Good morning small private Bahama island! And happy 8th birthday to Miles! We’ll celebrate when we get home.

Last night’s dinner in the main dining room was OK, not as good as we expected, however, we sat with a couple from New Zealand who have travelled extensively and it made for interesting conversation.

Donn had a great night in the casino, me not so much. It’s small, but there is 3 card, so he’s happy.

Snorkeling wasn’t great, but very relaxing. Tough question now is where to have dinner...

Lunch and breakfast have been wonderful. Lots of fresh choices.

And a relaxing afternoon at the pool.

Dinner was lovely. The wife in the couple we sat with is from Brooklyn and she and her husband travel a lot. It’s amazing how this ship is just full of people who’ve been all over the world and book 2-3 cruises at a time, some 30-40 days long.

So, dinner included a wide variety of different olive oils to dip the bread in. They did not stock Trader Joe’s, so I just chose the one that said it was “bright and harmonious”. It tasted just like olive oil. I’m clearly not sophisticated about olive oil. The balsamic vinegar I picked had notes of raspberry, with a rich earthiness and an apricot finish on the palate, or something like take. It was just like Trader Joe’s...

This city was founded by the French and has remnants of beautiful Colonial architecture.

What a great day. Our guide Luis and driver Alberto met us in a 59 Ford, all reconstructed and with AC. And, wow, did we need it today. This city must have been gorgeous before the Revolution, but like everything else in Cuba, most of it is shabby and in disrepair. We were able to see the baseball stadium, which has an elephant as its mascot.

We went to a beautiful hotel, originally built with Mafia money, then confiscated and now owned and run by the government.

September 5th is a special day here!

This is a Main Street, once beautiful.

Just found out that we’ll have the same guide and driver in Havana!

A peaceful relaxing sea day today, a nice break after yesterday’s heat.

See you mañana from Havana!

Donn took this tonight...

Looks like the Lion King!

Today’s tour was a ship excursion that was an overview of Havana.

As we’ve seen everywhere else in Cuba, the city is crumbling and falling apart. The older Colonial architecture was once magnificent and now so sad. Intermixed are relatively newer structures, remnants of the Soviet era here in the 60s.

We were also taken to the National cemetery, which although very crowded, exudes a somewhat charming peacefulness.

We continued on to

the Morro fortress, built by the Spanish in colonial times. It overlooks the city and its shabbiness; our guide highlighted the state run tobacco and rum shop housed within because it has AC!

Outside were craft vendors, selling their stuff, seemingly immune to the history and views that surrounds them.

Finally, we went to see a huge statue of Jesus, but I thought this sculpture, the ugliest I’ve ever seen, was way more interesting...

It’s supposed to symbolize unity and work, the basis of Comminism. Donn has photos of Jesus.

Tonight we are going to a nightclub in the former National Hotel, a premier hangout for the Mafia before the Revolution.

So, we bailed on the nightclub show for a variety of reasons. We got to the hotel, but came right back on the bus.

What a great day.

Our guide, Luis, met us at 9 for what was supposed to be the Jewish tour. We did see 3 synagogues, but not too much more of Jewish interest, other than a hotel.

We talked to him about Judaism and religion in general in Cuba. Times were tough here for Catholics after Castro.

We drove around some nicer neighborhoods where the decay is not so evident, and then went to an amazing pocket of homes in Havana called Fusterlandia.

So, this artist, José Fuster, did some mosaic work on the exterior of his home. His neighbors loved it so much that they asked him to do theirs too. The result is astonishing! My photos do not do it justice. We met his grandson and bought an original tile.

https://havana-club.com/en-ww/havana-cultura/jos%C3%A9-fuster

The obligatory laundry hanging photo taken from the roof...

Next stop was a beautiful park with a river running through it. I was amazed at the amount of trash ☹️

Then, lunch... at the restaurant where the Buena Vista Social Club plays. It was like a step back in time, to the 1950s before the Revolution and it was a nice break.

Then we started walking through Old Havana. It’s very gritty and falling apart (sigh), but we could see glimmers of its past. A surprise was the Hotel Rachel, built in the 1920s to cater to a Jewish clientele and bits remain of that era. Look close at the photo and notice the menorahs in the stained glass of the screens.

We finished with more walking through this neighborhood.

Scattered throughout are sites where Hemingway drank and slept, but it’s all pretty sad...

We’re now sailing away. Here’s a last glance. And, a photo of the big Jesus that we just sailed by.

Dinner tonight will be with the Florida couple who we met on the first day then hopefully some casino luck!

We learned so much from the Cubans who we met. They appreciate the socialist aspects of their government, but realize that there are faults. They’re also eager for the internet yet anxious as well. We tried to explain Amazon to Luis. He could not grasp it. At 43 he got his first computer last week.

We are so blessed and grateful.

Thanks for reading- we’re glad to be going home.