Cuba Trip - Day 3, Havana

Day 3 in Havana began with a visit to Muraleando, a neighborhood community center, where local children are exposed to art and music. The majority of the art there was made from recycled materials. From there, we stopped at a local church where women from the Santeria faith gave "readings" to whoever wanted to do so. Then we took the tunnel under the Havana Bay to see the huge stature of Christ and the fort that guards the bay. Our last stop was at the John Lennon Park where the women got their pictures taken with John Lennon.

The entrance to Muraleando with revolutionary heroes in tile.

Our "Cuba Family" poses with our guide for Muraleando.

Along both sides of the street was many interesting pieces of recycled art.

Who ever thought toilet bowls would become art?

Susan and John sitting on half of a bathtub seat.

A hat with a fish skeleton.

A rear axle chicken that landed on a head.

Wire owls.

While making this statue, a local woman asked if they needed teeth.

She then donated her mother's dentures that were used to make the statue.

In the music room, a guitar neck wound over the staircase.

A local band played some wonderful Cuban music.

We got up and danced with a local woman who was so full of energy.

She and Darlene were talking about something.

A tile clown played the violin.

Susan visited with Charlie Chaplin.

While I introduced some modern art.

Caridad - a replica of the Cuban national
virgin made from recycled materials.

We then boarded our bus.

Both sides, too. My sister, Pat, and her friend Darleen sitting in front.

We then stopped at a local church.

Darleen is getting her fortune told by a Santeria priestess.

So is Susan.

Yes, Santeria priestess' do smoke cigars.

After crossing under the bay, we see a sign detailing the statue.

"El Cristo de La Habana" was built in 1958.
It is 65 feet tall and made of 77 pieces of Carrara Marble.
Each piece was made in Rome and blessed by the VII Pope.

Havana as viewed from the statue.

An interesting monument about the Civil Defense of Cuba.

Vendor booths lined the road at the fort with Havana in the background.

I loved this rolling bar with bottles of Havana Club Rum waiting to fill pineapples or coconuts.

My sister, Pat, with John Lennon.

My lovely wife, Susan, with John Lennon. 

She even wore her "Imagine" t-shirt for the occasion.

John Lennon

Cuba Trip - Day 2, Havana

Day 2 in Havana began with a walking tour of the Old Havana city where we went to several squares and visited some small shops. After a delicious Cuban lunch where we were serenaded by a local band, Medera Buena, we visited a women's art cooperative and then we did the Havana Club Rum tour.

 We get off the bus and pass through the entry gate into Old Havana.

Here is our wonderful Cuban tour guide Osmell

 telling us about the history of Old Havana.

He called us "Family", so we called him "Papi" (Cuban for Daddy) .

 Susan loves old doors...

...and John loves Susan.

Let's all take pictures of the peacock now. 

Roberta  admiring a cloak from Kuwait.

A small state-owned store.

Here is what they sold there. 

Do you want to buy a Cuban Guiro?

 Now where is that BIG bottle of wine!

In a local monastery, the skylight collects water...

...that flows down this pipe...

...behind this iron priest...

...and fills this underground water storage area.

A library of very old books fill this cross. 

Outside we were treated to a spontaneous parade of people in costumes.

 Then, a parade of stilt-walkers danced down the street...

...to the beat of the drums. 

The parade ended with a group of high-spirited girls and boys dancing like crazy!

This street, with the Cuban Capital at the end, was used to film several movies. 

Here is the original location of the famous Buena Vista Social Club.

A typical side street in Havana. 

Another lunch with music that had Papi, Marlys,
Darlene, Roberta and others dancing.

 Next was the Havana Club Rum tour. Oh boy!

 The colorful stained-glass windows...

...added color to the exhibits.

 A large model train layout showing the original Havana Club rum factory.

Everyone talks about Cuban cigars. Did you know they were this big? 

The Basilica y Convento de San Francisco.

Here is a few shots of some of the taxis we saw today.

Cuba Trip - Day 1, Havana

We're off on our second trip to Cuba. This time, we will be traveling across Cuba by bus with my sister, Pat, from Sacramento, California, our tour organizer, Paul, from Texas and fifteen others from the Sacramento area. We flew to Havana (a long 1 hour and 10 minute flight 😜) and waited at the airport for the California gang to arrive.

This was the Oversize Luggage claim area at the Havana airport. People (mainly Cubans) were bringing in large bundles of clothes, flat-screen TVs and other supplies that are not available in Cuba. I've never seen such large bags of stuff like this before.

We were picked up by our bus and our wonderful driver, German. The bus was new and very comfortable. This was our main means of transportation for the whole week.

On our way to the Hotel Vedado, where we stayed for 

the first four nights of our trip, was a nicely decorated wall.

We all went to dinner at the Hotel Presidente.

While waiting for our dinner, we had time to meet and get to know some of the group. Other than my sister, Pat, at the far left, and Darlene in the white blouse two seats down from Pat, we didn't know any one else there. They were all very nice people and we had a lot of fun with them. BTW, we just  had to include the beautiful chandeliers in this picture.

A large urn decorated the lobby outside of 

the restaurant in the Hotel Presidente.