Day 2 -- Havana

Before leaving the US, we were only able to book 4 nights in the hotel in Havana and we need 6 (the hotel was fully booked for the remaining 2) so in the morning we started inquiries about additional nights. Since our cards don’t work here, we thought we’d have to pay cash. Luckily, the travel agency Bo originally booked this hotel (Cuba Travel Network) was able to get us one night here and one night across the square. And they took credit card. After taking care of the accommodations, we embarked on a walk to the Cathedral. Somehow, we got off course and ended in a different part of the city, near Museo de la Revolucion. A nice young woman showed us the right way and walked with us. Bo chatted with her in Spanish. Her intentions were not quite pure, though because later he asked us for money (supposedly for milk for her kids). We walked to the beautiful Cathedral Plaza, then to the embankment. Saw a lot of old cars, got at least 5 offers of a city tour (two in a vintage car, two in a horse-drawn carriage, and one in a pedi-cab), bought a bottle of Cuban rum for $3.85 and heard a lot of music. The heat forced us to retire to our room for a siesta. Late afternoon we walked to Plaza Vieja, to talk to Alex from Cuba Travel Network about city tours. Plaza Vieja and surrounding streets, particularly Calle Mercaderes, is probably the prettiest part of Havana Vieja. It’s totally renovated, with lovely buildings, pedestrian streets with no potholes and attractive restaurants and stores. We needed more local currency but there is only one place to exchange money. The line was at least 30 long so Al waited while Bo explored. When Al got to number 2 he realized he did not have his passport. Fortunately, just then Bo showed up and was able to go into the bank and do the exchange. After a short stop at the hotel, we started walking towards the most popular coastal boulevard of the city, Malecon. On the way, we stopped for dinner at a home-cooking restaurant of Dona Blanquita. The place was nice and attractive, but the prices really surprised us because they were higher than in really posh restaurants. We got to Malecon in time for sunset. There were lots of people there, sitting, walking, watching the sunset, eating. When we couldn’t walk any more, we took a tuk tuk back to the hotel.