What a day! We were a bit over-scheduled with two tours in one day, but it all turned out great!
First: Alejandro’s Bike Tour West of Havana
In the morning we walked to a hotel where we had previously seen many taxis, figuring we could easily hop a ride to the Miramar neighborhood where our bike tour would begin. We easily connected with a spectacular old 52 Ford for our ride to the more polished part of town (15 CUC). It didn’t take much circling to locate the Rico Bike sign in a pleasant, shady section of Miramar. We soon met Alejandro, our tour guide, and other interesting characters, including a very Zen home and bike owner, and Francesco, an amazing artist in wood and metal. We waited for some no-show guests and finally left close to 10:00, heading west along the north shore. Other than some much-appreciated exercise and lots of spectacular classic cars along the way, highlights included...
Fusterlandia, whimsical wonderland of tile-encrusted creations, home of the artist, Fuster, clearly a man with a fertile imagination! It was interesting to see the spread of tile work down side streets. Of course, there were a host of tiny shops trying to appeal to the many tourists who now seek out this magical, sparkling place. |
| Craig with Alejandro |
A Coney Island replica created pre-revolution, now a children’s amusement park.
Marina Hemingway, where we relaxed by the ethereal blue water, gazing at slender pipe fish while we enjoyed refreshments provided by Alejandro. We cycled around the marina, seeing many grand yachts moored along one of its four 800m long channels.
What a delightful man of the sea. Alejandro worked as a lifeguard for many years and is now taking a year off to experiment with making a living providing tour/guide service on land and sea. Alejandro is proficient at most things water: free diving, sailboarding, stand up paddle board, and more…
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| Banyan tree dwarfs the classic car. |
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| University of Arts of Cuba |
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| Styrofoam boats used for fishing and, once upon a time, for dangerous escape attempts. |
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| Stunning statue in front of a dilapidated house. |
We highly recommend any tour with Alejandro.
As a much-appreciated parting gesture of goodwill, he walked us to a spot to catch a collective, waved one down, and negotiated our price for the ride back to Havana Centro. 1 CUC each.
Thank you, Alejandro!
Continue to read "Havana: Day of Tours, Afternoon"
http://mycubadream.blogspot.com/2018/03/cuba-day-of-tours-afternoon.html
Fun! Marlena and I never made it to El Morro but we saw it up on the bluff! Sounds like you two are having quite an adventure. I can't wait to hear about it when you get back!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate that you have learnt interesting aspects about Cuba's culture, history and heritage. I really think this kind of exchange might help our countries to get close once more.
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