Off to Havana

A nasty cold front made our plan to spend a few days with Kathy's sister in Varadero seem a poor idea so we headed to Havana instead. We spent three coolish days wandering the streets of Havana Vieja, sitting in cafes, listening to music and soaking up the atmosphere of the city.  We stayed in a high rise apartment casa in the Vedado neighbourhood, guests of a lovely woman of about our age. We were about a block from the Malecon, the sea wall that stretches from old Havana to west of Vedado.

Along the Malecon in Vedado - the Hotel National is in the distance

The old American cars used as taxis in Havana seemed in a bit better repair than some of the ones we saw in other places.   Lots of convertibles for the tourists to ride in.

In the Plaza de Armes where the used book sellers set up their wares every day

A beautifully restored pharmacy museum in Old Havana

A typical street in old Havana, buildings in many different states of repair and all being lived in, people going about their daily lives

A restaurant in a building that formerly housed a newspaper press

La Imprenta is filled with presses and letter art decor and furniture, like this wine rack

We came upon this group of street performers who were entertaining the Sunday afternoon crowds of tourists and Cubanos

A quiet late afternoon moment in a cafe on the Plaza Vieja

Taxis waiting for passengers along the Malecon

We ate at Paladar Doña Eutimia, where the menus were printed in the Taller Experimental de Gráfica, next door

Limousine, Cuban style

Along the Prado, a street that runs from the Capitol Building to the Malecon.  Artists set up their wares for sale on this pedestrian boulevard between the two lanes of traffic.

Some of the art for sale

A group of women were making and selling bobbin lace and we saw a children's art class being conducted by some of the artists 

Taxis waiting between the Capitol Building and the Gran Theatro de la Habana

A band playing in the crowded Bodeguita del Medio, one of the very popular small bars that was frequented by Ernest Hemingway

In the Plaza Vieja this man was making churros - a stick shaped donut that is sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon 

We had a nice chat with this young artist, who shared a space with two other artists

Che Guevara, widely considered a hero in Cuba, is pictured everywhere.  You can't walk a block in Havana without seeing his image on something - walls, t-shirts, number stickers.  This picture is on the side of the Cruise Ship Terminal. It also graces the cover of the most recent Lonely Planet guide to Cuba.

Cuba - the City of Trinidad

Our first destination for 2014 was to Cuba where we spent 3 weeks traveling in the east central part of the island.  This post will focus on the historic city of Trinidad, near the south coast.

We stayed in a casa particulare, the home of a Cuban family which is licensed to receive guests.  The rates for casa particulars is set by the government and is usually between 20 and 35 convertible pesos (one convertible peso is about the equivalent of $1.00 US) not including meals.  This casa belongs to our Canadian friend Carol Olson and her Cuban husband Chichi Martinez.

Breakfast area at Casa Almara

The entrance gate to Casa Almara

One of the guest seating areas on the second floor -
We could usually get a nice breeze here during the hottest part of the day

The second guest seating area which was lovely in the morning

The breakfast area and the banana garden

Casa Almara is near the Mercado, however, besides the mercado there are myriad places to purchase fruit and vegetables, some are carts on the street and others are small rooms in the front of a building.

Carol buying fruit from a street fruit wagon.

Shopping with Carol from a vendor near the Casa Almara

In the Plaza Mayor in Trinidad, the main square in the old part of the city.

The streets in the old part of Trinidad are cobblestone and a bit uneven for walking.  Many of the houses are brightly painted and we spent a couple of late afternoons wandering through the old part of the city taking advantage of the light as the sun moved low in the sky.

And the streets have their local characters, like these fellows who hailed us as we went by and shared a joke, then posed for a picture.

This woman was picking the grit out of her rice before cooking it for dinner.  This is a common task for women in the late afternoon, as the rice often has small stones and other grit from the harvesting process.  Beans also need to be picked through before they are cooked.

We often saw people sitting outside their homes or in a public place making music

We also spent some time in the Casa de la Trova, where traditional Cuban music is performed from about noon until the wee hours of the morning.  This group was playing one afternoon when we stopped in for a shady rest and a cold drink.

Trinidad is about 18 km from the ocean and along the coast there are a few decent snorkelling  sites.  We stopped at one for an hour or so on our way to the beach.

Enjoying the shade and a refreshing young coconut after snorkelling

At Ancon Beach soaking up a few rays (with plenty of sunscreen to protect us)

Music is everywhere in Cuba.  Kathy took some drumming lessons from David Lopez Garabito, who has been to Regina numerous times with other Cuban musicians.

It was Trinidad's 500th birthday the week we arrived and there were celebrations all week, including a street fair with food vendors lined up for many blocks selling different foods.  Our favourites were the roasted pork sandwiches, the corn fritters and the guarapo (cane juice with lemon).

One of the pork bun sellers

Evanna buying a glass of guarapo--muy fresco! The machine makes shaved ice from a block.

More Birds and Other Creatures from April 2013

We have so many great bird photos from Southern Texas we want to share a few more before we move on to our 2014 travels.

Black-Throated Sparrow

North of Corpus Christi, Texas is the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and Goose Island State Park. We saw many birds there including the Whooping Cranes that migrate through Saskatchewan on their way to nesting grounds in Wood Buffalo National Park.

Great Blue Heron

Whooping Crane parent and juvenile

Brown Pelicans

Snowy Egret and Roseate Spoonbill

Reddish Egret

Other creatures in that area:

Alligator

Racoon

Squirrel

Armadillo

Just south-east of Corpus Christi is the Mustang Island State Park and Padre Island National Seashore where we saw the birds in next group of photos.

Long-billed Curlew

Redhead Ducks

American White Pelicans

Laughing Gulls and one American White Pelican

Brown Pelicans

Pied-billed Grebe

Tri-colored Heron

This alligator caught a white-haired Evanna bird

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Louisiana Waterthrush

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Cattle Egrets

Hooded Warbler

Long-billed Thrasher, which we saw at Atascosa NWR