Well, in hindsight, it may not have been my most well thought-out plan. However, when booking a resort in Cuba, I'd chosen Varadero, in part, because of it's proximity (two hours by car) to Havana. And, as I remind the Bean, not infrequently, mommy's a person too! And mommy simply couldn't travel all the way to Cuba and NOT see Havana! One of the other moms in our group was also keen on Havana and researched different tours to and/of the city for us. Fortunately, she is the mom of a two-year old, which meant that she also wanted to book a tour that we could bail out of early if things with the toddler set went south! Not that they did, I mean...not really.
We got off to a great start, our tour guide turned up on time with an air-conditioned van that accommodated all 12 of us. Our guide had wisely scheduled a break at a tourist trap halfway to Havana. A building on the far side of, what is called Pina Colada bridge, it pretty much just housed a small café serving a limited menu of food and refreshments, washrooms and a Cuban souvenir shop. The site’s best asset was the extensive deck and viewing area, looking out onto the bridge and over the Jumari Valley. An unexpected perk was that the spot sold Pina Coladas in hollowed out pineapples and the rum was self-serve! Since the place was pretty packed, the Hubs had Beans in the backpack and we took advantage of the fact that she was immobilized to snap some rare family selfies. Note: the pic below shows Beans in the backpack, she is NOT, I repeat NOT standing on a cliff-side retaining wall!
We enjoyed the stop and it broke up the car ride nicely for the kiddos. We then piled back into the van, like so many clowns in a car, and drove on to Havana. Once in Havana, our guide informed us that we were going to get out and do a walking tour of Old Havana. I had known this was coming, nonetheless my heart dropped into my stomach at the thought of walking the Bean around what was sure to be a very crowded Old Havana on a day that was stiflingly hot. One of the Bean's many sensitivities is to heat. Heat without respite inevitably leads to the MOST MAJOR meltdowns! So, as we step out of the van I am already on high alert.
As our guide leads us through the beautiful cobblestone streets of Havana, I try to concentrate on what he’s saying and not on the fact that Beans is restless in her backpack and the Hubs is sweating in the hot Cuban sun with an extra 27 pounds on his back. This was one time that the fact that the Bean is like half the size of an average kiddo her age worked to our advantage! As we pass Old Havana landmarks, I try to catch the names and history of each one, but it all blurs together. Finally, the Hubs decides he can’t take the extra heat and weight or the backpack straps cutting into his skin and decides to free the Bean in, of all places, an antique apothecary! From then on, the ‘walking’ tour of Havana becomes a running tour, as we chase the Bean down the streets of Havana. I’ll never understand how her short little legs can run faster than mine! The tourists’ faces all blur into one another and I vaguely wonder how Old Havana ever absorbed even more tourists when cruise ships from the U.S. used to unload a couple thousand tourists into the city everyday. ‘Careful!’ I yell, ‘Watch out!’, I plead. I search for simpler words that I think she’ll understand, oh yeah - ‘Stop!’ Phew, just before she ran smack dab into that really big dude’s shins! We re-load her into the backpack, which puts us behind the group again.
Finally it’s time for lunch. We’re whisked away in the van to an exclusive-looking restaurant, one that looks like a house from the outside, protected from prying eyes by a full-height gate. My body tenses, it’s going to be too nice for us! We’ll be too loud, not well-enough behaved, people will stare when we tube feed the Bean! I remind myself how lucky I am that I don’t care about any of that ; ) I breathe a sigh of relief when we enter the restaurant and I see that it’s open-air. I giggle with relief when I see a chicken strut by. There are other chickens, fish and a turtle in a pond, so lots for the Bean to see when we take her on walks around the restaurant so that she doesn’t have to watch everyone else eat during the entire meal. We feed her without incident and without attracting the attention of other tables. The Bean and I head out of the restaurant ahead of the group and I let her run up amd down the sidewalk a few times so she can burn off some energy before having to sit still in the van once more. Our little tour proceeds to Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabana.
In front of the fort there is a large grassy lawn and instead of exploring, I melt into the grass, relieved to see the Bean running around with the Hubs and the other kids. Back into the van, we drive along the infamous Malecon, then stop to get the kids some ice cream.
We pull over in front of the National Capital Building and the husbands and older kids get out to race up and down the stairs.
As we watch from the van, we notice a woman, surrounded by a camera crew, posing in what can only be a designer dress that looks to be worth more than my whole wardrobe (but probably less expensive than the Bean’s whole wardrobe ; )
She is either a model shooting the cover of an international fashion mag or a twenty-something super-dedicated to her Insta image.
After the Capital Building we head over to Plaza de la Revolucion, a large concrete square used for City events and political rallies. The buildings around the square serve as canvases for portrayals of some of Cuba’s greatest revolutionaries and leaders. Not a ton to see or do here, but the kids run around in the square, playing tag and goofing off.
Our tour guide must have picked up on the fact that it was taking our whole group just a little longer to get in and out of the van with each stop. We wrapped up the tour about an hour early and headed back to the resort, tired, happy and having seen Havana (well, almost)!
Comments