Havana, Cuba, Day 1

Present day Havana, population 2.1 million, was founded in 1519 and became the capital in 1607.  The French, Spanish and English all attacked throughout the years.  Spain gave Britain Florida for Cuba in 1763.  Sugar, rum, tobacco and coffee are the main exports.  In the 1950s, Cuba was a wild town, complete with all night parties, gambling and American mobsters. Fidel Castro hated this and when he took power in 1959 stopped all the fun.  There are many, many things to see.

The construction of Revolution Square began in 1959 and today is the base of the Cuban government.  The obelisque measures 109 m high and is the tallest point in Havana-

Close by is the Ministry of the Interior with an image of Che Guevara and the saying "Always towards victory"-

and the Ministry of Information with Camilo Cienfuegos and the saying "Vas bien Fidel" which he replied to Fidel's question "Voy bien Camilo?" during Fidel's first public speech in January 1959-

The local Sunday market is an interesting place.  Most booths are enclosed with chicken wire and a guard at the front door limits the number of people who can enter.  Tomatoes, limes, bananas and peppers were all that was available today.  People seem to do just fine with less-

This man is preparing a coconut-

The stationary shop - used books and other paper goods are for sale-

No matter where one goes, people like their pets, and with apartments being quite small, a caged bird is manageable-

Garlic for sale-

The meat shop: weiners, sausage and ham-

Cuba is rum.  Here's how to make the 'perfect' mojito....

Start with fresh mint.  Remove the stems and place in a glass.  Next, cut a lime in half and squeeze both halves on top of the mint leaves....

Pulverize the mint leaves into the lime juice-

Add rum, way too much rum, up to the groove in the glass.  Add ice, a little water, stir and voila!  And to think I don't even like rum!

Another Cuban drink is the Catarra which is made from aguardiente, a liquor distilled from grape remains.   It wasn't my favorite -

Havana is full of beautiful, old cars - 

Hemmingway is everywhere, except in this restaurant where the workers wear t-shirts that read -  "Hemmingway was never here!"

Popular taxis are the egg shaped tuktuks-

The Malecon is an 8 km route along the ocean-

The Maine Monument was erected in memory of the USS Maine, a battleship that mysteriously blew up in the harbor in 1898.  Originally, it had an eagle on top but was decapitated in 1959 during the Revolution-

Plaza Vieja or the Old Square was laid out in 1559 as apartments for the rich.  It was a place for public spectacles, including executions.  Recently, it's been restored-

Before and after-

And the after-

Another example of the restoration-

And the result-

The finest stained glass in Havana can be found here-

There are thousands of beautiful buildings throughout the city-

The Gran Teatro de la Habana was recently renovated.  It is neo baroque style and was built between 1907 and 1914.  It has 2000 seats-

More fancy windows on just a random building-

Balconies, arches, color...  This is Havana-

Typical apartments-

There are few parks so soccer is played in the street-

Music blasts from many apartments.  These people were having a party down a corridor which led to a mass of apartments-

A game using tiles was played outside this home-

This is, unfortunately, as close as I'm going to get-  :(  (This was a closed restaurant, not a bike shop!)

The Capitolio Nacional is an example of neo classical architecture. This style developed in the mid 18th century in Europe to contrast the gaudiness of Baroque.  It includes bold symmetrical lines with a return to the purity of ancient Rome and Greece.  The Capitolio Nacional is similar in style to the US Capitol building in Washington, D.C.  It was built in 1926, took 5000 workers 3 years, 2 months and 20 days to complete and cost US$ 17 million-

Construction of the Prado began in 1770 with the intent to mimick any boulevard in Paris.  Bronze lions, added in 1928, guard the entrances-

Supper was a mojito and tostones rellenos - shaved beef in a pastry cap- 

I walked miles today and have nickel sized blisters on the balls of both feet!  Not sure what tomorrow will bring!  Loving the blue skies, warm sun and friendly, smiling people!

Pearl Harbour, Hawaii

The battleship USS Arizona at Pearl Harbour was attacked December 7, 1941 by the Japanese in a surprise attack.  This act of agression was what got the US involved in WWII.

The memorial is over top the sunken battleship and oil still leaks from it-

Names of the 1102 sailors and marines killed on the USS Arizona Are on display in the memorial-

Japan wanted to secure oil reserves so they attacked countries in South East Asia and the South Pacific.  They thought that by wiping out the U.S. Fleet, the U.S.  would be unable to interfere with the Japanese conquest.  In order to do this, they flew 4000 miles undetected, had Oahu surrounded with submarines to prevent any escaping and midget subs were sent into the island to shoot torpedoes.  On December 7th, over 185 ships were anchored in Pearl Harbour for repairs, maintenance and refuelling.    Luckily the 3 air craft carriers were out at sea.  In retaliation, the U.S. shot down 20 Japanese planes and got a midget sub.  However, the  Japanese had wiped out over 300 American planes and 21 ships.  3500 soldiers were wounded or killed.

This encapsulated harpoon missile was used for submarine launches.  It is fired from a sub's torpedoe tube and runs up to the surface.  As it approaches the surface, the missile exits the capsule and searches for its target.  It has a range of 69 miles and travels at subsonic speed, which is less than the speed of sound-

This anchor from the USS Arizona is gigantic-

The USS Bowfin is 311 feet long and travelled  16.2 km per hour submerged.  It did 9 war patrols, being launched in 1942.  It could hold 10 officers-

The dining room-

Sleeping compartments-

The control centre-

The passageways were built for midgets!

The USS Missouri is 887 feet long, 209 feet high and travels at more than 32 knots per hour.  It carried 32 Tomahawk anti surface missiles (land attack missiles) and 16 harpoon anti surface missiles.

It is where, on September 2, 1945, the Japanese signed the papers to surrender and end World War II.

Canada was also represented-

Kamikaze pilots , or tokkotai, an abbreviation for "special attack unit" killed 5000 American naval personnel and sunk 36 ships during the Battle of Okinawa.  April 11, 1945, 16 tokkotai pilots took off from their base.  The USS Missouri was able to pick up some of them on it's radar and in spite of shooting this plane, it still managed to crash into the ship.  You can see the plane in the top left of the picture!

The unknown pilot was given a traditional burial at sea , wrapped in a Japanese flag, hand sewn by the Missouri crew.  In  2001, after much research, Setsuo Ishino's family was notified of his death and humane burial, even in times of war.

Visiting Pearl Harbour was a great way to spend a day!

Waikiki, Hawaii

I am in paradise!

It just feels so good to be on 'familiar' soil.  For instance, there's a plug in right by my bed for charging, and I don't need an adapter to use it!  The shower has hot water and strong pressure!  Breakfast is toast witih peanut butter!  PEANUT BUTTER!!  I don't have to keep my head down, on the look out for ups and downs in the sidewalks - death traps for klutzes like me!  Everybody speaks  English!  Starbucks are everywhere!  Need I say more?

First stop!

Bailey's Antiques and Aloha Shirts Inc. was started in 1980 and has been going strong ever since, with the largest collection of Aloha shirts in the universe.  They have more than 15,000 divided into four groups - vintage, new, speciality and used.  Prices range from $3.99 for the modern ones, to $9.99 for a little more special ones to $19.99 for the super special ones.  They also carry antiques like Zippo lighters, Hawaiian records, Nike and Levi paraphanellia etc.

Another institution here is the Rainbow Drive Inn.  The original owner, Seiju Ifuku, learned to cook during WWII.  After the war, he first worked at the famous Kapiolani Drive Inn, then opened the Kalakaua Drive Inn with his wife Ayako.  In 1961, they opened the drive in that exists today, offering 50 cent chilli and rice, $1 bbq steak plates, 25 cent hamburgers and 14 cent fries, all for workers and the beach crowd.  (Prices are a little higher today).  Serving hearty, simple food in generous portions has always been their motto.

Diving  here was with Island Divers.  They are a well organized, super friendly operation!  The water was only 23 degrees, sort of a shock after 28 and 29 in Fiji!  I had to wear a wet suit so that messed up my weights a bit.  The diving was a bit like being in a dessert but I did see 2 gigantic turtles, numerous trumpet fish and some coral.  We dove Skimmins Reef and Palea Point, both in Waikiki on Koko Head Crater.  Palea is the wall on the outside eastern tip of Hanauma Bay.  It has caves, deep canyons and a swim through.  The visibility was good and there was a mild current.  We saw turtles, lots of reef fish and needle nose barracuda.

Thanks to Larry Hogan for this picture-