Today, Sunday, starts poorly again and after breakfast some of us decide to head early into the cathedral for mass and three of us decide to walk into the old town and meet the others in a cafe there at 1pm. It took us 3 hours to stroll in but we are taking it slowly and photographing as we go.
I have to admit to not knowing an awful lot about Cuba before I went, and I am looking forward to learning about here, but for quite some time I’ve wanted to go and see Cuba. I wanted to see this place that appeared to be locked in time, colourful, vibrant and with people who enjoyed the simple things in life. I felt that a lot of this would change in the coming years and that this was the time to see it. When it is said that Havana is locked in a time warp you might think that it is stuck in the 50's & 60's and that nothing has changed and that it is as pristone and majestic as the time when the clocl stopped. But that is not the case, the clock has stopped alright but since then it has been steadily crumbling, it reminds me of the time sequence in the film the "Time Machine" where he goes forward in time and all the buildings age and crumble about him. You can still imagine how majestic many of the buildings once were. But it amazes me how people live and survive in buildings that appear to be falling about them. Though everyone still look, well fed, clean and happy if not very well off.
After our long and fascinating walk we get to the cafe bang on 1.00pm and have a coffee and listen to a small Cuban band. We lunch in a local cafe and then walk around the town to take more photos. the weather is fine for photos and we are getting into taking photos and asking people if they mind us shooting them. Most don't mind and some look for a peso.
We arrive back at hotel for 5pm and to rest before meeting Ramses at 7pm.
We have a great evening with Ramses who gives us plenty of advice and suggests a great itinerary for a two day trip to Trinidad de Cuba. The food here is much better than we expect but then Ramses knows all the best places to go.