December 18
Havana
[We have finished lunch and now it’s time for a walk around Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982 . . . ]
[San Francisco de Asis Square . . . ]
[Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis (or Havana Plaza de la Catedral) . . . ]
[The Basilica . . . ]
[Buildings in and around the plaza . . . ]
[The Basilica (or Cathedral of the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception, you may have noticed that’s the 3rd different name I’ve seen for the church?) . . . ]
[The Super on a photo op . . . ]
[Antonio Gades, a Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer, in the plaza. We had a lovely visit . . . ]
[Large cloth murals hanging in the plaza . . . ]
[I’m not sure . . . ]
[Must be a saxophone player?]
[The Super thinks so – and across the plaza one can see the cloth murals . . . ]
[JAWA? Is that from a Star Wars movie?]
[Ernest Hemingway lived here for 7 years in the 30’s, and made famous Room 511 where he began writing For Whom the Bell Tolls . . . ]
[If you stand in front of this sign to read it, you can look to your right a couple of blocks to find Hemingway’s favorite watering hole . . . ]
[Legs (yes, I did pass this by at first but went back for the artsy shot) . . . ]
[“The Father of the Nation,” initiated the rebellion against Spanish rule in 1868 . . . ]
[Plaza de Armas El Templete . . . ]
[It says so on this sign . . . ]
[And a closer upper view . . . ]
[Plaza de Armas Habana Vieja (appears to have been a military installation) . . . ]
[Where we were . . . ]
[The Vieja, just across the Bay of Havana from Morro Castle . . . ]
[And here’s the proof . . . ]
[Looking back into the plaza to Carlos Manuel de Cespedes . . . ]
[Or Mosque Abdallah . . . ]
[St. Francis de Assis . . . ]
[Dee introduces our group to a street singer . . . ]
[And asked her to perform for us (the Super grabbed the shot from the opposite side) . . . ]
[La Conversación]
[The Super sits for a chat with Frederic Chopin, the culmination of the celebrations in Cuba for the bicentenary of the birth of the Polish artist . . . ]
[Lonja del Comercio (former Stock Market) . . . ]
[Guess who?]
[Artists were handing me these on the plaza?]
[Fray Junipero Serra and Indian boy . . . ]
[Pull my finger! The Super with El Caballero de Paris . . . ]
[Bus 7, that’s us!]
[Hey, our outdoor fine dining again!]
[Museum of the Revolution looking down the boulevard . . . ]
[Street scene with a Swedish flag?]
[We’ve crossed under the bay to Morro Castle . . . ]
[And the view back toward the city . . . ]
[With the Capitol and construction cranes . . . ]
[It’s time for . . . tourists!]
[With crafts people and their wares . . . ]
[So the Super has to check it out . . . ]
[And our last views of the city . . . ]
[From here, we would be saying good-bye to Havana . . . ]
[Estadio Latinoamericano . . . ]
[Primarily a baseball field, capacity 55,000 . . . ]
[Looks pretty modern for a place built in 1946 and upgraded in 1971 . . . ]
[Hitchhiking is a major form of transportation in Cuba . . . ]
[On the road to the Bay of Pigs – take a right to Australia (yep) and then on to Playa Giron . . . ]
[The sun is setting . . . ]
[The bus pulled off on the side of the road so we could get our first look at the Bay of Pigs . . . ]
[Appears to be an unsuccessful restaurant?]
[Now leaving, Bus No. 7 . . . ]
[I’m not sure if this is Australia or the outskirts of Playa Giron?]
[We have arrived at the Bay of Pigs museum . . . ]
[Or Museo Giron . . . ]
[Some of us would be back here the next day, so this was just a quickie . . . ]
[Entry to the seashore . . . ]
[You gotta have a place for tourists . . . ]
[Because, among other things, we were all hustling down to the beach for sunset photos.]
[And sunset by smartphone . . . ]
[Think I got enough?]
[The Super getting ready to pack it in.]
[The hotel pool, obviously . . . ]
[This is not the end – we will be back here again tomorrow. Now for the ride “home” in the dark . . . ]
[After a long day, back to the boat (OK, this was a neighboring one).]
No one could have imagined a place like Havana, Cuba. It is absurdly contradictory, always arguing with itself over whether it is audacious or meek, heroic or stupid, beautiful or abhorrent. ~ Ed Kirwan, The Three Ravens
Up Next: More Panama
alexandriacardinals 
Gorgeous photos! Again, I felt like I was on a tour of Cuba with you. Thanks for sharing.