We took the same 10:00 free shuttle bus from the hotel. This time we went in to catch the hop-on/hop-off. We found that we needed to get to the Central Park area to do our 'hopping'. It went out to the Malecon and went all the way to the other end. If Cuba ever opens up to foreign cash, a lot of work can go into this stretch of the city.
We passed some famous sites and got off the bus at Revolution Square to snap some pictures. It was nice to see the Miramar neighbourhoods. It is easy to see the difference that 60 years of Castro has caused. Life must be tough with few cars on the roads and long waits for an insufficient number of buses. There are very few convenience shops and people don't have things easy. We found a little spot to eat today in the historic district mostly for locals. They did have the price list in the tourist CUC money too. We spent around $US7 and had simple rice and beef plates, 2 soft drinks and an extra beer for me.
It is easy to romanticise the laid-back lifestyle with picturesque scenes, but probably quite another thing to live it. As a people, they should be proud. However, I fear Cubans have no way of knowing all they've really lost.
Our bus was waiting at 4:50 and we got into the coolness. Havana was hot today. We left at exactly 5:00 PM and were in our hotel at 5:25. I sort of look forward dinners, white wine and all, at our hotel. I look forward to tomorrow hanging around the beach and pool too.
I'm really happy to say I've visited Cuba and hope things start to play catchup to the global forces necessary for existence today.