Day 2

Today we started with a walking tour of Old Havana led by an architect who works for the city's preservation society.  She was quite animated and knowledgable, so was fun to listen to.  She made us realize that it actually was fortunate that development stopped in Cuba after the revolution in 1959 because there had been plans afoot to bulldoze the old city and create modern buildings on wide boulevards.  The modern buildings that were built in the 60s and 70s were pretty awful, so it seems like good luck that all these marvelous colonial structures were not destroyed.

However, they are now simply falling down from lack of upkeep.  It seems impossible for the government to prioritize all the many structures that need work.  They have started in the old city center and have done a lovely job on the oldest squares, but very quickly after that, the streets and buildings are precarious.

Under Raul Castro, they are loosening the socialist constraints and letting a little bit of capitalism creep in.  This is very helpful for trying to restore some of these buildings!  For example, we had lunch at a "private" restaurant (not state run) where the owner proudly explained how he had restored the old house in order to create the restaurant.  It was lovely - and the food was good, too.  It is amusing how they describe, sometimes with eyes wide, how much harder people are willing to work when they get the benefit rather than for a state salary!

After the restaurant, our guides starting fretting about the bus not being there.  They were giggling a bit, too, so it wasn't hard to tell that something was going on.  They said, oh dear, we will have to take local transportation.  Next we knew, there was a whole line of those wonderful old American cars lined up to take us back to the hotel. They were all convertibles, and one cooler than the next.  We all happily piled into the cars, snapping photos like crazy.  The drivers all had rigged up multi-tone horns in the cars, so we blared our way across Havana.  Very fun!

After a rest, we went to a dance performance of people of the Santeria religion.

Then, we were off to see a well-known Cuban artist, Fuster.  His art is reminiscent of Picasso, but what's really crazy is his house and neighborhood.  He has done up the whole place in brightly colored mosaics on every surface, and every sculpture -- not just his house, but all his neighbors, too!  It's quite fantastical, lit up at night, and I felt like I was at Fantasyland.  He has a number of open pavilions, where we had dinner.  Several people on the trip bought some art, so I must say Fuster has quite a nice little business going on here.

The people of Cuba are very friendly and welcoming.  Everybody will talk to you, and everybody wants for the US and Cuba to repair relations and move on.  It sure seems to us like this would make sense to do!

It is strange to be without some things that you are very used to.  I was expecting to be without the phone, but it takes a bit of adjustment to be "off the grid".  The internet is slow, but is better than we had imagined, so not too bad.  But the strangest thing for me is to be without a credit card.  Trying to figure out how much cash you need in one day before you leave the house feels like such a constraint to me!  Mind you, credit cards do work in Cuba, just not those from the U.S.  This all is part of the embargo, that is starting to feel quite anachronistic to us.

-- Donna