Little Havanna

Today we had a pre-booked tour in Little Havanna, the part of the city where most of excile Cubans live. The tour started with a cab drive of our now private chaffeur Jimi from Venezuela. He informed us politely, if we wanted to get out alive, not to shout live Fidel or mention Che Guevara at all. We met our guide, who also was a Venezuelan, who greeted us with coffee and pastry. The guide took us around for a long walk explaining a lot about several issues, from religion to cuban history and the excile cubans living in Miami.

There is one thing that really impresses me about this city, and that is street arts. So far I have not seen any ugly tagging, only real beautiful pieces of street arts. Our guide gave us an explanation about some of the important ones. Also in this area is the golden rule, no brush, only spray cans.

This part of the city is famous for its roosters. Our guide told us that they were repainted this year. Every one of them is painted by an artist. The rooster derives from a sacred madonna, taking the shape of a rooster after a certain event.

After our excursion we ended up in a Cuban restaurant for lunch. Even though I am from Norway, I’m in shock by the prices here. 100 dollars for a lunch for 2, well including a few drinks then, but who can withstand a real mojito or a frozen Margarita.

So, after another eventful day, we went back to the hotel, richer in memories, poorer in money. I ended up with 2 new Cuban shirts and a Panama hat, all encouraged by my bank (also known as the wife). Of course, I´m also bringing back home a few cigars.

I may go silent for some days now. Tomorrow we are heading downtown to embark on to the cruise ship. We will be without internet while on the ship.