Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine - August 2017

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During your stay you must take at least one classic car ride, but not for the first
trip. A classic 1950s Chevy or Ford will speed you into the city’s heart and the $20
to $25 fare split by four passengers is economical. The driver’s purpose will be to get
you there as quickly as possible and he probably won’t speak enough English to give
a proper tour.
course, bring some bottled water and your toilet tissue. The water in Havana didn’t
bother us, but it is convenient to carry some.
On Central Park’s west side are two hotels with shaded sidewalk tables, excellent
for watching the busy street. The Transtour bus will park directly across from the
Hotel Inglaterra, which usually has live music in the afternoon. The Hotel Telegrafo
has an excellent, reasonable menu and drinks. No one hurries you at either establishment.
More important, the Telegrafo has the best restrooms of any part of the
city. They are works of art and well worth using after a few libations.
Most of the hotels surrounding the park will exchange money. There are also a few
cambios and banks nearby. Opening and closing hours vary.
A Walking Tour
An easy walking tour of part of Old Havana can begin at Central Park. It would take
a week or more to see everything of interest, so take it easy. Exploring the old city is
not a mission, but a meandering. On the east side of the park between two newly
renovated buildings, soon to be more hotels, is a passage that leads to the beginning
Save some money. Isn’t that the cruiser’s creed? The marina hotel’s shuttle bus
(get a ticket in the lobby of Hotel Acuario) will drop you at Cecilia, the farthest point
of its route. The first bus trip was at 10 in the morning. There you can use the
ticket you got at the marina to transfer to a double-decker bus (watch out for lowhanging
branches) to Parque Central in Old Havana, or, to get a wider glimpse of the
expansive city of two million people, take the T-1 red-and-blue, Transtour/
HabanaBusTour. It costs 10 CUCs for an all-day ticket. This means you can get off
and, when you are ready, hail the next one with your ticket.
The tour from Cecilia winds through much of the city. The bus crosses Vedado —
the university-business district — to Revolutionary Plaza where you will see the fantastic
memorial to Jose Martí, the father of the Cuban revolutionary spirit. Heroes Che
Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos (a Fidel look-alike) adorn the fronts of the National
Police and Army buildings. (Also not to be missed is the Museum of the Revolution.)
Along the route are the sprawling central cemetery and the five-mile Malecón bordering
the sea with photogenic Fort El Morro in the distance. You’ll pass the drab
American Embassy, the Mafia’s drabber Riveria Hotel, and the beautiful 1930-vintage
Hotel Nacional. The final turn, almost near the mouth of the harbor on to Prado
Avenue will drop off at Parque Central (Central Park), the hub of Habana Vieja.
Central Park is surrounded by every mode of tourist transport available. Horsedrawn
carriages vie with classic cars for $50 tours. On the north side are egg-shaped
yellow “coco-taxis” powered by motorcycle engines and suitable for up to three passengers.
Ten CUCs gets you a one-way drop. Parked nearby are the three-wheeler
bicycle/rickshaws called “bici-taxis”. Everything is negotiable and the streets are
spotless and odorless. The carriage horses wear a unique diaper worth seeing.
No matter what transport you choose, expect to spend at least a few hours walking.
Wear comfortable clothes and a hat, as it is hot, and shoes that like your feet. Of
On the way to the historic quarter of Havana, with its Spanish colonial buildings,
you’ll pass contrasting architectural examples such as the Soviet-designed
Russian Embassy (left) and the 1950s modernist US Embassy
of Obispo Street. This is one of the main arteries of Old Havana. Follow it to the harbor
and the world is transformed into incredible fun with the Cuba tourist spirit.
At the park side of Obispo is a not-to-be-missed bar; see it on your way either to or
from the park, or probably both. Floridita is famous as the supposed birthplace of the
daiquiri. It seems that Ernest Hemingway inspired the “Papa” version of the drink by
requiring double rum and no sugar. The current version is memorialized in Floridita
with a bronze statue of Ernest sitting casually at a bar almost constantly packed with
tourists. The crowd and the continuous live music are part of the ambiance. Patience
and luck help you get a table. Dance when you can; no one cares about your style.
Follow Obispo and you’ll discover various shops: watch and phone repair; phone,
SIM, and internet card sales; post cards with stamps; myriad restaurants, bars, and
wandering music bands, and one of the government tourist centers. One restaurant
we liked was upstairs, where the food was even better than the excellent view of the
street and the small park opposite. Obispo has plenty of very polite hawkers for its
bars and restaurants. Polite is the key word. No one hassles you. Music and great
aromas of food seep from everywhere and a rum cocktail always beckons. Deep-fried
churros are thirst-makers and are very inexpensive.
My initial, pre-planned Cuba mission had stalled, as no deep-sea fishing was available
at the marina and baseball season was over. A new quest began: to find the best
mojito. After an extensive, almost crippling survey, the swank Iberostar Hotel on
Central Park was runner-up, as they added a few drops of Angostura Bitters. After
several tedious samplings, the Best Creation and Mojito Ambiance prize was awarded
to the lobby bar at the Hotel Ambos Mundos on Obispo. Again on the so-called
“Hemingway trail” (he had a room there once), there was no competition.
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AUGUST 2017 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 19
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