CUBA & MORE

There were two countries in this world that I never thought I would visit - India & Cuba. Earlier this year we toured India & we returned from a cruise to Cuba a couple days ago. Our Oceania Cruise Lines ten day excursion left Miami on November 30.

The Miami skyline at dusk just before the "Sirena" set sail. We heard it pronounced Sir-eh-nah, Serena (like the tennis player) & Si-rene-a. I have no idea which is correct.

It is one of our self-imposed rules to have a tropical drink as we sail off on another adventure!

The Oceania Sirena is the smallest ocean liner ship we have vacationed on with only 640 passengers. It is billed as a luxury ship & is the most upscale of our cruises this far. The service is amazing & the small crowds are far more civilized than the huge party ships - but both are fun!

The Grand Staircase. One of the things that impressed me most was there was not one photographer anywhere on the ship. That was refreshing! They have no formal nights either. Just good old-fashioned cruising.

We hit the ground running arriving in Havana the next day! Our first tour was titled "The Life of Hemingway."

As our ship approached the dock this was our first view of Old Havana.

Looking back at the entrance to the bay you can see the lighthouse at the tip of land on the right. That is one of the many fortresses protecting the city of Havana also on the right. You can click on any photo to enlarge it.

Our first stop was the home of U.S. author Ernest Hemingway. It was here that Hemingway wrote "For Whom the Bell Tolls"& "The Old Man & the Sea". Built in 1886, the house was purchased by Hemingway in 1940 for $12,500.

You are not allowed to enter the house but doors & windows are opened allowing great photo ops of all the rooms in the home. They are probably even better pictures since there are no tourists inside.

The story says that this is a tower which Hemingway's third of four wives insisted be built on the property to house the dogs on the first floor & an office on the third floor where her husband could write & smoke to his heart's content - outside the house..

As with any tour celebrating Ernest Hemingway, there had to be lots of alcohol. Neither of us are huge fans but our travels have taken us to his birthplace in Oak Park, Illinois, his home in Key West, Florida, & now Havana, as well as his grave site in Idaho.

Enroute to a couple of famous bars we stopped to purchase rum & cigars. This man Jose is a celebrated cigar roller. He is in the Guinness Book of Records for rolling the world's largest cigar!

La Bodeguita del Medio is Havana's most celebrated bar - made famous by "the rum swilling exploits of Ernest Hemingway" according to our tour description. It is basically a hole-in-the-wall that serves mojitos to tourists all day long. 

Of course, here I am enjoying my mojito, sort of.

Another of Hemingway's favorite haunts was El Floridito - according to Cuban legend the daiquiri was invented here in this bar in Havana soon after World War I. But it was Hemingway who popularized the drink.

This is another tourist bar which serves daiquiris to the tour patrons on a daily basis.

Here is Lou enjoying his daiquiri. I liked the daiquiris much better than the mojitos.

Cuba is famous for its 1940s & 1950s era classic cars. I learned some fascinating information regarding the cars. They are there because after the 1959 revolution, the U.S. imposed an embargo & no later model cars were shipped to Cuba to this day. They had only Russian cars & other small imports.

Now that tourism has opened up a little, the classic cars are a huge draw for island tours. Few people own cars but those who do can make a lot of money taking visitors on tours of the cities. Often times the cars have Russian engines in them & some are painted with house paint since auto paint is difficult to come by.

We signed up for a walking tour of Old Havana that evening since our ship stayed overnight & the next day our excursion explored the "Highlights of Old & New Havana."

Our tour this evening began with a meal at Sloppy Joe's which we didn't know about. We had already eaten dinner but that was good since in my opinion the Sloppy Joes at the Key West restaurant were much better. The tour then visited four plazas or squares in Old Havana which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. My night photos didn't come out that great.

The next day our bus tour included a visit to Christopher Columbus Cemetery. I can't remember the exact facts but this grave is supposed to bring good luck to anyone wishing for help. It started with women struggling to get pregnant. They would come walk around the grave & hopefully conceive. You can see women still circumventing the grave site in this photo although now the "wish" can include anything.

The view from a fortress guarding the entrance to the harbor across the water to Havana There are several forts surrounding Havana harbor, all with long names that are difficult to pronounce.

A few more tricked out old cars waiting to find a paying customer for a tour of the city.

Convertibles are really popular. They add a unique feel to the city.

This statue of Jesus Christ stands 65 feet tall, weighs 320 tons & is made of white Carrara marble. The monument was created by Jilma Madera & dedicated on Christmas Day 1958.

The view of Havana from the fortress across the bay.

The plaza across from our ship's pier. Our evening walk the day before ended here. 

This was the only cruise line I could find that stopped in three different cities in Cuba. I figured if we are going there I want to see as much as possible. Next up was Cienfuegos. While both Havana & Santiago were founded in the 1500s, it was 300 years later when Cienfuegos came into existence.

The Nuestra Senora De Jagua or Our Lady of Jagua, a limestone fortress about 45 minutes outside of the city center.

Me descending the treacherous spiral staircase with only a rope railing to the lower level of the fortress. My hip actually held up pretty good for most of the tours, step climbing & walking. It was sore a few times but not bad at all.

A statue of Jose Marti, the Cuban national hero, in a park named after him.

The Arch of Triumph is also in Jose Marti Park. The tree on the right is a Royal Palm, the national tree of Cuba. It is distinguished by the smooth bark on the trunk.

Cienfuegos has some of the fanciest homes in the country.There are only a handful of these mansions & most are restaurants or the Cuban equivalent of bed & breakfasts.

This beautiful former residence is now a restaurant where we were treated to lunch. Note the tennis court in front of the mansion. This is certainly different than most of Cuba.

The pool area adjacent to the restaurant where we ate lunch. These homes back up to the Caribbean Sea.

Our last port in Cuba was Santiago de Cuba on the island's southeast coast. Lou chose the "Birthplace of the Revolution" tour which included historical sites that shaped Cuba's history in the 1950s.

An average street in Santiago de Cuba taken from our bus window. Technically, according to the U.S. government we are only allowed on group tours from the cruise lines or tour companies. Going out on your own isn't allowed but we heard a ship's officer say, "The U.S. government doesn't allow their citizens to be on their own but Cuba isn't going to stop you & we aren't going to stop you." Pretty much everyone wandered around a bit.

I think this is the Santiago City Hall. The right of the middle three balconies with blue doors is where Fidel Castro declared that the reign of dictator, Fulgencio Batista, had ended & he was the new dictator. People seem to either love or hate Castro. From what I surmised he was at least a step up from the cruel, merciless Batista.

Not sure what this is but it was a beautiful building along the main square.

Yet another classic car waiting for a paying fare to explore the city.

San Juan Hill where a decisive battle was won during the Spanish-Cuban-American war. Cubans add "Cuban" to the title of the war we call the Spanish American War.

The Santa Ifigenia Cemetery, the final resting place of Marti & Castro among others important people. The graves are guarded by armed soldiers which are changed in a ceremony every half hour. The two cemeteries we visited were beautifully maintained & elaborate while most of the population live in shacks & rundown accommodations.

The grave of Fidel Castro is basically a big rock with simply "Fidel" written on it - no last name, date of birth or death. Notice the armed guard on the left of this photo. I mean, really, is that necessary? What are they going to steal?

Unfortunately, high seas prevented our tender boats from safely taking us to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Our crew scrambled to find a new location & substitute a few tours. We were on our way to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, where we had already visited so we just walked around for a hour before returning to our ship.

The view from our ship's deck of a couple hotels in Ocho Rios. We did the Dunn's River Falls trek about 15 years ago & didn't feel the need to shop.

The colorful vendor stalls look nice but I sure would like to be able to walk down a street without saying "no thank you" a couple hundred times when asked if I want a tour or some trinket. And if you even slow down they swarm you.

My sweetie with our ship in the background.

The final stop on our itinerary was a relaxing day on Great Stirrup Cay, a private island in the Bahamas. Lou rode a jet ski years before he met me & wanted to try it again. We signed up for the Wave Runner tour with me riding behind him kind of like a motorcycle on the water. Suffice it to say, there will soon be an in depth "Everyday Musings" blog post titled, "Never, Again!" - not the most pleasurable experience in my life.

The white sand beaches & aqua waters are gorgeous!

This guy was waiting patiently to greet us as we exited the tender & headed to the beach.

A dip in the Atlantic Ocean was appreciated by all.

Being born & raised in Northern California where putting your toes in the ocean can cause frostbite this water was comfortably wonderful.

That's Lou in the middle returning on his Wave Runner - AFTER the guide brought me back to solid ground halfway through this "adventure". Details soon.

Of course I have to share a few of my flower photos from Cuba & Jamaica. No captions are necessary, just some lovely flowers.