Cuba - Day 8, January 10th

We are both still not well so activities are curtailed by the need to stay reasonably close to a bathroom and due to, speaking for myself, fatigue related to dehydration and almost zero calorie intake since this GI upset began.

So we spent the morning relaxing in our new home. The roof top access gave us a nice view over this area of the city and of the life on the roof which includes drying clothes and storing water for their homes in large, usually plastic, containers.

In the distance in the above photo you can just see the harbour and the dome to the right is the Palacio de Gobierno, the home of the provincial government.

A reminder to click on any photo to view a larger image.

Bob was very partial to this roof top feature and spent some time reading there.  I thought it was too hot, even mid morning, so didn't join him, except to record the scene.

The photo below is looking down the stairway which leads to the roof.

The image to the right was made from the roof access stairway looking through the grating to the dining area.

I included the photo below of the roof top table (the one at which Bob is sitting reading - above) because it tells a bit about our host, Amed. There were 3 bottles of water lying on a piece of heavy black plastic. We puzzled about this for a while before asking Amed about it. He said it was a bit of an experiment. He had read or someone had told him that leaving bottles of water on a black background in the sun would heat the water enough to make it safe for anyone to drink. We didn't go into how he intended to test this, but I was certainly not about to volunteer. But this seems characteristic of Amed who is constantly thinking outside the box, questioning, looking for solutions to problems and exchanging ideas - we had lots of fascinating discussions with him while we were staying at his home.

Sunset from the Casa roof top. Note the sliver of the bay and the dome of the provincial government house.

We did get out briefly to walk a bit in the area near our Casa Particulare, which is only about 5 or 6 blocks from the central square, the Plaza de José Marti, in the downtown area of Cienfuegos. Here Bob (and me and my camera) is walking on the pedestrianized boulevard that extends from the Prado to the to the Plaza de José Marti and it is filled with people everyday but Sunday, when it is, eerily, quite empty. The dome of the government house on the plaza is just visible.

A bit about José Marti, whose image seems to appear everywhere in Cuba. Even at the Plaza de la Revolución there is a huge statue of Jose Marti (none of Fidel Castro - see earlier blog post). According to portrayals of Marti, he was a truly extraordinary man, a pioneering philosopher, modernist writer, poet and revolutionary.  He was a force in debates on issues such as slavery, independence and "freedom". His writings, said to be a unifying influence on Cubans around the world, encompass an enormous range including essays, novels, poetry, political commentary, letters and even a children's book. Through his writings and political activity, he became a symbol for Cuba's bid for independence from Spain in the 19th century. For more about José Marti go to José Marti.

An aside comment - I am reminded by the photo above with Bob walking down the boulevard, that one of the things we noticed, especially in Cienfuegos but in Havana as well, was that many walkways and streets undergo a cleaning - either sweeping or washing - at least once and sometimes twice a day. Not all streets of course - we found some, especially in Havana that were quite dirty and littered with trash.

At the plaza in central Cienfuegos, on the north side of the square, is the beautiful Teatro Tomás Terry.

It was built in 1887 to honour the Cuban industrialist Thomás Terry who, through involvement in all aspects of the economy, from the sugar trade and slave trade to banking and imports, became the dominant businessman in Cienfuegos and, at one point, possibly the wealthiest man in the world. It is said that one of his very profitable ventures was purchasing ill and malnourished slaves, nourishing them back to health and selling them at a substantial profit.

On the west end of the plaza is the Arco de Triunfo, a unique structure dedicated to Cuban independence and, quite possibly, the only "Arc de Triomphe" outside of Paris.

Also at the west end of the square is the Casa de la Cultura Benjamin Duarte, formerly the Palacio de Ferrer 1918. It is a very striking structure (described as "neoclassical") with a domed roof top cupola which, reportedly, offers an excellent view of the city. Unfortunately, like many buildings in Cuba, though it was supposed to be open by now, it remains closed for repairs.

I like this dark, rather gloomy image - maybe because it expresses my disappointment that we were unable to get in to the building and up to the cupola.

On the south side are shops and cafés in the areas under the arches but the dominant structure is the domed Palacio de Gobierno, the home of the provincial government. Visitors are not allowed in but one can sneak a peak of the palatial staircase through the front door. Of course we checked it out but, while it is nice, it is less impressive to me than I had hoped.

On the southeast corner is the Casa del Fundador, the oldest building in Cienfuegos, now a hotel, but originally the residence of the city's founder Louis D'Clouet. I don't have a photo of it but in this image, though you can't really see much, it is on the left with the Palacio de Gobierno facing.

La Catedral de la Purisima Concepción is on the northeast corner of the square. It still serves a religious function though, as it is undergoing major renovations, the area open the public is quite small and in the lower end of the nave where there are rather rough looking benches and a makeshift altar. We visited the Catedral twice and at the second visit we did manage to see the front of the nave, and through all of the scaffolding.

We had heard from our hosts, Amed and Ines, that there is to be a concert at the Teatro Tomás Terry tonight, so we decided to find out about the program, price etc. Unfortunately, I had decided not to take my camera - unfortunately because when we got to the Teatro we found that we were allowed (for 4 CUC's) to go into the Teatro just to see what it was like. It turned out that the orchestra was rehearsing but more interesting than the orchestra practice was the theatre itself - fortunately Bob had his iPhone camera so these photos of the inside of the theatre are Bob's.

Then home for a rest and the ongoing effort to make sure our fluid intake at least keeps pace with fluid loss - not easy to do when we are losing due to both our illness and substantial loss from perspiration in the persistent near 30 ° C temperatures.

As the day progressed it became clear that the wisest choice was for us to forgo the concert tonight, but we would try to go on Saturday instead when, with luck, we would both be healthy. So, Amed and Ines went to the concert without us.

Cuba - Day 7, January 9th

We got up early in order to catch the bus to Cienfuegos. Bob went for breakfast but I did not as I am still not feeling well enough to eat. Even with the benefit of several doses of Imodium, the four hour bus ride to Cienfuegos on the south coast of Cuba felt like a risky business given the continuation of my illness. Fortunately, six Imodiums held the problem at bay and we arrived at our Casa Particulare in Cienfuegos without any embarrassing events.

The bus, according to the Lonely Planet guide, is the most punctual and reliable form of transportation in Cuba so we were very careful to arrive at the hotel pick up location at the recommended 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure.  So, we were very surprised, and annoyed, that it was almost 1 1/2 hours late! Which means we had been waiting for 2 hours during which time my anxiety about the effectiveness of the Imodium over an additional 4 hours of travel, continued to mount. The fellow who came to the waiting area to announce the arrival of the bus greeted us as cheerfully as if things were right on schedule.

Thankfully, the Chinese manufactured bus was quite comfortable with good air-conditioning (not excessive as the Lonely Planet folks warned). It would have been reassuring if it had had a "baño" (a toilet - euphemistically referred to on buses that have one, as the WC) but, unfortunately, this bus did not.

I took photos during the bus ride  some of which turned out surprisingly well considering they were taken from a vehicle moving at about 60 or 70 Km/hour or faster.


Hopefully, these photos will provide some impression of the Cuban countryside in this area.

The landscape is very variable, in places quite flat reminiscent of the Canadian prairies, except for the sugar cane growing there, but mixed with some wetland areas as we moved southerly.


In some areas the soil is distinctly red, likely due to the content of iron, while in others it is rather just brown dirt. One of the things we learned on this trip that was a bit surprising is that a major agricultural crop in Cuba is rice, and we saw several rice fields along the way (photo above)

Some of the farms had a couple of cows (often brahmas but in a couple of fields we saw several Holsteins - a breed which Canada apparently had some role in introducing to Cuba), a horse or two and in some places there were a few goats.

Several homes had quite lovely flowering bushes near the house, like this one above. I'm not sure what these flowers are but I think they could be Bougainvillaea.

As you might appreciate from the photos, the houses appear to be made of concrete, concrete blocks or stone - there appears to be very little wood in house construction in this part of Cuba.

We passed through several small villages, like this one where the homes are very closely situated, possibly even attached.











At the Hotel Union where the bus left us Bob found a Cuban fellow who offered to lead us to our Casa Particulare, Casa Ines Isabel.  We walked about 6 blocks on this extremely hot afternoon, towing our bags over cobblestone streets under the watchful eyes of folks on the street, and, as I was feeling quite weak from fluid loss and limited food intake, I found the walk very tiring.

After arriving at the casa and meeting our host, Amed (about whom, much more later), we learned that things are not to be as planned. Amed's wife's sister is about to have surgery for breast cancer and for that they need to go to Santa Clara which is about 60 Km from Cienfuegos. Since Amed's wife will join her sister and Amed will accompany them, we will not be able to stay here past Sunday, January 12. Amed will find another place for us to stay, but it does mean that we cannot settle in here for the remainder of our stay in Cuba.

More about our Casa and our hosts later, but as you no doubt appreciate from these photos, it is a beautiful place and it turned out to be much more than a bed and breakfast. For example, not only did Amed prepare the meals (tonight, for me, he made a tasty soup and for Bob, who is feeling better, he prepared fresh fish with rice, potatoes and salad, beer and café followed by a dessert. All for a price, of course, albeit quite inexpensive) but he was a wellspring of information about Cuban history, things that we should try to see around Cienfuegos and much more.

I missed most of the latter part of the dinner as I was feeling very tired and unwell so went to our room. And, for me, that was the end of day 7.

Cuba - Day 6, January 8

Our last day in Havana and we are stuck in our hotel because we are both ill  following our meal at the El Cubano restaurant. As the day wore on I improved and felt sufficiently confident to venture out to the Hotel Parque Central to post my blog for day 2, the last post that I was able to send from Cuba, and to send an email home. At that point in time I felt that I was through the worst of the illness, but, sadly, that was not the case as it continued in waves of intensity curtailing our activity over several days,

Since there is little of interest to say about our day it may be a good time for some basics about Cuba for those who, like me, might know essentially nothing about this country.

The population is just above 11 million. And the country is much larger than I thought - I don't know the land area but from one end to the other it is between 1400 and 1500 Km.  Politically, it is divided into 19 provinces and, according to the Lonely Planet book, the population, surprisingly to me, is 65% white, 25% mixed and 10% black.  Surprising because it would seem to me that, having spent some time in both Cienfuegos and Havana and acknowledging the limitations imposed by the categorizations, the percentage of the white population seems somewhat lower.

And the topography, in places we passed through was extremely flat - almost prairie like - and I was surprised to learn that, with significant wet land areas, rice, along with sugar cane, is a fairly major crop in Cuba.

Sugar cane (above) and rice fields and a farmer on his tractor (right) which, except for a few palm trees and the prevalence of egrets, could be in Saskatchewan!

As you will see in a later post there are mountains as well, in height perhaps a bit like the Laurentians but without snow.

And, of course, beaches, surprisingly unbusy at this one at Rancho Luna near Cienfuegos on the south coast where we spent part of a day.




There are 2 currencies in Cuba -  one for the locals referred to as pesos nacional or CUP's and one for visitors - also officially called pesos - but generally referred to as CUC's. The CUC, close to the Canadian dollar in value, is roughly 25 times the value of the CUP. Interestingly, in this socialist country there are at least two very distinct classes - the Cubans and the visitors with the latter having privileges that the locals do not have - such as, places they can go that Cubans cannot. This seems especially true with respect to restaurants, beaches and boats. For example, we learned later from our host at the Casa Particular in Cienfuegos, that he cannot go out on a privately owned boat in the bay in Cienfuegos, the city in which he lives! The places where Cubans buy food or treats like ice cream (you might think of them as "fast food" places or cafés) are easily recognized as they are typically dimly lit, small and often have line ups, while those for visitors/tourists are quite brightly lit, larger and well outfitted (although even restaurants for visitors may lack many things they say they have, for example, there may be a long wine list but only one or two choice of wine). I do not have any photos of these "for Cubans" places as it felt like taking photos would be intrusive.

It appears to me that there are at least three different types of restaurants, all state owned.  One type for visitors operated by the state and the other, also for visitors, but operated privately, often by a family. The latter, referred to as paladars, are restaurants which Cubans are unlikely to frequent, possibly because it is not allowed but almost certainly because they could not afford it. (a 20 CUC meal would be the equivalent of about one month's income for the average Cuban). These paladars are required to pay a "tax" to the state. The third type of restaurant is for Cubans.

The people here appear to have adopted a culture of patience and a very effective capacity to adapt. For example, there seem to be line-ups for many things - for the money changers (Cadecas), public transportation,  the fresh bread line, bus tickets, the banks, rations outlets, the fish outlet as well as for things unknown. And the word somehow gets around - we would come across a long line up where there had been none when we passed by the place earlier and a couple of hours later it would be gone.  And not infrequently there is a closed door between the front of the line up and the source of whatever one is lining up for. At intervals (when there is space inside) the door will be opened by an official "door monitor" or security person allowing the person next in line to enter.

And, yes, there is food rationing for Cubans though exactly what that means isn't clear to us. And when you glance into the establishments we think are ration sources, there often appears to be little available. On the other hand, as you may recall from photos of the vegetable and fruit market, there seems to be an abundance at least of fruit and veggies. So the issue of food availability remains a a bit unclear.

Breakfast at our second Casa - egg "tortilla" to come.

As there seems to be plenty of food for us it feels like we may be eating food that should be accessible to Cubans. Not surprisingly, the rationing system fosters an off market process, as we learned from our hosts who know, for example, how to obtain fish and other things through friends and just knowing the way it all works. And how rationing affects their ability to feed us remains unclear. In any case this is another one of those examples of inequity that exist, at least between Cubans and visitors, which seems incongruous in this socialist culture. But to think of it another way, the tourist class brings in badly needed funds and creates jobs both of which, hopefully, contribute to the broader goal of attempting to maintain relative equality among Cubans, albeit a less affluent equality.

The public transportation, mentioned above may be in "los camions" which are basically quite large old trucks with an enclosed box mounted on the back in which most passengers, it appears, have to stand. To provide light and ventilation the area around the top of the box is open, (see photo) but, in spite of that, in the heat of the day it must be extremely hot. While I think these would be extraordinarily uncomfortable and a quite undesirable form of transportation (more of a personal nature about this form of transport later), they are an extremely useful adaptation to the current circumstances. They provide people with an inexpensive way to move about the city or between towns and cities in the relative shortage of personal motor vehicles and more costly forms of public transportation, especially for relatively long distance. (Note the Emergency exit sign on the back door.)

As you walk the streets in neighbourhoods in both Havana and Cienfuegos you find everywhere small clusters of people standing around or sitting on steps or in doorways talking sometimes loudly and animatedly - quite different from our neighbourhood in Dundas. (In this photo a bunch of guys were having a very animated discussion which we convinced ourselves was about yesterday's baseball game.) I suppose this pattern could be encourage by the fact that it is always warm outside (though, by Cuban standards, maybe not always) or that indoors may be crowded (especially where extended family or more than one family occupy the space) or, in order to conserve energy they keep it darkish inside. Or, maybe most just like to be out doors and mingling with their family, friends or neighbours. And, by the way, one must not assume that homes are small and darkish inside based on impressions from the character of the building and entry way - we have been in places where the outside and/or the entry belie what one actually finds inside. Witness, later, our second Casa.

And the streets are alive with lots of activities such as vegetable vendor carts, horse drawn taxis, bike taxis, single bikers (no helmets that we saw) and bikes carrying two people (occasionally three with a small child on the hand fashioned wooden seat on the crossbar and a second adult on a pannier rack over the back wheel - below the child on the wooden seat but not the 3rd person on the pannier seat),

including the ubiquitous chess game,












not to mention the plethora of ancient cars and trucks held together with cannibalized parts and the skill and determination of the Cubans who are able to keep them going.

The car above deserves special mention. I took this photo quite randomly but remember it because it becomes more than just a random car in the streets of Cienfuegos.

The next two photo were made in Havana when we were on our way to the Plaza de la Revolución.  These were both taken with the cars in full motion and me trying to have the camera move at the same pace as the car - hence the blur, especially of the background. I especially like the lower one, though it is a bit confusing because while I was trying to keep the camera moving at the pace of the car, I inadvertantly captured the slower moving, so very blurred, bicitaxi as well. I still like the effect.

This car could quite often be found in this location in front of the Hotel Union and across from the internet cafe - the blue building in the background.

Time for a rest.

Cuba - Day 5, January 7th

Today was the day for major walking - overall I think we must have walked over 11 or 12 Km.

In order to avoid the hottest part of the day, we started as early as possible on our walk to the Plaza de la Revolución - about 4 to 5 Km one way on a very hot and humid day. It took us westward out of the main tourist area along streets (Avenida Simon Bolivar and Avenida Salvador Allende) bustling with people and vehicle traffic. Here, even more than in the tourist area around our hotel, we were clearly foreigners among Cubans involved in day to day life of the city.

Along the way we passed a locomotive restoration area in the shadow of the Capital building, and a bit further on there was a cigar "factory", in which real Cuban cigars were apparently being rolled as we passed! An aside - the jintero who hawk cigars on the street, not surprisingly, are selling poor grade stogies, so don't buy.

In the photo below the cigar place is on the right.

While on Avenida Simon Bolivar about half way to the The Plaza de la Revolución, we passed a beautiful church, Iglesia del Sagardo Corazón de Jesus, which we noted as a likely stop on our return.

The Plaza de la Revolución is a huge open paved area where, in the past, hundreds of thousands of people have gathered and stood for hours listening to the oratory of Fidel Castro, or, when he visited Cuba in recent years, the Pope.



The south side of the plaza is dominated by an imposing monument comprised of a tall phallic structure which towers above a very large statue of José Marti shown in the photo below (more about Marti later). If you click on the photo below and look closely you can see a couple of people who provide some perspective on the size of the statue.

Surprisingly to me there was no sign of a memorial to Fidel Castro. The plaza is located in an area which is populated by government ministry buildings, far removed from the Capital building which is well to the east in central Havana. Two of the government buildings on the north side of the plaza provide the surface for large images of two key figures in the revolution - Che Guevera and Camilo Cienfuegos. (a bit more about Cienfuegos in another post)


 There were two or three tour buses there but I was surprised at how few visitors there were.

On our return, as planned, we stopped to visit the church with the beautiful spire and renown stained glass windows which we had passed on our way to the Plaza de la Revolución.

It is a lovely church both inside and out and I did get a couple of photos inside but, as we were unaware of the reputation for stained glass windows at that time, I failed to get any good photos of them.
















Not far past the church we walked through a small park where I noticed this wonderful array of colourful vehicles parked along the street - the purple, green and blue ones were in place and just as I was about to press the shutter, the yellow one slid into its spot - perfect! And the red peeking through from the other side of the street nicely rounds out the rainbow. By the way, if you look at the building across the street you will see that it lacks windows and a roof, a not uncommon sign of deterioration in some areas in Havana.

When we got back to the Parque Central we went to Hotel Parque Central for beer and water hoping to savour these on the roof top cafe and bar after our long hot and tiring walk but, as we were not guests at the hotel, we were denied access. So, we had our drinks in the main floor bar and used the wi fi access.



Then to a tiny second floor paladar restaurant nearby for lunch (we are not sure what to make of it, but all of the paladar restaurants where we have eaten so far, have been on the second floor).

Next we went to to take some photos at the fruit and vegetable market we had visited earlier (a couple photos are in an earlier blog) and on to the Museo de Arte Nacional which, unfortunately, was closed.

 As our plans had been thwarted and we were both quite tired from the walk, we decided to return to our hotel.

When we went into our room we found this towel swan on my bed accompanied by a card saying "Sweet Dreams". The previous day when we returned to our room after the room service folks had been there, we found, fashioned from one of our towels, an equally creative hand fan which, unfortunately, I dismantled before taking a photo. This time I did not make the same mistake!

The service at the hotel was generally good even when I left some things behind when we changed rooms. They retrieved them for me quickly. But the shower was not so accommodating - the pressure was completely unpredictable and the temperature of the water varied from cool to cold, even though a sign warned us that the hot water temperature was set at 50 degrees celsius! Apparently the shower required some wake up time as Bob, showering later, seemed to have better luck.

After rest/naps Bob looked through the Lonely Planet book to find a recommended restaurant for dinner and, with a couple in mind we set out to find the first choice which was reasonably close to our hotel. It was closed. So we decided to look for the second choice and, en-route encountered the folks who were attempting to lure people to the Giraldillia restaurant where we had had a very good meal a couple of nights before. We wanted to carry on to the place we had in mind but began to realize that it was quite a long walk so were susceptible to a restaurant recommendation by a woman among the Giraldilla folks and she actually accompanied us through some very dark streets to a (second floor) paladar restaurant, El Cubano, several blocks away. According to her, it is run by a friend and serves excellent food for a very good price. It was a tiny place with only 3 or 4 tables and squeezed into one small corner was a group of 4 musicians (apologies for the fuzzy photo - they just wouldn't stay still) who, it turned out, were excellent and clearly the best and only good part of our experience at this place (we even bought a CD which we thought was theirs but, it turns out, it was not this group at all).

After a bit of difficulty getting our meal sorted out, the food was slow to arrive and left a good deal to be desired. Fortunately, the music entertainment was excellent because the next morning we realized how unsatisfactory the experience was as our GI problems, destined to last several days and seriously curtail our activities, began.