Havana, Cuba Daytime Excursion12/18/2017 Monday

This is a long post.  To post five pictures on the ship took all night sometimes.  To post twenty pictures now that I am home takes less than a minute.  So I've added all these pictures since I got home.

Feeling exhausted.  This cruise is wearing me out!  Sunday morning, I walked a mile around Deck 2 of the ship, then went to a speaker "Music and Dance, Celebrating Cuban Treasures".   I went  to an informal meeting of  MAHJONG PLAYERS!!!  There were about twenty women there and  more players are on board so at least I know I can look forward to some games.

We arrived in Cienfuegos located in south-central Cuba about noon.  We were tendered ashore and passed through Cuban customs which was not as bad as I anticipated.  Kim and I boarded buses for a three and a half hour ride to Havana/Habana in the north of Cuba.  We saw fields and treed areas along the way.  There was a lot of sugar cane growing this time of year.  We also saw different varieties of cattle.

We checked into the waterfront Miramar Hotel in Havana which was quite nice.  They gave us a fruit beverage and had a band and flamingo dancers to entertain us.  We relaxed a while in our room.  I went down to the pool area to take some pictures of the sunset and then joined Kim and others to enjoy the entertainment in the lobby.

Miramar Hotel Pool in Havana, Cuba

Flamingo Dancers in the Miramar Hotel Lobby

Miramar Hotel Courtyard, Havana, Cuba

This might be my favorite part of our Havana Excursion.  Viking arranged to have about eighty classic convertibles take us to a local restaurant for dinner.  Had great fun riding through the streets of Havana.  Dinner was local fare (Cuban Fusion) served in a large outdoor pavilion style restaurant under a thatched roof.

Pick up at the Miramar Hotel.

Outdoor eating in a pavilion-type structure with a ban playing during dinner.  

The Viking buses came to pick us up at the restaurant for a 10:00 show at the Tropicana.  It was a lot of music with singing, dancing and amazing costumes.  We left there at midnight.  I did a separate post on Havana Nightlife.

Today, Monday, we had to be at breakfast at 7:00 because our excursion around Havana began at 8:00.  We went to an interesting Art Gallery.  The artist combined found items and pottery creations  to create her artistic designs.  We drove around different areas of Havana and did a walking tour of old Havana going from one square to another.  We had some time in the San Jose handicrafts market and enjoyed an excellent lunch at a cool restaurant named Los Naranjos in a beautiful old Havana home.  We saw a lot more old cars throughout the day.

The biggest building on the left is the Russian Embassy in Havana, Cuba at sunrise.

Most of the car pictures were taken in Revolution Square.

On the left is the dome of Iglesia de Jesus de Miramar Church in Havana Cuba at Sunrise.

Art Gallery Entrance

 The artist combined found items and pottery creations together to create her artistic designs.

Cigar Factory We went to a cigar factory and watched a woman grading the tobacco leaves.  Then, we went to another room where women were rolling cigars and putting them into presses.  A woman is expected to roll 120 cigars per day.  The rolled cigars are then put into forms to be pressed.  At the end of the process, each cigar is placed in a machine which measures its draw.  The draw of the cigar must be determined to be between 40 and 60 in order to be sold.  Cigar rollers make good money, relatively speaking. 

On our way back to Cienfuegos, we stopped at the Bay of Pigs and visited the Bay of Pigs museum.  Luckily, we were there just in time for sunset and you know that made me happy.  It was an interesting, but quick stop.

Outside the Bay of Pigs Museum

We were able to go to this Hotel to use the restrooms and luckily saw this fabulous sunset.  

The guide told us that how long it took us to get back to Cienfuegos would depend on traffic.  The only slow downs that we encountered were wandering cows being in the road or along the road as we traveled in the dark.  God bless our driver, he did a great job.

After tendering back to our ship and eating a quick dinner at 8:00, we went to hear the Eliades Ochoa y Groupon Patria which played more Cuban music.

So my log is done.  More Havana pictures below.  The last picture in this post is of the Military Park, keep going...

Catedral de San Cristobal, Baroque style

Catedral de San Cristobal, building began in 1748 by the Jesuits.  Constructed of blocks of coral that were cut from the Gulf of Mexico's ocean floor.  The right bell tower is wider than the left tower and holds two bells.  These bells were cast with gold, silver and bronze which provides a sweeter tone.  

Hotel Nacional, Havana, Cuba

St. Francis de Assisi  Havana, Cuba is a basilica and a monastery.  (Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis.)   It was built between 1580 - 1591.  It is used for concerts.  The statue next to the church is Friar Junipero Serra with a Juaneno Indian boy.  

Catedral de San Cristobal

Cuba has the sixth oldest railroad in the world and was the first country in Latin America to have a railway.  The first 17-mile stretch opened in 1837 and has expanded to cover 2,600 miles.  I found it interesting that Spain paid for the initial railway.  At that time, Spain did not have a railway in their own country.  You can travel from Havana to Santiago de Cuba on the eastern coast in TWENTY hours or drive the distance in TEN hours.   The train has a reputation - the cheapest and slowest way to travel from one side of Cuba to the other.  The train frequently breaks down and could be delayed for DAYS.  

Hotel Nacional is located on the Malecon in the middle of Vedado, Havana, Cuba.  The hotel was developed by a US firm and is a mix of Sevillian, Roman, Morrish and Art Deco styles.  It opened December 30, 1930.  It was badly damaged in 1933 during a bloody siege.  A Chicago developer took it over in the early 1940's.  In 1946, the hotel hosted the Havana Conference, an infamous mob summit.  The summit was dramatized in The Godfather, Part II.  It has quite a storied history and has hosted many important guests.  "Google it".  

Parque Historico Militar

Parque Historico Militar

El Morro

The Malecon is an avenue along the seawall from Old Havana to the Almendares River and is 7 to 8 km long.  

Castillo de la Real Fuerza

Castillo de la Real Fuerza/Castle of the Royal Army is another fortress.  Building began in 1558. on the ruins of an earlier fortress.  

Carlos Manuel de Cespedes - a Cuban revolutionary hero.  His is known in Cuba as the "Father of the Motherland".  In 1868, he freed his slaves and made the declaration of Cuban independence.  This was the beginning of the Ten Years' War which led to Cuban Independence. In 1869, he was chosen as the President of the Republic of Cuba in Arms.  

Governor's Palace

Hotel Ambos Mundos  - an Ernest Hemingway hangout.  

Catedral de San Cristobal, Baroque style

Catedral de San Cristobal

Los Naranjos - old Havana mansion that is now a restaurant where we had lunch.  

Castillo del Morro or El Morro is a picturesque fort at the entrance to Havana Bay.  El Morro was the name of the big stone where construction began in 1587.

Parque Historico Militar

El Cristo de la Habana/Christ of Havana is made of white Carrara marble, created by Cuban artist Jilma Madera in Italy in 1958.  Measures 20 meters or 66 ft. high.  Empty eye sockets give the impression of looking at everything, everywhere.  Locals say the statue was sculpted to honor Cuban culture,  able to hold a cigar in the right hand and a mojito in the left hand.