On my last day
touring Havana, I had many really interesting experiences! That day, I also took
a taxi from Havana to Varadero. It was
an expensive ride, but worth the experience!
I started my
last day in Havana with a visit to the Museum of the Revolution. The Revolution, of course, is the overthrow
of the dictator Batista who was very friendly with the USA and not so friendly to
Cubans. The main players in the
Revolution were Ernesto (Che) Guevera, and the Castro brothers, Fidel and Raul. At home, we’ve heard a fair bit of negative
stuff about Fidel Castro. But here, the
opinion seems to be generally positive.
Of course, some of that is government self promotion. But I’ve had several private conversations
with regular Cubans. And on 
the whole,
they seem to support their government.
the whole,
they seem to support their government.
The most
memorable thing I saw at the Museum, were bullet holes in the wall. The Museum is the old Presidential Palace. The holes are from an attempt that members of the Revolution made to assassinate Batista in 1953. The Museum also had a missile, plane crash
debris, and other items from the Bay of Pigs standoff, and the boat named the
Granma, that Fidel and Che used at an important point in the Revolution.
Lazaro, a
very kind taxi driver drove me in his Lada from Havana to Varadero. A 2.5 hour
drive, mostly along a beautiful coastline!
There were many interesting things along the way. Trees with leaves that had turned to a creamy
colour, working oil wells, and an oil refinery with a Canadian flag flying. It seems that we have some involvement
here. One of the most fun things though
was a brief stop on the road to buy local honey!
Photos:#2 - A mural of "idiots" according to the Museum of the Revolution - try to read the photo on the right, it's about George Bush
#3 - Pretty cream coloured leaves on trees on the road between Havana and Varadero
#4 - An oil well on the coastline and beside the road between Havana and Varadero
#5 -Lazaro and his Lada
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