La Habana

I felt a lot of tension--but with a God-given calm, unusual for me, as we flew to La Habana. Such a short distance from Cancún and such a sharp contrast! As we flew in, the roads looked deserted compared to any other capital city in the world, the traffic is desperately light and the overwhelming majority of cars on the road are ancient.

We were met by a Christian brother from the Baptist convention. What an oasis to have an hermano there-so sweet and hospitable! We felt a bit over-the-barrel with the taxi driver because he wasn't happy about going to old La Habana, and even had to stop and ask another driver about the best way to get there. He ended up dropping us off at a plaza because our hotel was on a promenade closed to cars. The plaza had horses and carriages sitting around. We discovered that they are not just a tourist attraction, but actually used for transportation by the general population! We hauled our bags over cobblestones-a block or so-over horse droppings and other stuff! Those wheels are such a blessing!

The doors going into the old colonial home-turned-hotel were massive – at least 20 feetl high – the botón (porter) led us through a warren of passageways and stairs to our room. It was HOT and we didn't expect air conditioning.

I was struck by the fact that there were pots everywhere filled with plants – no grass or anything-but the hotel was a bower in it's courtyards. At the back of the third floor-probably an attached house- we think they combined two homes-the botón stopped at a narrow, double blue door 12 feet tall and opened it into a room caught in time. There was a sink on the right with an old piec of furniture holding it up and a marble counter, a framed antique mirror about 6 feet tall over the sink, simple chairs-an old cabinet, on top of which sat a TV. Another set of 12 foot tall doors inset in the 2-3 foot thick wall that opened onto a balcony about a foot deep – just enough to poke your head out. To the right one block was the bay, and to the left, old La Habana. Straight down were families living their lives with open doors and windows on the floors below and just across the narrow cobblestone street.

We did have air in the bedroom of the suite and we loved the massive wardrobe, the wooden structure that was built over the air conditioner, etc...

We changed and began to wander through old La Habana. There was a thunderstorm threatening but, even though I carried my little umbrella, we never got rained on. We walked down to the water and along the water front. The city felt like something from the colonial era. We saw joy in three little vignettes--a father rolling on a tiny patch of grass by the sidewalk, wrestling with his kids while the mom sat on a wall, nursing a baby and enjoying the scene of family interaction; a black family of four, mom and daughters in shower caps down in a tide pool being together. Theywere oblivious to everything around them, seeming to simply wallow in being together in that small hole in the rock--just them.

The other was a political fountain brooded over by some famous leader and two dark horses. Children splashed in the water, tourists climbed the horses and took pictures of each other. Parents watched from the dry ground. There was a little plaza surrounding the fountain and two ladies were jogging around it. One smiled at me!

We had to go back to the hotel because I had worn a blister in my foot. Every thing was way expensive on the hotel menu. That surprised us. The paella we ordered for dinner was the least costly and I was disappointed because the rice was crunchy, not soft, but the flavor was good. I was very thirsty and had to get over feeling guilty about needing more to drink.