Day 6 -- Havana

We set out for our morning walk, but ended up taking an hour-long pedicab tour through south Havana (for $6). He took us to places we hadn’t been to before, which included the house of Jose Marti, the railways station, the bar Dos Hermanos where Hemingway, Errol Flynn and Marlon Brando used to drink (Not together), Buena Vista Social Club, and a Russian Orthodox church. There we chatted with a Russian woman originally from Belarus who also had some Polish roots. She’s been living in Havana for many years because she married a Cuban man who studied in Russia. At noon, we checked out and walked across the plaza to Hotel Inglaterra. It’s one of the oldest hotels in Havana – from the 1800s and sixty years ago it was 5 star. Today it’s a faded 4 star, a far cry from our previous hotel. We hired a taxi to take us to Hemingway’s estate in San Francisco de Paula. It is 20 minute ride but well worth it. It’s a beautiful airy house overlooking the whole city of Havana, with lovely grounds, a large swimming pool and a place where his boat “Pilar” is kept. Overall, the place is pretty well maintained considering the state of many other historical places, but it’s hard to get to. When we got back, we set out to buy the only thing we really wanted to buy – a set of bongos for Beckett. Bo wanted to buy blue ones, but they were hard to find. We found a set near Plaza Catedral. The guy wanted $25 for it, but Bo managed to bargain it down to $12. For dinner we decided to go to the Russian restaurant rather than chance an unknown. The meal was good, and we met a nice young woman who just graduated from college in Boston and was working in Havana for 2 weeks teaching photography. Her ambition is to become a photojournalist. She told us about a good restaurant (O’Reilly 304), but we have no time to go there since we’re leaving before lunch tomorrow.. Bo has been able to practice her Spanish and Russian in Havana.