Oh! The Places I'll Go...: Havana/Habana

I woke up and headed into the dining room which was just outside my room. The table was all set but nobody was there, so I didn't really know what to do with myself. A lady stood outside the front door, on the street but didn't come in when she saw me so I busied myself looking at the artwork until other guests started to appear and breakfast was served. It turns out the other 4 guests had just finished their tour with the same company and they said it was great! Thank goodness. Unfortunately, they also told me that there is no such thing as free wifi in Cuba. You need to buy a wifi card and then find a wifi hotspot. OMG. My dad was probably panicking. Cuba, of course, is also on the list of exceptions for my ability to get a phone plan. What a bummer. I felt so disoriented and disorganized since I usually rely on Google to figure things out. I had been so busy with house stuff the last few weeks that I hadn't really looked into Havana. Plus with the doozy of a travel day I'd had, I just wasn't feeling myself. The girls were so nice and over a plate of fruit, eggs cooked my way, buns, juice, and tea, they told me all their best tips. They gave me a map and one of the girls even took me out and tried to help me find a proper map and a wifi card, before sending me in the right direction to get them. I walked along a boardwalk next to the water and enjoyed the view, and tried not to think about how hot it was.

One of the girls recommended the hop off, hop on bus tour and I decided that might be just what I needed today. I found the place and bought a ticket. I decided to do the loop before figuring out what to do. For 2 hours, in the hot sun, I enjoyed the sights of Havana.

As we headed back, I got off at Parque Central where I knew there was wifi. I headed into one of the fancy hotels and purchased 2, 1 hour wifi cards and then enjoyed a break in the air conditioned lobby. After 30 minutes, I decided to head out and find some food. I wasn't actually very hungry, with the heat and all, but knew I should eat something. After wandering around for a little while, I finally found a small local pizza place. I got a piping hot, individual sized pizza to go. Wandering around, I munched in the shade of a square.

Some pictures from my wanderings....

I didn't want to go back to the casa until I was done for the day as it was a bit out of the way. I decided to go back on the bus tour as there was a pretty sculpture I really wanted a picture of and then I figured I'd use the wifi before heading in for the night.

Apparently motorbikes use buses in Havana? (Update: bicycles, motorbikes, and pedestrians aren't allowed in the tunnel in Havana so they have a bus just for motorbikes)

The hot sun was so intense that once I got the picture of the sculpture I headed below to get out of the heat. My plan had been to get off and go back to the start with a different bus, but I was on the last bus of the day, so it seemed I'd have to get off and walk or stay on. It was too hot outside to do much more walking. While the inside of the bus was hot, there wasn't the blazing sun beating down on me the whole time. Beside the open window, I got a bit of a breeze. I had only slept about 5 hours so I was pretty tired, and could feel myself nodding off. The lady had said it would be a 1 hour bus ride, but it turned into 2. I was extremely groggy by the time I got back to the square near my casa. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite ready to go back as I knew I'd need to eat dinner first. I wandered around and finally chose a nice spot. There was live music and something about the place called me in. I didn't feel that hungry but knew I had to eat so ordered the stewed beef with veggies that is common in Cuba. It came with rice and sweet potatoe, and was delicious.

My menus!