CUBA 2018

We took a quick cruise out of Tampa this week and were able to mark another country off our "visited" list with Cuba as our destination.

Friday, February 16 - We flew down to Tampa after work today with our friends, Wendy and Charly, and got a hotel near the airport.  Everything went smooth except for me leaving my wallet on the plane like a dope.  Thanks to Southwest Airlines for the quick recovery of it.

Saturday, February 17 - After sleeping in a little and a grabbing a late brunch at the hotel, we Ubered over to the Port of Tampa and boarded the Carnival Paradise for our afternoon departure.

The Carnival Paradise is an older, smaller cruise ship.  In fact, it was going in to dry-dock we learned after this cruise to be refurbished and updated.  But she was making one more run to Cuba (while we still can) and we were happy to be aboard.

Speaking of old and small, the majority of passengers on this trip were in the senior-citizen range and here is a clandestine pic of our favorite one that we nicknamed "Tiny Trump."  He looked exactly like The Donald except he was only about 5' tall and wore some very interesting clothes including a "cuddle me" T-shirt and two types of "dress" shirts with wings on them.  He was just one of those people you happen to see every day on a cruise even if you aren't looking for them and when you do see them, it kinda makes your day.  People-watching is always a great past-time on a cruise. 

The city of Tampa faded into the golden sunset as we headed south out of the bay and down the west coast of Florida toward our first destination tomorrow morning, Key West.

Sunday, February 18 - We got into Key West around noon with a smattering of rain falling.  It was just enough for our scheduled snorkeling trip with Fury Charters to be cancelled due to cloudy water and choppy conditions.  Might as well go drinkin' I guess!   We went by The Porch which has the best craft beer selection in Key West, had a pint and figured out our next move.  Now we've been to Key West close to a dozen times and the one place we have never visited but always gets great reviews is Mel Fisher's Maritime Museum.  Now we know why....it was pretty damn interesting and a great way to wait out the weather!

These extremely rare Muzo emeralds  and the small box they were contained in were found by treasure hunter, Mel Fisher, in 1985 aboard the Spanish galleon, Nuestra Senora de Atocha which was lost to a hurricane in 1622 off the coast of Florida.  This amazing display plus dozens of others in the museum show many of the incredible finds of Fisher during his lifetime of searching the ocean floor.

The weather cleared after our museum visit, and we spent the rest of the afternoon eating and drinking our way around the Key West harbor with stops at The Waterfront Brewery for more beer and appetizers,  free samples at the Papa Hemingway Rum Distillery,  and last but not least, the historic Two Friends Patio Restaurant for some happy-hour cocktails (with 151 floaters...whoa, Nelly!) along with delicious conch fritters and steamed shrimp! 

There's no place that does sunsets better than Key West and this (no filter) shot back aboard the boat proves it once again. 

Monday, February 19 - Our Monday morning commute  today was an interesting and memorable one as we pulled into Havana Harbor for the very first time.  Kind of mind-boggling to think that just a few years ago on our way to Jamaica we had to fly all the way around Cuban airspace and here we are now sailing right into port on an American cruise ship.    Thanks for the opportunity, President Obama!

The Havana Harbor entrance is small, but striking in appearance.  We actually had to wait for another cruise ship to leave before entering it.  On the north side is the lighthouse, Faro de Castillo del Morro standing guard over the 16th-century fortress, Los Tres Reyes.

This panoramic look of Havana's waterfront on the south side of the harbor entrance was helped by the perfect weather we were having as we sailed in today.

Ah, the cars!  The classic cars catch your eye right from the start in Havana.  All of them are a rolling museum and an important part of the heritage of Cuba these days.

Our first tour off the boat focused on the flavors and traditions of Havana and our first stop on that tour was the seafood restaurant, Don Cangrejo,  which sits on the north coast where we were served fresh lobster and Cuban Bucanero beer while live music was played by the staff as we ate and drank.  The people seem so nice here in Cuba with big smiles and friendly faces all around.

Did I mention I like the old cars in Havana?  This beauty was sitting outside the restaurant when we came in and gone when we left...not just pretty, but practical and still a working machine.

Yep, more cars...with our ship in the background.  Note the ugly  Russian-made boxy cars in the background.  What a clash of ideologies this country has struggled with over the last century.   

Our next stop was for a little shopping for the best products from Cuba...cigars, rum and coffee.  This tiny little shop on the second floor of the old Bocoy Rum Factory building in the Cerro neighborhood did not disappoint.  Montecristos, Romeo y Julieta, and other  high-quality cigars, once illegal in the US, are abundant here and CHEAP!  You could bring up to 100 back with you.  You are only allowed one liter of rum and we got the best they had in sipping rum, Havana Club (and it was about 7 bucks).  We didn't buy any coffee, but had some a little later that was outstanding.

Just when you think all the classic cars probably hang around the port for the tourists to gawk at, we saw this little gathering from our bus deep into the city of Havana.     

Beside the rum and cigars, one of my favorite stops on this tour was at El Tanque (The Tank), a completely community-funded arts center built literally piece by piece in mosaic-style from a long-abandoned 100-year-old water tank in the Lawton area of Havana.   U.S. visitors are required to make some of their visit to Cuba educational and this stop filled that requirement, plus did a whole lot more to give you hope for this crumbling country that has been used as a pawn for so long in the struggle between world superpowers.  Caught in that struggle are real people just wanting to live their lives as best they can and fill that those lives with music, art and happiness. Not a bad thing at all.  This is also the first community center I have ever seen with a bar in the top of it!  Hey, make money however you can!  Cheers!

OK, so back to the debauchery!  Our final stop of this tour back near the port was for a coffee, rum and cigar tasting with a local expert. Hey, we are still "learning" here!   

We sipped our rich coffee and smooth Havana Club rum and puffed on our Romeo Y Julieta cigars in the beautiful courtyard of the historic Palacio de la Artesana building constructed circa 1780.  

We had just enough time when we got back to the boat to run back on-board, freshen up a bit (put on some long pants for me) and head back out for our night-time activity, a viewing of the Cabaret Parisien show at the swanky Hotel Nacional  de Cuba (photo above of the hotel was taken earlier in the day as we passed by it on our day tour).  

The show was pretty amazing.  Filled with color, movement and sound, Parisien Cabaret delivers everything the Cuban culture has to offer.  The mojitos weren't bad either!  Cheers!

Tuesday, February 20 - After a night in port, we got up early for our last tour, A Morning in Havana, a bus and walking tour of the port and Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Our first stop of the morning was the massive Christ of Havana marble statue on the north side of the harbor entrance.  While not as tall as "Christ the Redeemer" in Rio de Janeiro, it's still an imposing figure.  The local joke is that his hands seem to simulate holding a cigar and a glass of rum...hey, their joke, not mine....but I do see it..

The view from the base of the Christ of Havana statue looking south back toward Old Havana and our ship was pretty amazing as we had yet another perfect day of weather in Cuba.

We also made a brief stop at the fortress, Los Tres Reyes, which we first saw coming in to port yesterday.

Back in Old Havana we began our walk in the quiet and beautiful Plaza de San Francisco

This streetscape shot in Old Havana shows the vibrant colors that abound here.  Unfortunately, a lot of Havana does not look this nice and kept up.  It's a crumbling town that seems to be trying to hang on to it's hey-days of the 1950's and while the classic American cars are shiny, clean and fussed-over, their owners seem to be living and working  among neglected homes and businesses which may not be their fault due to lack of resources, government help and valuable tourism dollars.

The National Cathedral of Cuba.  

The star-shaped Castillo de la Real Fuerza fortress built in the 1500's.

The Palacio de los Capitanes Generales Casa de Gobierno - a former palace, governor's home and now a national museum.  At my feet are wooden "cobblestones" which I unfortunately didn't get a good picture of.  The story goes the lady of the palace didn't like the clip-clop of horses hooves on actual cobblestones and had these installed to buffer the noise...rich people...go figure...

OK, last money-shot of more classic cars.  

As we headed out of Havana Harbor, these re-purposed warships still remind us of what was here, what still could be here and what hopefully is more of the past here in this interesting (yet still possibly dangerous) place just 90 miles from our shores, but light-years away from our hectic, modern world.  

Wednesday, February 21 - We enjoyed a lazy day at sea today stuffing ourselves with pretty good food, hitting the water-slide despite our ages and just hanging out and relaxing.

Thursday, February 22 - We were back in port early and immigration went pretty smooth and we made our flight home with no issues.  Thanks Carnival, Key West, Cuba and "Tiny Trump" for a fun and interesting trip.