After spending all day in Cancun waiting for our connection to Cuba, I was thrilled to see that the Hotel Florida was restored to its former splendor. We were ideally located right in the middle of Havana's historic Vieja district. I had arranged for a guide to meet us at the hotel on Saturday morning to take us on an all day walking tour of the city. Diana Castellanos (dmca1983@gmail.com), a 27 year old English teacher at the local university, was a charming companion. She not only showed us around the important historic sights, but also taught us about life in Havana today.
In addition to experiencing lovely places like the Plaza de Armas with its dripping Spanish moss and many of Hemmingway's haunts, we also saw the neighborhoods without running water and evidence of decades without access to goods. From the old cars to the music pouring out of every doorway we were transported to another time and place.
One of our Havana highlights was enjoying mojitos in the lobbies and on the roofs of restored hotels like the Ambos Mundos, the Inglaterra, the Sevilla, the Santa Isabel (our favorite) and the Hotel Nacional (over in the Vedado). We loved learning about the history of Cuba in the former Presidents Palace-now the Museo de la Revolution, the Coleccion de Artes Cubano, and the Governor's Mansion. We spent a lot of time strolling along El Prado, Obispo Street, and the Malecon. Of course we also hit some nightclubs like Casa de Musica and the Havana Cafe at the Hotel Cohiba, and went to a painful operetta in the faded glory of the Gran Teatro de la Habana. We had a grand time!
Havana is a sultry, colorful, intriguing and exotic city. It was hard to pull ourselves away to see the countryside. But, adventures awaited--like driving without a map...
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