Havana

So, now that I'm off a) my high horse and b) no longer under the influence of copius amounts of cold medicine...lets get to the fun stuff.

First impressions of Havana. Wow.  Yes, much different than US and rest of Caribbean. A beautiful city that has become 'shabby chic' for lack of a better word.

One of the oldest cities of the New World you can see by its architecture the Spanish influence.

It appears that last time any major infrastructure work has been done (major roads/tunnels/etc) is when Americans where there.  Since then, the city has been fighting a losing battle in upkeep.
There was a brief stint with the Soviets, but after the Iron Curtain fell, Cuba got kicked to the curb by Russia.  

As I mentioned before, you have to be very aware of where you are walking.  There could be a waterline project started in the sidewalk in front of you and as our guide said: It could be finished in 2 months or 20 years, who knows?  In the meantime, there will be a gaping hole in the walkway with NO barricades and NO warning sides or covers.

Another thing I noticed, and not something that particularly bugs me, but no matter how nice the establishment, women's restrooms had NO toilet seats. I mentioned the attendants being there with toilet paper and to help (plumbing is a bit touchy, more so than the gazillion other Caribbean islands I've been to).  So, carrying toilet paper is a must, and if you are particular freaked out, have some hand sanitizer.  I never felt the bathrooms were nasty, just no toilet seats.

That being said, more money from China has been coming in and some older buildings are being converted to hotels.

I've explained more in the captions below.

Gutted out building that is being converted to hotel rooms.

Beautiful architecture.

The lower balcony is carved with dragons.  (A little bit hard to see)
You can see the decay on the buildings.

The cathedral of Havana--opened in 1777.
Building of the cathedral started in 1748.

Suburbs of Havana.  One of the many shells of former houses.

Sign about the 58th Anniversary of the Revolution.

Hullo, John.
There is a little old lady that is responsible for John's glasses (they kept getting stolen)
So when tourists comes up, she runs up to put his glasses on.  She was very cute.

By his feet in the concrete is a Spanish translation of a lyric from Imagine.

The United States Embassy.  Crap building but great view of the water.

Forest of flagpoles.  The story goes that even though we didn't have diplomatic staff in the Embassy, we still had the lease of the building.  So, Pres. George W. Bush had a ticker installed a ticker style electronic billboard with messages to the Cuban people.  Well, that pissed off the Castro regime so they installed the flagpoles (with flags at the time) to block people from seeing the ticker.  The ticker was removed during the Obama administration and when Obama visited the island it was viewed nationwide in Cuba.

The capitol building.

The government complex.  This was shut down while we were there because they were getting
ready for the Anniversary celebrations.

The famous Hotel Nacional.  Lots of history there including the 'mobster era'.

Whassup, Vlad!
In the bar at the Hotel Nacional.
Not something you'd find in the USA. ;-)

Our taxi for our tour of Havana.

Hey, 92 miles THAT way is my BOAT!

One of the more run down buildings. I think its literally being held together by the plantings.
Even though some buildings are labeled condemned, people still live in them.
We were told that after a heavy rainstorm, sometimes the buildings will collapse because of the deterioration, oftentimes killing the squatters living there. Sad.

Walking down the Paseo del Prado.
Local artists set up on the sides and there are paladares to grab a bite to eat.