Getting Lost in Havana
How wrong directions and mishaps turned into a great time
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On the last day of my trip to the beautiful country of Cuba, I found myself with an entire day, no plans, and a giant city to explore. After nine full days of touring communities, learning about the medical system, visiting workplaces, and taking in some of the most beautiful sights in both Havana and Santa Clara, some of my travel companions and I decided that we wanted to find the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Cuba — Cuba’s national art museum in Havana. This day, however, did not go according to plan.
The Beginning
We started out with an unhealthy dose of confidence that led us to the terrible decision to walk from the Hotel St. John down the Malecón (the stretch of street along the ocean) to the art museum. This confidence happened to be based on the assumption that we knew where we were going, which we did not. We had passed the museum on a bus ride earlier in the trip, and with vague directions from the front desk person at the hotel, we set out on our journey.
As you can probably guess, being on an island in the Caribbean entails some warmer weather. As we walked further and further under the direct sunlight, our destination did not appear to be getting any closer. Of course, our phone maps weren’t working, so when we finally were forced to admit that we didn’t know where we were or what we were doing, we had to find somebody to ask for directions.
We first asked somebody who was on a horse-drawn carriage, and they pointed us in a vague direction. We walked in that direction for some time before realizing that we were not headed toward the Museo. Then we asked some guys who were out smoking on their balcony on a side street, and they pointed us in a completely different direction. We eventually found ourselves in the middle of a huge square with decadent old buildings and absolutely no shade.
We peeked in all the unfortunately-closed bookstores and artistic building façades before we just picked a random direction and headed that way.
Then, we finally stumbled upon the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. We saw some incredible art and enjoyed the calmer, cooler ambiance of being in a museum compared to the blistering trek it took to get there, and after a nice visit to the gift shop, where they had some very cool prints and magazines for sale, we decided to head out. We had made it to the art museum, but our journey was most certainly not over.
The Nosebleed
Once we gathered our stuff, we set out on another, much shorter, walk to Havana Vieja or “Old Havana,” which is probably the most popular destination for tourists coming to Cuba. During our trip we had already paid a visit to the famous Bodeguita del Medio and seen some of the street art vendors, but this time we found a hidden gem.
On the way, however, my nose decided that it no longer wanted to contain the blood in my head. We were following the directions that another one of our fellow travelers had given us to a store they visited, and when we got to a plaza area just before reaching our destination, my nose started bleeding.
Luckily, I was a paranoid over-packer at that time, and I had plenty of tissues with me to catch the flow. Unfortunately, the best way to remedy a nosebleed is also the most ridiculous-looking way, that is, shoving a tissue in my nostril and leaving it there until the bleeding stops.
After a short intermission, we pressed on. The Cubans walking that street found my nose tissue quite amusing, and I got asked a few times who had punched me in the face. It was all in good fun, though, and after a short walk, we ended up at 502 Obispo.
This store is home to dozens of beautiful historical posters and used books, and it is the place where 90% of all of my souvenirs from this trip came from. I am lucky I didn’t find this place until the last day or I would’ve gotten 100% of my souvenirs from here and not had any spend money for the rest of the trip.
The store clerk also gifted me a copy of the Granma newspaper with my posters because I didn’t have exact change and overpaid.
The Resolution
After this delightful excursion, we took a taxi with a lovely driver back to the hotel. Most of my companions went up to rest, and there were only two of us left in the hotel lobby. The day wasn’t quite over for us.
We had passed an event called Arte en la Rampa, where one of our fellow travelers had bought an ornate ring, and we figured it was worth a visit. Luckily, our walk to this place was much less dreadful and we got there in a matter of minutes. After paying a small fee to get in, we quickly discovered that this event was not targeted toward tourists, though there were certainly some very cool things to see.
There were dozens of tents and vendors with different household items, such as shoes, cookware, home decor, jewelry, books, and much more. There was also live music, food vendors, and plenty of people.
We explored the beautiful scenery, checked out the shops, and once we had our fill, we decided that we needed to find some food before retiring for the night.
After making our way back to the hotel, we headed across the street to a cafeteria that was totally empty. We headed over to the counter when a lady emerged from the kitchen to take our order. We got a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches and took the time in that quiet cafeteria to reminisce over the day.
We had set out on our long and tumultuous journey to find an art museum and ended up not only finding an art museum but meeting lots of new people, seeing a plethora of street art, exploring a new city, buying some great souvenirs, and overall having a great day. Despite the many many bumps in the road, it was almost impossible for us not to enjoy the time we spent running around Havana trying to fill our last day on the island with a little bit of adventure.
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