Havana
Friday, March 13, 2020
We had planned to get an early start and spend the day checking out El Capitilio (the National Capitol Building) and old Havana. However, Natalie awoke to some sort of illness in the middle of the night that had her vomiting and gave her stomach issues through the morning (none of which are fun when traveling and even less fun when you’re dealing with water restrictions), so we headed out a little later than planned. Our normal mode of transportation when traveling is walking as much as possible, but we ended up taking a cab for $10. Thankfully, we did because it was a further walk than we thought.
El Capitilio was finished in 1929 at a cost of $17 million US dollars and resembles the US Capitol Building. However, it’s 1 meter taller, wider, and longer. We enjoyed some shade that the dome provided in the gardens for about ten minutes, but loitering is not allowed on the grounds due to the National Assembly inside, so the armed guards politely shooed us away when they were done with their conversation.
Beside the Capitol Building is the Great Theatre of Havana and across the street is Parque Central, which contains another statue of José Martí and is surrounded by classic cars. We’d been wanting to go on a classic car ride and we were approached by Ricardo Acosta, with his laminated info sheet on his 1954 Ford Victoria that stated it would cost $100 for an hour and showed the route he would drive us on. Natalie was told before our trip that a good price depending on the condition of the car could range from $25-35 for one of these rides. Seeing the $100 we laughed and said, “No, thank you. We’re not paying that.” He asked how much we’d be willing to pay, but we didn’t want to offend with a number and decided to walk away. He immediately negotiated against himself and said $40. With him immediately coming down that far and having seen the beautiful red and white convertible he drove, we didn’t want to press on the $5, so we agreed and he led us to the car. It was beautifully restored. The only modern feature was a CD player added under the dash. The first track on the CD? “Havana” by Camila Cabello, of course. He was a jovial guy and had a great sense of humor. As we drove through Chinatown, he laughingly remarked that it was the only Chinatown in the world with no Chinese people in it. Anytime other classic cars would pull up beside us in another lane, he’d honk his horn proudly, shout spanish obscenities (and flash a matching middle-finger) at the other drivers, challenge them to races, and speed away while laughing. Seeing the city in a convertible classic car is a certainly must-do while in Cuba! It’s on everyone’s to-do list for a reason. One thing kept going through our minds while we were riding around: This place must have been so incredibly beautiful to experience in its heyday from the 1920s to the 1960s! Now, it seems, the only beauty that remains is in the Cuban people themselves.
During the ride we stopped at a light and there was a group of about 50 people outside a door that seemed to be a small restaurant. The driver asked someone sitting in the median at the light what people were waiting for and he replied “pollo,” which shocked us both. All of these people, including security guards limiting people walking in, were waiting for fried chicken!
After the ride, Natalie’s stomach was still feeling topsy-turvy, so she laid down on a bench in Parque Central while Kevin snapped a few pictures in the area. Then, we headed back to the apartment in order for her to rest up and hopefully be recovered enough for our dinner reservation at La Guarida. She knew Kevin was looking forward to eating there and mustered up the resolve to go. She warned him she’d only be having rice and sparkling water, however.
The building La Guarida occupies is also an apartment building from the early 20th century. The lower two floors still house residents and the third floor contains the restaurant. There is no elevator, so you must take the stairs, which are gorgeous. We took some obligatory photos on the grand staircase leading to the restaurant’s entrance. You can’t come here and not. We were seated on one of the balconies overlooking the Central Havana neighborhood and were entrained by a chicken and two dogs wandering around a roof. The dogs eventually sat on the corner edge of the roof, perched like two gargoyles watching over the city. Natalie ordered her sparkling water and rice. Kevin had mojito number twelve of the trip to start along with some fried malanga as an appetizer. One of the chef’s specials was lobster tail with mushroom risotto. Kevin has a hard time turning down lobster tail, especially at the prices in Cuba, so he ordered that for his main course. Between the appetizer and main course, Natalie laid her head on the table, which Kevin thought was odd. Turns out she momentarily passed out!! Thankfully, she was okay, but the combination of the Havana heat, dehydration and her stomach issues had taken its toll. Getting some food and water in her definitely helped her recover. When the main course came out, we couldn’t believe our eyes. It wasn’t just one lobster tail, it was three!! Three lobster tails and mushroom risotto for $22!! The meal was delicious and we highly recommend the restaurant if you’re ever in Havana. Just be sure to make reservations. A couple tried to come in as we were leaving and couldn’t get a table because they didn’t have one. Natalie still wasn’t feeling well enough to do any further exploring, so we took a taxi back to the apartment and called it a night.
Oddly enough, on the cellphone we were given, Natalie missed a call from our hometown area code. Seeing how the call came in gave Natalie a better understanding of how to call outside the country since Whatsapp wasn’t working on the phone we were loaned. She tried calling her mom, who apparently tried reaching out that day in a panic to find out how we were, as there was mass chaos happening at home. Up until this point we had no way to have any sort of communication with anyone for the duration of the trip. Natalie’s mom burst into tears upon hearing her voice, so grateful to hear we were okay. It turned out that while we’d been gone, the coronavirus epidemic took off in full force and the USA was in a panic. There was concern we wouldn’t even be allowed back in the country when we landed. Kevin’s dad and stepmom were the next call and they relayed similar news and concern. A small amount of worry about our travels home inched its way into the back of our minds. We’d been in a whole different world with no worries, no television, no phone or any form of contact and it felt great! Reality had to sneak up on us at some point.