Last morning in Havana

So it’s confession time. I realised after I posted last night’s blog that I completely left out our visit to Che Guevara’s Mausoleum in Santa Clara. This is a tasteful tribute to his life and his contribution to Cuba. It features many photo’s from his life, including his childhood in Argentina, to having his four children, up to the time he left Cuba in 1965. He was eventually captured and killed in Bolivia in 1967. Near the Mausoleum there is a large parade ground so his birthday can be celebrated. He is celebrated as a national hero. You can’t take any photo’s inside, so here’s a couple from outside.

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Now, for today, we are going to the Buena Vista Social Club tonight and then we have an early flight to Cancun tomorrow, so it will be a shorter blog today, but promise I’ll catch you all up tomorrow. We were doing a driving trip around some of the other sights in Havana this morning. The tour guide found us a quite manly vehicle to travel around town in.

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It was definitely fun driving around with in a 1956 Chev Convertible, albeit a little warm in the sun. Our first stop was Castillo Morro, which was the main defensive position at the mouth of the harbour. While the British did occupy Havana for a short time it has mostly been well defended. It’s high position offers great views over the city.

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We then drove through lots of the different neighbourhoods in Havana. Again there were some quite opulent parts of Havana, prior to the revolution and the subsequent nationalisation of property. Eventually, we ended up at the Revolutionary Square where Fidel Castro delivered many speeches. There are also monuments to Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos. These three are seen as the prime movers of the revolution. Central to the square is also a monument to Jose Marti who is everywhere as the initiator of independence from Spanish rule.

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From there we drove past the university campus which is quite expansive and in parts has some beautiful park land. Some other parts, of it could do with a little maintenance … a common issue in Cuba. We continued to a quieter area and stopped at a park which is now known as John Lennon park. There is no real logic as to why a statue of John Lennon is here, as the Beatles never came to Cuba. It is potentially a symbol of the youth wanting to hear more western music as has been the case since the early 1990s.

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Unfortunately the Malecon, the road that goes along the waterfront was closed for a cycle race, so we couldn’t come back to the hotel that way, so we retraced some of our steps and returned to the hotel.

With time getting away on me prior to tonights outing that goes from 8 till midnight, I’ll update the rest of the day in tomorrow’s blog when I have less pressure on the schedule. Apologies for pulling up short today.

Until Tomorrow!