Entry #4- Cuba cont. Jose Marti Memorial and money

#4   Havana and the Jose Marti Monument

We are off to explore Havana.  I thought I would give you a general view as we traveled through.

The beautiful Jose Marti Memorial. It consist of a star shaped tower, a statue surrounded by 6 columns and gardens.  It is 385 feet tall made of Cuban marble and started in 1953 on the 100th anniversary of Jose Marti birth. The structure was completed in 1958 during the final days of the Batista dictatorship.
 This is the highest point in Havana.

A view overlooking the city from the front door of the Memorial.

The mural of Che Guevara, the minister of interior, on the building across from the Jose Marti monument.

                                The statue of Jose Marti in front of his monument.- 59 feet of white                                                                          marble surrounded by six columns.

Inside on the ground floor there are two rooms that feature Jose's correspondence, writings and items from his life.   A third room illustrated the history of the Plaza de la Revolution  and a fourth room is used for displays of contemporary art.

A view of Havana

 At the bay of Pigs.

The home of Jose Marti

 

We are now moving on.  I don't know what this building is but it was one of the prettiest.

 Back to class for our lunch and more lecture. Below is one of our typical meals I was explaining about earlier. Above shows the salad fixings.. David and I have not had rice since we have come home.  Just waiting a bit!

Cuba has a fascinating money system and it was a little confusing at first. American money isn't accepted here and credit cards are a definite "No". The American banks are not recognized.  So when you come to Cuba plan to bring all the dollars you might use. (You aren't able to get money exchanged ahead).  You can exchange U.S. dollars at the Cuban airport and some hotels will exchange them for you; but you will get only the CUC-the Cuban Convertible Peso You can recognize this money because all denominations have monuments on them.  For exchange purposes, the CUC was very close to Euros.

The official currency of the rank and file Cubans is the Cuban Peso or CUP This money has pictures of people on the bills.  The rate is 25 CUP to 1 CUC. This money is used for the Cubans and not tourists. Even if you have CUP most places won't let you use it. We exchanged a few CUC for CUP at a bank.  We were able to have a meal for very low price at a local restaurant using CUP!

So now we have our money, we are off to shop and tour!

Ciao :)