First Impressions, Part 2

The view from our Centro Havana apartment.

La Habana

Beautiful Colors, Elegant Ruins. Towering monuments. Glorious golden hotel. Blue bay flecked with white caps. Little new construction. People: walking to or from work, milling about, sitting on walls and stoops, alone or chatting with friends, boys playing soccer, girls in spandex, and even a few faces lost in their cell phones.




Casa Particular – Concordia in Habana Central

Craig, with Claudia, our host at Concordia.

Through a metal gate and up a couple flights of worn concrete stairs. Up, up, up the last three flights in an ancient elevator, the likes of which I have never seen before. We swung open a metal door, accordion-folded the metal grate, stepped over a curb and down several inches into the elevator. Finally, at the end of a fifth floor hallway, Claudia opened the door with a friendly welcome, conversation, lots of helpful information about the town, cigars (see below), suggestions for good places for dinner and breakfast, and a lesson in locking and opening the small safe in our room and the ancient door; she even loaned us a keep-in-touch cell phone so we can call her if we have any problem or question.

It didn't take long for us to dump our stuff, hang up a few things, and wander about. Like most tourists, I was immediately attracted to the classic cars. This one matched my dress particularly well, don't you think?!

Evening in Havana

Gift cigars... Welcome to Cuba!

Heat like a warm blanket. Fresh breezes off the bay.  Jagged streets. Lights as fractured as the sidewalks. Delicious fish at little Paladar Asahi. Mojitos and beer. At the bar, a couple of guys with guitar and bongos filling the air with lively music. Friendly people, helpful, hopeful, looking for an invitation to work for CUCs. “I’ll show you a restaurant.” “My English not so good, but I can show you…” Always an angle.


Back at the Casa

Cigar, anyone? These two cigars were a gift from our Concordia hosts. Claudia had explained that they are really inexpensive--- a good memento, whether we smoke them or not, but they are the type that real Cubans smoke. We opted to save them and collapse in front of the TV to watch a great American football movie In English, with Spanish subtitles. My crystal ball didn’t see the day ending this way!



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