Today we spent the day looking at the two things Cuba is most famous for, Cigars and Revolutions. We started the day by walking to the Cigar factory, there seems to be only one factory that you can do a tour round which used to be just behind the Capitol building by our hotel, unfortunately about 5 years ago this closed down and they moved to the other factory a bit further out of town. Everyone suggested that we might want to take a taxi round but we decided to walk and it was really good as we walked through what felt like ‘real’ Havana. We started off walking through the Parque Central past the Capitol building which is actually quite big, we then walked through the garden that is next to the building and arrived at what we think was the bus station, we made this assumption due to the queues. Unfortunately for Cuba there is currently a fuel shortage, the government is doing what it can to avoid power cuts, last time this was the case power ended up being off for 18 out of ever 24 hours and the general view seems to be if they do this again there will be another revolution! But because of the general shape of the economy they are making massive cut backs, one of our guides said that transport has been cut back by 67% for the ‘good of the country’ this covers both services and the road maintenance so only one in every four buses seem to be running and the roads are in a terrible state. We also walked past a couple of ‘supermarkets’ I use the term lightly as they are basically large shops with a few things in them. We went into one to see if we could buy some water, but we had to leave the bag and camera at security then join a queue to ask for the goods we wanted then go and pay for them and we would finally be given them and get our bags returned, it feels rather like I assume Russia did towards the end of the Cold War, stuff is available if you know how to get it and are willing to wait in line. Everywhere you go there seems to be a queue for something! We decided we wouldn’t bother with this and got some water from a street vendor instead. We passed a number of small enterprises which were basically nothing more than people selling things from their front room or possibly only room as some of the buildings had fantastic facades but when you looked through the upper windows they didn’t seem to have any rooms at all. It is stunning how much a building will deteriorate in 60 years, without any maintenance they are basically just crumbling to nothing. As we walked down the road we saw the entrance gate to China town. Apparently the Chinese came over to work the sugar plantations but because the conditions were so poor very few actually stayed and to be honest I don’t think we have seen any Chinese / Japanese looking people here apart from as tourists in groups. The instructions we had been given were to walk down the road until we reached the Church which we couldn’t miss and turn left. The church is actually the Sacred Heart Church and is very European looking. It has a bell Tower that is 253 feet high, we didn’t go in but turned left opposite the Grand National Masonic Temple which was a quite modern building with a globe on the roof and was apparently built in the mid 1900s. We finally reached the factory, we tried to go into the Romeo Y Juliet’s Cigar factory but our ticket was for the other one round the back, it is probably the case that you can only go in one of the factories but it is a shame we couldn’t go in this one as it had a very impressive entrance way. All the same the factory we went to was really interesting, there were only four of us in the group which gave us a great opportunity to ask questions. Chris was slightly disappointed as the cigars are not made by being rolled on nubile young women’s thighs but the process is interesting all the same. Interestingly because the factory is state owned they make all the cigars that are shipped out of Cuba, you are buying a different grade of cigar not a different leaf or process. We started by looking at where the tabaco leaves are sorted, they split along the spine so you have two half’s these are then sorted by size and colour and sent ‘upstairs’ to be made into cigars. This is piece work of sorts as the people sorting the leaves have to process 800 leaves each day. The darker the leaf the older it is and the stronger the taste, so when the cigars are rolled depending on what they are making depends on how many of each leaf is required. All cigars are made with five leaves. Four of them are rolled to make the actual cigar and provide all the flavour, the fifth is the ‘pretty dress’ on the outside and although people think the colour of this determines what the cigar tastes like it doesn’t it is just to hold the cigar together and for ‘decoration’. We watched the leaf sorting for a while then went upstairs to see them actually rolling the cigars. It takes 10 months to train to roll cigars and they are definitely quite proficient. The number they have to process depends on what they are making, but each worker has to produce between 80 – 120 cigars per day. The average seems to be about 100 but that is probably because the people we saw were all making similar cigars. These are then sent to the processing room where the cigars are sorted into boxes, they are then sent to the room where the paper ‘seal’ is added to the cigar and finally the boxes are finished, the paper denoting whose cigars they are is added to the box and the are ready for shipping. Apparently not all cigars made in Cuba are hand made they do have a factory but our guide didn’t elaborate on this, about half way through the tour we were told the lights were going to be turned off, this happens every day between 11:00 – 13:00 before we could ask why the guide said ‘why do we do this? Because we are in Cuba’ although I think it has something to do with the power shortages. They only actually turned the lights off in the public areas, the hall way and stairs that way it wouldn’t affect the work being done. Once we had finished out tour we started walking back, stopping on the way for a massive ice cream, it was quite funny as on one board they had a list of the available flavours, and on another it had a sign saying ‘today’s flavour chocolate’ which basically meant you could have chocolate or nothing, so we had chocolate and it was actually very refreshing. We walked back and got to the Capitol building just in time for a tour. The National Capitol of Cuba (El Capitolio Nacional) is a symbol of the city, it was modelled on the one in Washington DC but is one meter higher, a meter wider and a meter longer! The Cubans say as well as this it has much richer detail than the one in Washington! This was the home of government until 1959 and has been home to many historical events including the police firing into the crowd during a demonstration in 1933. We were able to look in a couple of rooms, the office of the president, the diplomatic room where people used to sit and discuss issues as well as the House of Representatives. We could also look at the library of congress which doesn’t currently have any books as they are being restored. This has 240 seats all grouped in sixes to represent the six districts of Cuba, unfortunately they now have 400 representatives so it is unlikely the room will be used again. The wing that contains the Senate of which there are only 25 representatives it currently closed for restoration. Just outside the presidents room which has a door that leads directly to the House of Representatives is a courtyard which contains a single statue, this is called the fallen angel but is actually a representation of Lucifer as he changed from good to evil. In the entrance hall is a statue which is 49 foot high and in front of this embedded in the floor is a replica of a 25 carrot diamond, the original was stolen but after an outcry and it being described as a national disgrace it mysteriously turned up on the desk of the president. After walking round this we went for some lunch then continued our walk down to the Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta or Fort by the sea. This is a modest fort on the west back on the port entrance. It was used for political speeches as it has an elevated position and is close to the road so a number of people can hear them. Built between 1590 – 1630 it was part of the City’s first line of defence, together with Castillo de los Tres on the other side of the bay. A large floating chain of wooden and bronze rings connected the two fortresses, it was stretched tight as soon as an enemy ship was sighted to block access to the port. In front of the Castillo there are three cannons which the chain was tied, but it is not clear if they were always upright or if they were once actual canons waiting to fire on enemy ships. This is where Jose Martí was held for 16 years for subversive activities against the Spanish crown (ie leading the revolution!) Some cells still stand, as does a section of wall against which some of the medical students were executed on 27th November 1871 as punishment for rebelling against Spanish rule. By this time we were quite hot so we decided to walk back to the hotel along Paseo del Prato. This is said to be the most picturesque boulevard in Havana. It was laid out by the Marquis de la Torre in 1772 outside the city walls and it rapidly became the favourite spot for city aristocrats to take their carriage rides. Bands were positioned in five spots along the boulevard to play for their enjoyment. It was also used for military and carnival parades in the 19th century. In 1927 it was widened and lined with bronze lions and marble benches, unfortunately what they didn’t put there were very large trees so walking up it in the afternoon you have to contend with full sun so we did the sensible thing and walked up the side under the covered walkways, this also gives you the opportunity to look in the houses as you are walking along. We got back to the hotel and had a quick drink then went to the room to have a shower before heading out for something to eat this evening. We leave Havana tomorrow which is a shame as I really like the old town but I am sure we will see some other fantastic places as we head round Cuba.
