HAVANA CITY The Hotel Vedado, where we stayed. Looks much nicer on the inside! The lobby, where a nice traditional Cuban son band named 'Carenas' played every night. Note the internet computers behind them. Jim's on the left. He did a good interview with one of the band members. What you collect in your hotel room: batteries, bananas, red wine, bottled water, minidisc player in a ziploc bag, cheezies, limes, a bathing suit ... Jim at Il Mercado, picking up the essentials - wine and cheezies. We bought a lot of bottled water there too. A bottle of 3 year old rum was 5 1/2 covertable pesos [ie US dollars] Out walking on the malecon - you could see El Morro castle way over on the other side of the bay. The Hotel Nacional, taken from the Malecon - sort of Havana's Hotel Vancouver, or Royal York. Very old and very beautiful. And you could get cash advances with your Visa card there on the weekends! The view out our hotel window to the north - you can see the twin towers of the Hotel Nacional. The view out our hotel window to the west, more or less. The view out our hotel window to the south, towards the Mercado that we patronized. Relaxing by the Vedado pool. Paul is shielding himself, as if to say 'Please - no more pictures!' The Avenue de los Presidentes Shopping for vinyl on the Calz de Infanta Nice old building on the Calz de Infanta Cuban doggie on the Calz de Infanta. He's saying ... what the hell are YOU looking at, buddy ??? A 1939 Hupmobile in pretty decent shape for Cuba. Just needs some new tires. Intriguing old building near the university 1954 Buick, complete with portholes The University of Havana The University of Havana The University of Havana The University of Havana The University of Havana - statue of Jose Marti, and a student studying under a tree. Back at the Vedado, 'Maximo' also performed in the lobby nightly. Here he is, hours after his set had finished, drinking, smoking and singing with the patrons. Those Cubans love to sing. Down at the corner by the Hotel Vedado [Calle 23 and Calle O] we ate dinner in a cafeteria, where this band was playing - Sexteto Lira Habana. Very nicely restored Pontiac taxi. Marcial would be envious! Out our hotel window again, we see what appears to be a day care centre or something like that. An outdoor market on Calle Tacon started off our day in Habana Vieja [Old Havana]. This painting depicts cans of Revolution, History, Ideology, Landscape, Migration and Baseball Soup. We did the Lonely Planet Walking Tour of Old Havana, starting with the Catedral de San Cristobal de la Habana. The tables on the left are the outdoor portion of the El Patio restaurant. Jim and Ruth Kozak in front of the cathedral. [Ruth came to Havana for the Jazz Festival, and was staying at the Vedado. Turned out she lived near the Drive in Vancouver, mere blocks from Paul.] Looking inside the cathedral Inside the cathedral looking out Inside the cathedral Stogie-smokin' Cuban on the cathedral steps 'The 'Okay Cuba' band playing at the El Patio Restaurant, still in the plaza in front of the cathedral. Flower girls at the El Patio 'Okay Cuba' band, complete with gogo dancer. Note the cigar she's wielding in her left hand Unsolicited caricature of Paul done in seemingly seconds by a teenager in the plaza near the cathedral. Do I really look like that? Sigh. On the walking tour Seen while still walking The Hotel Ambos Mundos ['Both Worlds'] where Hemingway stayed in the 1930s. He wrote 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' there. The El Floridita, where Papa drank his daiquiris. There we met two of the very few Americans that we encountered in Cuba. They said they were from Louisiana and worked for the CIA. They were probably kidding, though. Nice building, taken from just outside the El Floridita Ditto Towel art was all the rage in Havana too. These are either kissing swans, or a heart, or both, depending on how many daiquiris you've had. Dedicated to our chambermaid Marlyn, who was very nice to us. We really wanted to get her picture, but failed to connect with her on the last day there. Central Havana Central Havana Looking up from the lobby of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes View out one of the museum windows Ohmygod! A radio transmitter, resplendent in a beautiful wooden cabinet. Paul doffs his hat for a moment of solemn reflection. Also out a museum window This transmitter was used by Che Guevara to broadcast speeches during the Revolution. Camilo Cienfuegos and Che Guevara Out the window again, showing the plaza in front of the museum, and the harbour off in the distance. And look ... CocoCabs! Propaganda poster with heroic Fidel and the boys. And no, that is NOT my finger on the lens. The main floor of the museum, in what appeared to be a beautiful but totally empty ballroom. A wonderful ceiling mural. Another ballroom shot. The woman at the bottom was having her picture taken by a guy who was lying on the floor at her feet, to get the ceiling in the background. I guess. The many mirrors prompted this blurry tourist camera experiment. Out in back of the museum was the Pavillon Granma. The Granma was the boat that carried Fidel, Che and the other revolutionaries to Cuba from Mexico to Cuba in December 1956. 82 men on a 60 foot boat! Nice shot of the Granma in action. A screen capture from 'Cuba: The Forgotten Island', a DVD available at the Vancouver Public Library The jeep that Castro used during the revolution. Ruth poses next to a delivery truck used by the rebels to sneak troops in to stage an attack on the legislature. As you can see by the large number of bullet holes, they didn't succeed. We hurtle along the Malacon, off to the legendary Egrem Studios [where the Buena Vista Social Club recording was made] in a 1950 Cadillac cab. In the panoramic rear view mirror are left to right, our driver, Paul [with camera], Ruth and Jim. We got to the Egrem Studios in fancy-smantzy Miramar. It wasn't the right one. Good photo op, anyway. This is more like it! Ruth Down the street one way ... ... and the other. There was a CD boutique, and a nice little bar. So, like the obedient tourists that we were, we bought CDs, and had a round of Buccaneros. Don't we look happy? It's a tribute to the healing power of beer and CDs. Our driver did a nice job taking the picture. The Egrem Unisex Banos. Very civilized. Back outside, where our trusty Cadillac awaited. I asked the driver how a 54 year old car could run so well, and he said that it had a Toyota diesel engine. So there you go. Many of the old cars had Russian engines in them. It was Ruth's last evening in Havana, so we went to a paladar, called the Aries. It's a private restaurant in someone's home, legal since 1995. Some, like this one, are pretty fancy, with menus, waiters, a bar, the whole bit. There's a shrine to someone or other over Paul's left shoulder. On Saturday, December 18th, it rained very hard for hours. Seemed just like Vancouver. The Cubans were happy - it hadn't rained in months. Here's a puddle from the next day. A nicely restored 1967 Lada. Residence for monks The entrance to the Necropolis, the main cemetary in Havana. Approxamately a million people are buried there. A 1955 Cadillac hearse with snow tires on all four wheels in case of .... what? Snow, I guess. Chapel in the centre of the Necropolis. The tomb of Senora Amelia Goyri, who died giving birth in 1901. She was buried with the baby at her feet, but when her body was exhumed, the baby was found in her arms. A miracle! She is the object of cult. Many people visit and leave flowers. Her followers never turn their backs to her. Many of the graves had were in bad shape, and some had been vandalized. Here's Gravedigger Jim checking out a crypt whose door had disappeared., You could see the bones inside. A monument to the people who lost their lives after the Voyage of the Granma. A monument to the Japanese community in Havana. More graves in disrepair. Walking back, at the Avenue de las Presidentes. Laundry hanging out the windows was a common sight in Havana. This little car abandoned near our hotel fascinated Paul. It said 'Alexander TS' on the trunk lid. Perhaps Russian? A very friendly young woman who befriended us while walking back to the hotel. While it was never really clear to us, probably she was engaged in some form of the new Cuban entrepreneurial strategy ... Nice old Mercedes ... This simple and beautiful shot of a porch puts Jim in the semi-finals for the best picture of the 2004 Cuba trip. Indeed.

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