A set of bells (as sculpture) on the sidewalk outside the "Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis", the catholic church on the Plaza de San Francisco.
As we began our tour, we could see the massive "Christ of Havana" (Cristo de La Habana) sculpture across the harbour. We would get the chance to visit it on our second day.
Our ship, the MSC Armonia in port. The nice thing about Havana is the cruise port is right in the middle of Old Havana, making it so easy to visit the many historic locations in the city.
The first stop on our walking tour was the Plaza de Armas. On one side is the Palacio del Segundo Cabo. "Built in 1773 as a general post office headquarters, the building has had various functions since then, including headquarters for the governor's second liutenant in 1854 (which gave it the name it has kept ever since). The building is a prime example of Cuban baroque and neoclassical elements. ...Nowadays it houses the Instituto del Libro, an organization established in the 1970s to promote everything to do with books and literature in Cuba." "...since 2012 it has been closed for a lengthy restoration. It is slated to reopen as an avant-garde cultural center."
The fenced-in El Templete "...commemorates the site of the first mass and town council of San Cristóbal de la Habana celebrated on November 16, 1519."
The imposing Hotel Santa Isabel "...has an enviable location in the heart of Old Havana, directly facing the charming cobbled square of Plaza de Armas, with its perfect blend of bars, museums & restaurants."
At Plaza de Armas, and many other places around Havana, were these stray dogs. But they are well cared for by the locals, sort of communal dogs. Several, like "Pelusa" (Fluff) and "Canelita" (Cinnamon) carry their names around their necks so everyone knows them by name. They were well fed, well groomed and well behaved.
Many streets had these bollards made from old canons and canon balls. It added another unique aspect to the streets of Old Havana.
As we walked along, we passed by this Bodega - a store for local residents to get their monthly rations of staples. It's not enough to live off of, other products have to be purchased. "...the measure (rationing) was adopted by the Cuban government in 1962 as a temporary palliative to a crisis and has lasted for more than fifty years."
Back at the Plaza de San Francisco - "The Lonja del Comercio (Commerce Market) building in Old Havana, Cuba served as the stock exchange in the capital until the 1959 Cuban Revolution. Today, it is an office building."
It was almost 6:00pm now, and twilight was setting in. It was going to be a night with a full moon.
Our next stop was Hotel Los Frailes in the former house of a French navy captain. "As if it was a space for contemplation, the Hotel Los Frailes translates the visitor to the ambience of an abbey of the medieval era."
At the entrance to the hotel, and inside the lobby, a set of unique copper sculptures looked like the ghosts of monks haunting the hotel.
"Exposed in the center of the cobbled street are two archaeological sites displaying portions of the Zanja Real (Royal Canal)— the original aqueduct that was initiated in 1566 and supplied the city with water before the construction of the Albear Acqueduct in 1835."
As the light of the day faded, our next stop was Plaza Vieja (Old Square).
"Plaza Vieja was the site of executions, processions, bullfights, and fiestas - all witnessed by Havana's wealthiest citizens, who looked on from their balconies."
"In the eighteenth century the square was turned into a popular market, and was called Plaza del Mercado (Market Square) as Havana's commercial hub."
This group of Capoeira dancers drew a large crowd, and lent a festive air to the early evening with their music and dancing.
Our next stop was "Papa Ernesto" for a Mojito. Our guide Liena felt that this cafe was a better choice to sample the traditional drink of Havana, and we had to agree. We sat outside, chatting and sipping our drinks. We didn't eat here, but the food also looked very good.
We continued our walking tour along the charming streets of Old Havana.
It was a perfect night for al fresco dining. Most restaurants offered seating outside.
The evening lights and the full moon gave the old buildings an elegant look.
Despite the many "street dogs" that we encountered, this place seemed to be owned by the cats.
This is Plaza de la Catedral, with the imposing Cathedral of Havana. "...one of the five main squares in Old Havana...it was originally a swamp, it was later drained and used as a naval dockyard. Following the construction of the Cathedral in 1727, it became the site of some of the city's grandest mansions."
One of the buildings on the plaza is "...the Palacio del Conde Lombillo, in front of which there is a statue of the flamenco dancer Antonio Gades."
We made our way past the famous La Bodeguita del Medio "...a typical restaurant-bar of Havana. It is a famous tourist destination because of the personalities which have patronized it." The place is tiny, so many tourists making the pilgrimage to the place (believed to be the birthplace of the Mojito) end up standing around outside, sipping their drinks.
This is pretty much the size of the place, with a few lucky patrons inside, along with the 4-piece band.
Our last stop for the night was at the end of this street. The "Taller Experimental del Graphica" print studio. We walked through the busy tables of the 2 restaurants on either side of the street.
Inside the studio. Lots of fascinating printmaking happening here, although there was only one artist in the shop when we visited - it was almost 8:30pm by that time.
Back on the ship, the cruise director had arranged for a local dance group to entertain with dancing and music.
The dancers put a lot of energy into the show, and it was a fitting end to our first taste of "La Habana".
Back to our cabin for the night, we found these towel "swans" reading our daily planners.
We had a great first introduction to Havana, and we looked forward to getting an early start on our touring the next day. We would have one of the classic cars driving us around to some of the locations outside of Old Havana.
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