Havana, A Tale Told in Pictures
Posted on May 10, 2007
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This was Havana. It was basically the first sight (and site) that I saw in the city. San Francisco Square, the first of four squares in Old Havana. The other squares, I don’t remember the names of, to be honest, but they were equally impressive. Being in the old quarter of Havana brought to mind images of European cities–places with an age we don’t see here in Canada.
Something about that kind of architectural history appeals to me. Perhaps it’s because there is so little of it in Edmonton. We never had anything as old as Havana or Europe, but much of what we did have was torn down and replaced with large, ugly-but-functional boxes in the ’80s.
It’s a shameful part of our city’s past, and I sometimes wish it hadn’t happened. I suppose I can be thankful, in an odd way, that I was too young to remember what they took down in that decade.
In one of the my more artistic moments, I caught this shot of San Francisco (Saint Francis of Assisi), for whom the Square was named. I’m not sure what the deal is with the little boy in the loincloth, but I still think it’s a cool picture. Religious iconography with a beam of light from above–what’s not to love?
This guy is the Gentleman of Paris. He was a basically a crazy person who roamed Havana in the colonial era. He was much beloved, though, and a statue was erected in his honour. It’s considered good luck to touch his hand a rub his beard, which is why those parts of the statue look so worn compared to the rest.
We headed through the city, following the crowded streets between squares, and learning about the history of Havana. Get me drunk on Cuban rum and I’ll tell you more about it sometime.
I don’t have pictures of all the squares, it seems. But, in at least two of them, there were banners wishing Fidel Castro another 80 years. They appeared to be hand painted, but clearly weren’t, since they were all identical. I suppose it was supposed to look like spontaneous celebration of the man by his people. I doubt that was the case.
Having said that, there are a great number of people who truly love Fidel. There are also a number of people who will openly tell tourists such as myself that Fidel doesn’t really do anything and, in fact, no one really knows who is running the country right now. It’s not the Castros, apparently, and the elected government is a joke (from what I was told). Despite this, the people get by, and do as well as they can in a relatively poor country.
This is a very large church (cathedral?). That’s really all I can say about it. There were some very cool tapestries inside but, even with the flash, it was too dark, and those pictures didn’t turn out. I will say that I was probably the only person who didn’t sprinkle himself with holy water as he entered the church.
I wish I had more to say about this picture–or pictures of the inside of the church–but unfortunately, I don’t remember the history of the building. It was hot, and I had left my bottle of water on the bus, okay?
After visiting the four historic squares of Old Havana, we went to the rum and cigar shop. I don’t have any pictures, because I was busy arguing with the saleswoman, who wouldn’t sell me Monte Cristo No. 4’s, because they 5’s were already open and: “they are the same, only the size is different!”
Technically, this is true, but it’s the difference in length and ring gauge that cause them to burn differently. Even if it’s the same blend of tobacco, the way it burns does affect the taste. It turns out that the No. 5’s are excellent cigars, though, so I can’t really complain.
I also picked up a couple of bottles of Havana Club rum (one in Havana, and another later back at the resort).
Of course, none of this has anything to do with the picture above. That picture is from the oldest graveyard in Havana. It is no longer an active burial ground, and serves mostly as a tourist attraction. All of the marble is Cuban marble, and there is a lot of marble in the graveyard.
The woman in the monument pictured above is said to have lost her husband, but miraculously had his child. That’s probably wrong. I’m probably butchering the story. But, regardless, people in Cuba now come and give pray to her and give thanks when they have a healthy child born. There were a great number of “donations” surrounding the monument. Unfortunately, the picture I took of them seems to have been mistakenly deleted.
In the early days of the Revolution, a building in Old Havana caught fire. Not knowing that the revolutionaries had explosives hidden inside, several firefighters rushed in to fight the fire and save anyone who may have been inside. Before they could get out, the fire set off the explosives, and they were all killed.
This monument was built in their honour. It is the tallest monument in the graveyard, and it is actually illegal to build anything larger (though nothing new is built in that graveyard these days).
Finally, I have a picture of a baby’s bones from the graveyard. As I was taking pictures, I soon found myself getting an impromptu tour from one of the ground’s keepers. He couldn’t speak English, but still managed to give me a good tour (at a price, of course).
For some reason, he insisted that I take a picture of these bones. He showed me other bones, too, opened tombs in a manner that I felt was quite disrespectful to the dead. Regardless, here are the bones of a baby from long ago. This guy seemed to feel it was important that I take a picture of them, so I did, and now I’m showing it to you.
And now, because this post is becoming rather lengthy, I think I’ll end it there for now. I’ll continue the tour of Havana in a later post.
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