Friday 27 March 2009

In Cuba following the Steps of Frank Sinatra

After another breakfast which could have been of boiled bacon, chilli, yogurt and sprouts but wasn’t the hotel tour was what was planned for the morning. After meeting the elderly lady, who took the tour, at the appointed time in the lobby it was apparent it was inadvertently going to be slightly comical. She began by introducing herself and it was immediately apparent that what she thought was an excellent grasp of English must have been in her mind only as she had all of the right words but many in the wrong order and spoken very quickly with a strong Hispanic accent. This resulted in all four tourists on the tour having to try to lean closer to her to understand what was being said. Apparently the lady was a retired civil servant who enjoyed taking these tours to the extent that she did it for free. As a civil servant she was loyal to Castro’s regime and had worked in the bunkers that could be found below the sea front side of the hotel’s gardens.

Much of the history was very interesting, particularly the number of celebrities that had stayed at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba over the years and we visited numerous floors and various rooms in which the celebrities stayed. These ranged from Nat King Cole to Winston Churchill to Robert Plant to Frank Sinatra and many, many more, all of whom have their photographs on the wall of the small bar on the side of the hotel near the Tarzan Pool (so named as a result of it being the pool used by Johnny Weissmuller when he visited and swam in the pool with Cheetah the monkey, as the tour guide said).

The Frank Sinatra story was of particular interest in that he happened to visit the hotel at the same time as the Mafia had their annual get-together. They took over the whole of the second floor which is the floor with the balcony all around the hotel and it just so happened that Frank Sinatra was booked into the suite which was within spitting distance of the main meeting room for the Mafia.

As said, it was a very interesting tour but also quite comical as everyone strained to understand what was being said particularly as the ending of sentences seem to trail off into whispers, but the guide was very knowledgeable and thoroughly enjoyed what she was doing despite having done the same thing possibly hundreds of times.

As the tour ended it felt only right to go to the verandah bar for more cocktails, the Mojito and Pina Colada being favourites, this followed by a light lunch and then a casual stroll around the parts of Havana surrounding the hotel. Despite being told by numerous people that Cuba is one of the safest countries in the world it is a most uncomfortable feeling when being stared at by groups of rough looking Cubans at every corner. However, as the day was absolutely scorching the tour was a short one as the hotel pool was calling.

The evening meal consisted of black beans and rice and a Cuban band playing the standard types of music heard in all restaurants and bars. Then back to the verandah for more cocktails! One of the more obvious other attractions was the number of very attractive young girls, most of which must have been in their mid to late teens. What was initially thought strange was that these girls were with much older men, most of whom, in fact could have been their grand-parents. After watching them for some time it was obvious the liaisons were all part of the oldest profession, yes, despite Cuba wanting to give the impression it was a morally fine place prostitution was rife and in the Hotel Nacional de Cuba. So off to bed and unlike some, a good night’s sleep as tomorrow a trip to Vinales and more photographs and a video.

Wednesday 18 March 2009

On Tour With Robert Plant In Havana

A beautifully warm and sunny day greeted everyone on boarding the bus for the guided tour of Havana. The journey itself was an education, again seeing the different types and quality of buildings, cars and the Cuban people going about their daily business. Not all of the cars driven by Cubans are as classy as might be imagined!

After a short drive the bus stopped in one of Havana’s suburbs, the name of which escapes me, but which was home to one of the several rum factories in the area. To see a small factory producing such a class product is quite something, the workers seemed very proud of what they did and rightly so as the free samples offered proved. This sort of small-scale, high quality, industry would have been seen in the UK before the big businesses took them all over and it seems a shame that we have lost these.

Most people on the trip bought souvenirs and at the equivalent cost of just over a £1 for a bottle of rum (or Ron as the Cubans know it), of which there were many varieties, so those ready to move on waited on the balcony at the front of the factory. Despite it being very humid and comfortable enough for shorts and t-shirts small wet spots began appearing on the road, the origin of these spots becoming suddenly apparent when the heavens opened and the first of many tropical storms were experienced. A damp stroll back to the bus for the next stage in the journey was then undertaken and no sooner underway the sun returned.

Next stop was Revolution Square around which many government buildings exist including that occupied by Che Guevara when he was Finance Minister. (For further information on these click on the links). The square also is the location where many major parades and other events take place and should they take place on a day like when we visited it is difficult to believe that anyone could remain there for any length of time as it was absolutely scorching hot.

Getting back on the bus again, next stop was the Havana Fortress which protected the harbour from invaders from the North. From the Fortress there were great views of Havana including the Hotel and also grey clouds gathering in the distance which seemed to be heading towards the Fortress. Loud cracks of thunder together with flashes of lightning accompanied the clouds and it was clear the bus was the next stop.

As the rain began and got heavier and heavier it became apparent that any further sight-seeing was going to be impossible unless a soaking was deemed acceptable. So, we skipped the museum of the revolution to head back early to the hotel, the journey was again entertaining watching the Cuban children running about in the rain and laying in the huge puddles that soon appeared.


Arriving back at the hotel early another people-watching session in the garden enjoying a Mojito or three before tea was what was called for and on wandering down to the restaurant for a buffet tea, strangely with a similar selection of goodies as were available for breakfast awaited us and as I studied the pictures on the wall of the stairway on the way there. It seems that the hotel has had a great number of celebrities visit in the past.


Well I thought that if it was good enough for Robert Plant then it was certainly good enough for me!


More about Havana and celebrity next time and hopefully a couple of video's as well and once the Cuban adventure ends there may well be more on other issues including some political comment. Lucky you!

Friday 6 March 2009

More From Havana

From what has been a particularly miserable winter it’s easy to reminisce about the two weeks spent in Cuba last summer, the heat, the cultural contrast, the distance from home and the ease with which I could switch off from all of the “wonders” of modern Britain.

The room in the hotel was as might be expected from what we had experienced of the hotel so far. It was bright and airy, basic but very comfortable and had fantastic views of the hotel grounds and the area around the hotel and the sea.




On what was left of the first day we had a wander in the gardens of the hotel, walking to the flagpole and looking at the Cuban life going on around the area and spending time sitting on the terrace people watching and drinking cocktails. As darkness crept in we went for our first meal which was as quick and easy as we could make it as the journey was catching up on us. A burger and beer in the American style diner, a very peculiar situation considering the hatred Cuba has of it’s neighbour just 90 miles away. To finish off the evening it was a moonlight stroll in the hotel grounds to see what we could of the Cuban nightlife. There were many cars cruising up and down the Malecon, the main coastal road in Havana and a multitude of locals sitting on the sea wall to socialise, chat and play music. A final cocktail before turning in for what might be a restless night now the body clock had been interrupted.

Next day was a Monday and waking early I thought taking a video of what could be seen from the hotel window would help kill time as breakfast would be an hour or so away. The buffet breakfast was interesting as there seemed to be as wide a range of food as was possible for breakfast including sprouts and carrots, chilli, eggs, very fatty bacon, pancakes, fruit and so on. I decided to pass on the sprouts. Once full a walk around Havana was planned, checking out the Malecon first. Once outside the hotel the many styles of architecture found in Havana were quite evident ranging from the classier buildings built prior to the revolution to the more ramshackle affairs built since. Apparently due to the lack of attention to their building stock Havana sees the collapse of 200 buildings every year!

Crossing the wide roads was a doddle as there is plenty of road available for the traffic to run on it but the first encounter with “street entertainers” was found on the other side. Two young Habanero’s, one with a guitar, the other with maraca’s began performing following the route taken until I gave them a couple of coins. Lesson learnt – avoid people loitering with musical instruments! Half a mile along the road to the west was another intriguing sight, I was going to cross back over the road to investigate further but this move invited some interest from the armed guards which were in evidence.

What had interested me was a square in which there must have been around 100 flag poles all flying black flags, each with a white star on. I later learnt that the building being guarded was the U.S. Interests Section (USINT) representing American citizens and the U.S. Government in Cuba and operates under the legal protection of the Swiss government. The armed guards were Cuban police who were there to restrict access to the Interests Section. The flags in the square opposite were erected in 2006 by Castro to obstruct a display board at USINT which showed ticker tape news on human rights issues and each apparently represents a Cuban who had died as a result of the U.S. foreign policy in Cuba.

Anyway back to the hotel for a quick lunch and then on the bus for a trip around Havana, but more on that next time. If you want to see more photo's then join me on Facebook.