Cuba Trip a Travelogue Pt 2 Frank and Cynthia Robben May 2016

Transcription

1 Cuba Trip a Travelogue Pt 2 Frank and Cynthia Robben May 2016 Monday morning Magaly came early and the three ladies rushed off to take Cynthia to get a haircut. While they were gone Chita came, cleaned, washed dishes, etc. Again I was impressed what a pleasant and competent woman she was. When the ladies returned Hilkka told me I should not come down for a bit something secret going on. After not too long I found out Magaly had helped Cynthia to dye her hair (some gray was showing which I think is fine). They were all happy. Magaly then got us a taxi to go downtown, we were to meet the tour bus at the Hotel Saratoga at 2:15. We arrived there about 1:00, and while Cynthia and Hilkka did some window shopping I made a quick walk again to Cathedral Square so interesting to see the old churches, business buildings, museums, etc in the area of the old walled city.. The church was open (Monday) and quite well furnished inside a proper Spanish colonial church (probably the most well-constructed and beautiful structures they built in the New World). I rushed back to be in time for the tour bus Cynthia and Hilkka were already at the hotel waiting. 2:15 came and went and finally at 3:00 the bus showed up. David was our tour leader and he gave his information first in Spanish, then for our benefit (and one or two others) a more abbreviated version in English. He was knowledgeable and pleasant and had worked on various restoration projects in Old Havana. A fairly nice tour the first place we went was to Revolution Square, which we had visited before, then a bit through the high class area of Varadero, then along the waterfront back to old Havana and Cathedral Square. He took us on a walking tour and there he was very knowledgeable, and interesting. We gained more familiarity and perspective on what to see in Old Havana it is full of Our group tour bus, at the Saratoga Hotel David, our tour leader, took us first to Revolution Square near Magaly's Place where we had walked the day before

2 interesting places, history and beautifully designed and constructed buildings, and the tour helped quite a bit in our subsequent explorations of the old City. When going along the waterfront from Varadero to the mouth of Havana Bay it was quite noticable that though the old apartment and other buildings within a block of the waterfront had been maint\ained somewhat, 3 or 4 blocks back further many of the buildings had been abandoned and were in various stages of falling down. A bit depressing. Old Havana has its share of badly maintained buildings, but at least there seems to be repairs underway. Slowly. When we were dropped off I asked David for a dinner recommendation. He unhesitatingly recommended one right where we had just stopped, across from Capitolia Nacional so we joined a fairly long line on the sidewalk waiting to gain entrance. According to some in line, it was good and worth the wait. It did not take too long then we went up a steep, long and dark staircase to the second floor and entered a quite luxuriously decorated area. Rather dark, but we shortly got a table and I ordered lobster, again. Was only $12 here not as good as at Biki's, but still excellent. A large, tastefully broiled lobster tail. After dinner I negotiated a reasonable rate for a taxi an old Volkswagen bug, and the driver (and owner) was a middle aged man, good English, and very pleasant. We got his card and phone number if we wished his services again. Tuesday we had understood that Magaly would be our tour guide to visit the Hemingway home and museum, and maybe other places. True to her word, she arrived at 8:30 with transportation. We were surprised to find a relatively new Mercedes tour bus for 10 people or so and whose driver, Ernesto, was a friend of hers (we slowly learned that they had a relationship and were close friends. Some things remain The statue of Jose Marti at Revolution Square In front of Revolution Square, this is the second of two multi-story displays of the most revered revolutionary heroes. This one, recently erected, honors Fidel Castro. At night the metal framing

3 a bit mysterious Cuba?). But we headed towards a different place Cynthia wanted to stop at the Sri Lankan embassy and had talked with Magaly before about this. I only found out after we had left and were searching for the embassy most foreign embassies were in a nearby upscale section of Havana called Miramar. Nice, larger houses quite a few actually maintained. Ernesto (by regulations it seemed) could not stop on a wide, main street where there were quite a few embassies, and carefully parked a block or so away and waited while Cynthia, Hilkka, Magaly and I walked to the embassy which had been a nice private house and rang the bell to gain entrance. The ambassador, Sarath, had been referred to us by a friend in Honolulu who knew him, and he was a very pleasant and friendly fellow. We chatted a bit and met some of his staff as he toured us around the house and described the various activities that were underway. There was to be a garden party, a group of wives of various ambassadors were hosting it for some charitable function, and we were all invited to attend. Finally we headed to the Hemingway museum I had thought it was at the Hemingway Marina, further along the coast, but no, it was a bit inland, in an area of small picturesque farms (formerly, at least) among smaller, rolling hills. Hemingway was very fond of Cuba this was prior to the Revolution and had bought this small farm with a lovely house (maybe he had it built, I do not remember). Nothing extraordinary. There were quite a few tourists, and you could look in the house which was pretty much arranged as it was when lived there through the windows only, and take photos. There was no actual museum describing his life and accomplishments. He had owned and used a small, nice fishing powerboat, named Pilar, and it had been brought there and placed where there had been a tennis of the likeness is back lit, to good artistic effect;. On a similar government office building just to the right is a much older, and similar, representation of Che Guevarra, who was greatly honored after his early and avoidable death, trying to organize a revolution in Bolivia. Our tour leader, David, and Cynthia while he was explaining this bronze statue. As I remember, he dates from pre-revolution times, was homeless and rather nutty, but was kind to people and became a folk hero. The people in general looked after and took care of him. It brought good luck if you held his finger and stepped on his foot, at the same time. My broiled lobster, with shrimps and more than I could eat. This restaurant was a tourist place, fine, but not like Biki's

4 court, under a very well-constructed I-beam framed canopy. The varnish had been very well maintained. When I reflect on this, Hemingway had been an American and a throwback to the corrupt Batista era, which had been demonized and downgraded by the principles of the Revolution. Only recently has the government eased off from some of this and lifted the associated and prohibited decadent and bourgeois activities. This included the Catholic Church, and in fact all religious activities and beliefs such as those brought by the slaves imported from Africa. Which means that much of the Cuban music and dance style, for which they are famous, was suppressed. So complicated how leaders who become more or less omnipotent will then try to force their subjects to accept their new beliefs which at core are nothing more than a different religion. And how the people themselves, while in many ways doing what was necessary to get along and conform, still maintained some of the cultural beliefs that the government was trying to eliminate. An economic uplift is now so necessary, and has been recognized by the government, that activities that will promote tourism have become allowed. Like limited private ownership of small businesses, and the marked growth in higher end beach resorts, in partnership between the government and foreign companies. That evening Magaly and Ernesto returned, to take us across the harbor to the old fort guarding the harbor entrance. To drive there we went under the channel through a tunnel actually two tunnels built during the Catro era. A very major, and expensive, public works, and well-constructed. Why the priority I cannot imagine. We saw part of the fort were ushered out before going inside the major part and to see the museum as it The view from Hemingway's home, towards the main part of Havana Hemingway's study Painting of Hemingway the famous hunter

5 was closing, and then drove on to the relatively small town of Casablanca, clearly visible across the channel from Old Havana. One thing of considerable interest was the Che Guevarra museum, which had been an upscale home at one time and had been given to him when he was central in the Castro's plans. It was up on the cliffs near a very large statue of Jesus looking like he was blessing Havana. That seemed to me to be a contradiction in the beliefs espoused by Che. The museum was closed. Wednesday we went to Old Havana on our own. Went in to the Museum of the Revolution, in an old Palatial building on the waterfront next to the tunnel which went under the harbor entrance. The contents were a somwhat mixed history of the Revolution, using the old rooms, not too well organized or documented. From the museum you could then go across the street, behind it, to the Granma Memorial square. (Granma has nothing to do with what it sounds like in English, but is simply the name of a province in the southern part of Cuba, which is where Castro's revolutionary force landed to begin their final, successful revolt.) Besides some old military weapons that the revoulution had used, two things caught my eye. The central display was a fenced, covered and protected area where the small motor vessel which brought the revolutionaries to the landing along the shore of the Granma province, from Mexico, was on display. It was surrounded by a heavy fence, and then the boat itself was totally covered with tarps so you could really not see it at all, just bits of the lower hull and rudder. It was a small boat, heavily overloaded and barely made it to Cuba. Further, the Batista government had been informed about this invasion and was prepared to capture and kill all of them. In actual fact, the Batista army did not function too well and although they caught perhaps more than half of the Hemingway's fishing launch on his tennis court by the house View of Havana from the old fort across the entrance to the Bay One of the moats surrounding this fort

6 revloutionaries, a core group escaped to the mountains and went into hiding. The second was a relatively small rocket, mounted on a trailered launcher and pointing somewhat upwards. Around it were parts of a destroyed airplane, the jet engine and fragments of the fuselage. And some plaques explaining the significance. I had not known of this (it was probably kept secret in the US), but it was a major part of the Cuban Missile Crisis. American U2 spy planes, which were slow but flew very hign, were being used to photograph the Russian activity and provided proof that they were installing missile bases. - which would have become armed with nuclear warheads and aimed at the US. As had happened in Russia under Eisenhower's watch, the Russians had at that time developed ground to air missiles capable of bringing these planes down. (Remember Francis Gary Powers?) And so this type of rocket small as it was had been used to destroy at least one US spy plane. And of course the pilot killed. Interesting that the Castro regime would memorialize their cooperation with the Russians who were there only for their own advantgage and not realize that the US would, ultimately, use totally deadly force to eliminate such a threat. Even to the extent of blockading Cuba and preventing Russian ships from entering. In my mind a total overreach of their importance on the International stage. Ah well, reflections on historical events that were of very great importance to the US. It is interesting to read the history of the U-2 spy plane affair and the actions of President Eisenhower and to know that perhaps a different stance on the part of Eisenhower may have led to a reasonable agreement on limiting nuclear arms and weapons. Maybe. The next day,thursday, Magaly and Ernesto came to help us in seeing things. We changed more money, and I went - by Now there is a cannon! Huge This pillbox is totally out of place at this fort. Dates from WW II era A nice view of Capitolia Nacional from across the channel

7 myself with Magalay and Ernesto to where she lived as her source was a neighbor. A nicer section of the city, a bit inland someplace. We were next to a park, and Ernesto indicated I should follow him. In the park, sitting on a bench, was a bronze statue of a long-haired fellow, in a pose that fit talking with someone sitting by him. Ernesto assumed I recognized him but for quite a while I did not know and had to pretend. Then some tourists, being shown around in one of the beautiful old American convertibles, came and started taking pictures sitting next to? I talked with one, and American from New York, and found out it was John Lennon! How dumb of me not to know I will blame it on old age. Until rather recently, it was strictly prohibited to have anything related to western hippie culture. Sign speaks for itself Interesting, also, that the New Yorker I talked to said this was his first time in Cuba. Then he added, not really I had been at Guantamo. And at that time he obviously never set foot in Cuba proper. Che's house is in a lonely place atop the cliffs overlooking the harbor and Havana Here is the immense statue of Jesus, just across the street from Casa del Che

8 The museum was an old palace this view is from Granma Square, a block to back The Russian surface-to-air missile used to shoot down one U2 photographing Cuba. The remnant of the U2 engine is mounted under the missile