Our trip was quickly coming to a close by the tenth day, but mom and I wanted to be sure to squeeze in one more day in Old Havana and I really wanted to make sure that we saw the Malecon.

We had plans to get an early start to the day, so I woke up around 8:15 and took a bath.  By the time I was finished getting dressed, breakfast was on the table.  We had oatmeal with mango yogurt and a piece of bread.

We didn’t get out as early as we would have liked to, but we eventually left to go catch the bus.  The bus was SO PACKED.  There was no room to move, to turn your head…or to even breath.

After our sweaty ride, we headed to the Capitol and bought ice cream.  It was necessary!

Mom, Yolanda and I started the day by walking down Obispo street, exchanging some money and looking in all of the little shops.  I almost bought this adorable puppy:

I figured bringing him into the country wouldn’t fly at border control, so we had to say our goodbyes and keep walking.

A few shots from the walk:

That’s a drugstore.  Imagine if CVS and Walgreens pharmacy looked like that!

After walking down Obispo Street, we made our way over to the Malecon!

That picture probably looks familiar.  Now you know where it was taken!  It was hot and the sun was beating down on us, so we only took a short walk before heading back to Obispo Street to make our way towards lunch.

We took a small detour to visit the Plaza De Catedral again.

We ate lunch at Los Nargos again, and this time, there was no line!  We went right on in and our lunch came so much faster!  I ordered a salad and then ate some of mom’s fish, yuca and black beans.  I really enjoyed my meal and was happy to see a salad!

Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, beats, and radishes.

After lunch, we wanted to walk a bit more before heading back home for the evening, so we walked back along the Malecon, marveling at both the beauty of the water and the way the buildings are on the verge of collapsing.  Check out the details on these beautiful buildings!  Many of them are past the point of repair, and once they collapse, the detail will most likely not be replicated in whatever is built to replace them.  It’s sad because they were really amazing buildings and homes at one time.

By the look of those vines growing, there were either plans to fix that building at one time, or that structure was built to protect people from that building falling on top of them.  We weren’t sure which one it was..

We took a few photos in other squares, but there were so many that I’m confused about where we were!

It was starting to approach dinner time, so we made our way back towards the Capitol.  We were trying to avoid taking a taxi at night.

This building had a balcony on it that was collapsing and falling on one side, but a woman and her dog were standing on the side that was still pretty much attached to the building.  I can’t even imagine!

We were able to catch a taxi pretty easily, but we were a bit surprised when we turned around (to look out the back) and we saw FOUR more people sitting where the trunk should be.  The driver removed the top part of the trunk and added a Jeep-type hood to it.  Innovative!  There were ten people in a five person car and it was nothing out of the ordinary for anyone in the car! (Except for us, of course).

We ended the night with dinner and relaxing with Pepe and Yolanda.  Dinner was beans, rice and chicken.

My favorite flan for dessert:

While mom and I were talking with Pepe, I looked up and Pepe was wearing my hat.  Mom and I couldn’t stop laughing!

Another fun day in Havana.  The next day was our last full day in Cuba and we had plans big plans for the next day.  Let’s just say that I had no idea that I had so many family members…

That post will be up later today!