My Trip to Havana, Cuba (Part 2 of 3)
Part 1 (in case you missed it.)
Saturday (Day 2) — Old Havana
I woke up feeling refreshed, and had breakfast at the casa.
Farmer’s Market and Walking Tour
This was the hottest, sunniest day of the trip, easily in the 90’s with high humidity.
We started by visiting a Farmer’s Market.
From there, we took our bus to an area that had hotels and what I’d call something like a strip mall, and walked around. (Some of the crosswalks had this funny animation of a man dancing when it was okay to cross the street.) We also came across a mini-parade during our walk.
Clandestina
Our last stop before lunch was to Clandestina, Cuba’s first online clothing retailer and renowned design shop. The co-owner said they wanted to design and provide fashionable clothing for young people in Cuba. They paved the way for making modern Cuban fashion available online.
Lunch
I didn’t catch the name of the place where we had lunch. Many of the buildings in Centro Habana, particularly the businesses, didn’t have the name of the establishment on the outside. I had a cafe latte, and a cerdo sandwich with yuca.
History of Cuba in Photographs
Next, we visited the Raul Corrales Galeria in Habana Vieja. Raul was a famed photographer who captured several iconic pictures of Fidel Castro, Eduardo Che Guevara and others.
Raul’s granddaughter is the owner. She showed us around the gallery and told us the stories behind those iconic photos for about an hour.
La Casa de Son
Salsa lessons! This was the highlight of my day, even though we were really hot and tired when we arrived. I love to dance, take dance classes and teach a group exercise class, so I knew this would be fun anyway.
Even though I’m a good dancer, I never dance with a partner, so even I had something to learn here. And it was so much fun! We learned basic steps, and then danced casino style.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbOrfQQFDVF/
Donde Lis
The itinerary didn’t include visit to the Donde Lis restaurant, but Monica likes to over-deliver, and wanted to treat us all to a drink.
We got there around 4 pm, and it was only then that Monica told us it was her birthday. (Yes, she was treating us on her birthday!) Most of the group enjoyed another mojito, Cuba Libre (rum and Coke) or cerveza (beer), but my sister and I opted for helados (milkshakes). They were amazing!
My sister and I decided to go back to Michifu again for dinner with the ladies that we first joined from the airport. I had a lobster dish this time, not knowing that I would learn how to make it the very next day.
Sunday (Day 3) — Cojimar and Lawton
Cojimar
Cojimar is a local fishing village that was the setting for Ernest Hemingway’s book, The Old Man and the Sea. We visited his monument as Monica told us about his life and affinity for Cuba. We did not go to his house, but a couple of people on the tour had done so before and shared pictures.
Neighborhood Garden
The bus took us to a restaurant called Cafe Ajiaco for a cooking class. Another tour group arrived at the same time, and we all walked a few blocks away, with our guide Roy, one of the chefs. We met two neighbors named Julio and Jesus. They tend a large garden at Julio’s house, and they freely share the food and herbs they grow with the community, including this restaurant.
Cuban Cooking Class
Once we returned to Cafe Ajiaco, Roy introduced all of the staff, and the head chef did a demonstration for us. He showed us how he prepares ingredients for a particular kind of soup, which they later served to us.
Next, we went into the kitchen as a group to make our lunch, while the other tour group stayed in the main area of the restaurant to learn how to make mojitos. Half of the group were at a stove to cook a lobster dish — the same one I had a Michifu the night before. The other half of our group made a lamb dish.
When we finished cooking, we went to the bar so Roy (pictured center) could teach us to make mojitos. They gave us the muddlers as souvenirs.
Once we finished, it was time to eat. (I didn’t repost the lobster dish, but it’s similar to the one I posted from the previous day.) Buen provecho!
Muraleando
Our next stop was at Muraleando, a very interesting and inspiring community project. The folks here took a gigantic mountain of trash in the neighborhood and completely transformed it into the beautiful art museum that it is today. They have free enrichment classes for the kids in the community.
When we got upstairs, we were greeted with a bartender and a band! They offered us stiff drinks and played a few songs. Since the secret was out about my dance skills (from La Casa de Son the day before), I was quickly summoned to dance with the owners at the front of the stage. We did salsa and rumba.
We had a few minutes at the end of our visit to buy things from them, so my sister and I got t-shirts and artwork. (You can see one of the t-shirts within my pictures from Fusterlandia in Part 3 of this recap.)
Artisans Market
Our next stop was a 45-minute shopping spree at a flea market in either Old Havana or Lawton. My sister and I weren’t ready to leave during that time period, because we wanted to buy everything. It was so cheap! But we pulled it together. She converted our money to Euros for the trip, so she handled all the payments. I think she slipped each vendor something a little extra.
La Hotel Nacional
Our last stop of the day was at this infamous hotel that I somehow had never heard of. We walked around for while and had mojitos, and took a group photo.
We also observed the super high waves crashing over the sea wall of Malecom.
Taxi Back to Donde Lis
At our request, Monica made a reservation for me and my sister to go back to Donde Lis. Our pink taxi arrived with driver Eduardo, who was probably in his early 30s (most of the drivers we saw were much older, but it was a car he had in the family).
Although Monica gave him the street address, it was a little off, but he figured out how to get there. Then he went to a couple that was in our group who had a later reservation, parked and waited while we dined.
I ordered the Ropa Vieja Habanero (beef) and my sister ordered a chicken cordon bleu dish. We both drank glasses of malta with sweetened condensed milk. Yum!
One of the things we learned on this day was that toilets aren’t strong in Cuba. We were instructed to place all toilet paper in the trash and not flush it, even though it was barely 1-ply. However, there was no sign in our private bathrooms at the casa stating this, so I had been (successfully) flushing toilet paper normally. (The bathroom at Donde Lis had a clear sign explaining this, and when we went the bathroom in the airport on our way home the next day, I took a picture that further illustrates this point.)
On the way back to the casa, it started raining, so I helped Eduardo pull up soft top. Then we talked to Eduardo about how life in Havana has been during the pandemic, with no tourists and tight government restrictions on almost everything. We had a really nice and honest chat with him about all of that. If you’re ever in Havana and need a taxi, call Eduardo — he’s a reliable and friendly driver!
Unbeknownst to us, we were going to get a few more taxi rides the next day.
Vlog
Don’t miss the vlog with all the video I captured during this trip.
Vlog Timestamps (the bolded items apply this the blog you just read for Days 2 and 3):
- Walking tour 00:41
- Farmer’s market 1:31
- Parade 2:13
- Salsa dancing lesson 3:36
- Ernest Hemingway monument 4:39
- Muraleando and rumba dancing 5:25
- La Hotel Nacionale 13:52
- Taxi ride 14:50
- Fusterlandia 17:57
- Angeles del Futuro 18:39
- Classic car rides 52:39
- Farewell and salsa dancing 1:00:39
