SENIOR ADULTS GOING ALCOHOLIC IN CUBA

MONDAY 24th

We have a lovely view from our bedroom window of a large Church with the sea to our right. The Church looks lovely as the early morning sun’s rays spread over its roof and dome.

We had a very good meeting and after Mary Jane and Humberto had said their pieces we in turn introduced ourselves. A great idea and we discovered a wide range of occupations and interests among our fellow travellers some of whom are still working. Keith and Bob had their occupations in common, Bob being a retired master on P & O Dover Calais Ferries.

At 10am we boarded our Chinese built coach for a fairly long journey into the city to take a walking tour of Old Havana and where Humberto gave us a brief history of each square as we passed through them. We were advised to take care as the road and footpath surfaces were very uneven. I was surprised to find so many of the buildings in such wonderful condition but as Humberto explained this was another UNESCO site who had provided funds for many projects in Cuba thus enabling a vast amount of restoration which was still taking place. The squares were full of local people entertaining the visitors with music, and as far as the Cuban women were concerned kisses. Leaving a big red lipstick kiss on the men’s cheeks they of course wanted paying to have their photo taken. One man had two dogs sitting on his bicycle, one of the dogs giving ‘five’ with his paw to anyone prepared to hand over another peso! Along one of the narrow streets a cleaning lady was resting with an aged Cuban lady who was smoking a very large cigar. Again people were encouraged to have their photo taken with her and hand over their money. I stood by a pillar and waiting for a lull in the tourists took my photo for free! The atmosphere was wonderful with stilt walkers parading up and down the streets being followed by a Jazz band again collecting money en route, lines of musicians sitting and leaning against colourful buildings playing an alternative type of music and fountains in the small gardens and some of the squares. We paid a visit to a very small garden dedicated to Princess Diana and saw in a couple of cages a ‘tree rat’ commonly found in trees in the countryside. I thought it resembled a small porcupine but without quills.

Before we knew it it was cocktail hour and Mary Jane took us to an hotel frequented by Ernest Hemingway. Inside the hotel we took an antiquated lift to the roof terrace where not only did they serve excellent ‘mojitos’ but had a great view of the roof tops of the immediate buildings and the sea beyond.

More streets to explore before our stop for lunch. Encountering a large group of school children Humberto explained about their uniform where throughout the country children wear the same colours according to school age. Lunch was taken in a large restaurant with a stage where again a musician sang and played for all the diners. We were also joined by an army of Venezuelan Volunteers who responded with great enthusiasm to the music once again experiencing a wonderful noisy atmosphere.

A little more walking before returning to our coach to visit modern Havana. The bus stopped by a large building designed in the same style as America’s Capitol Building. Around this area people could take a taxi in the large old cars synonomous to Cuba. Keith paid 1 peso to have his photo taken sitting behind the wheel of a pink and white open top one with a cracked windscreen so you can't really see him. We had driven by the Grand Theatre and whilst we were admiring these 1950’s and 60’s style cars Humberto went to see if there was any performance we may attend during our short stay in Havana, but unfortunately not until February 11^th when the Cuban Ballet Company will be performing ‘Giselle’.

Our final stop of the day was in Revolution Square where around the tall memorial several white bodied vultures were flying. On a couple of the walls around apartment blocks overlooking the Square a modern style piece of art depicting the portrait of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro had been affixed to the blank walls.

As we returned to our hotel Mary Jane announced she would be loitering around reception if we would like to pay her. Keith was very quick to respond that “he had heard about women like that and reminded her she had two sailors in the group!”

With still plenty of daylight we took a stroll around our immediate area visiting the Trade Centre across the road where we had hoped to buy some cheap bottles of water but all the other tourists must have got there before us as the shelves were empty apart from the very large family sized flagons. The centre is a local attracting as there is a large family of elephants on display in the open area around the shops and offices. These are made of tin. We also took the opportunity to visit the Church that we can see from 461. Outside looking up at the dome we can see pictures of religious characters but yet inside the Church the dome is plain.

6.30 cocktails before dinner and later in the evening a different all girl group entertained us. Need I say there were more men around than women!