3.14 - TRENES, TCHOTCHKES Y LA HABANA VIEJA

Tchotchke’s, Tchotchke’s That's What she craved

“Get ‘em At The Train Station”, Bassman Raved!

 There are “Que Cute's” Galore

Found in Each Tiny Store

So Chucky Haggles And Prices Were Shaved

Ok Earl, you're off the hook, she has declared NOWAT-HABANA a “Nantucket Free Zone” once she discovered what that was all about. {Nobody can believe that she never heard one single Ribald Rhyme using Nantucket… she calls it a cultural deficit or sumthin’}

Back to "Expedition Montalvo" The marching order for the day was “Tchotchke’s At Any Cost”.  {Which IS NOT a phrase Chucky takes lightly as he contends “The first price is NEVER the final price”}. Soooo, the consensus of everyone asked, including “Class of ‘60" venerable Cuba Traveler  H. Bassman, was to head out early to the Old Train Station down near the port, which is not actually The "REAL" Old Train station
Estacion Central Del Ferrocarriles

ßseen here.

The actual name of of "El Pulguero" [the Flea Market] depends on who you ask.

Some call it “Mercadillo Alameda de Paula” 

so labeled because its near “Iglesia de Paula”. But it's really Centro Cultural Antiguos Almacenes    à
San José

or as the Vedado Girls prefer “Tchotchke HEAVEN”.

{Well... I’m certainly glad we cleared that up!}

Early start is a relative term with “Expedition Montalvo”  but they actually got a run at it by 9AM, which got them to “TH” {Tchotchke Heaven} by 9:20 only to find…

it doesn’t open ‘til 10AM.

No Problemo... plenty of time to: snap pics of the old Trains parked out front and walk around Iglesia De Paula,  while almost getting run over by horse drawn carriages and Horseless -1950 Gello Chebby’s etc.

For those that did not Click and read the attached article, "Centro Antiquos Almacenes San Jose"
is a vast assembly of 10' x 10' storage containers arranged in mini street fashion under the roof of the old storage facility to form “El Pulguero” {not the one the girls could not find in Miramar} packed tightly with, “You name it… Somebody’s Got it.”

From loads of art at the main entrance, to woodwork, leather work, ceramic’s, Jewelry…

Ok… LOTS OF Tchotchke’s.

And… the friendliest folks you ever want to meet.

“Hola señor... A Pretty {fill in the blank} for the señorita?”

“Buenas Dias señora, can I show you something”…

“Americano??? Something por Giu?"

Let the Haggling begin...
"¿Cuánto?" Chucky asks...

"They are $5cuc each señor but for you - 3 for $12" - Chucky hands him $10cuc, takes the 3 {fill in the blank} and walks away... The poor guy looks pleadingly at the Cuban Lady who just shrugs - makes "The Crazy Sign" pointing at Chucky, and slides away too. Moving from booth to booth - prices are slashed, treasures are collected and a throng of bewildered vendors are left in his wake.

Yeah… real friendly folks, but not pushy as in other Mercados we've been to.  If you don’t buy it… someone else will...

And always... "The First Price is Never Final!"

The expedition cruised the aisles, getting separated, re-joining, cruising some more, picking up a “Que Cute” here, for {fill in the Blank} and “What about that thingy there for 'so ‘n’ so'”, until they could not:

  “Aiiiii !?!? Que Cute!!” any more. 

Lugging their treasures to the cars, they headed back to 55 Linea to pick up Doug who… wasn’t there but at the Havana Libre Hotel attempting to reconnect to his internet servers.  Feeling spent from the Tchotchke Tour everyone set about relaxing while Chucky ran over to Hotel Nacional to send an Email for “Other CUZ”  letting her hubby know when to pick them up at TPA on Saturday.  And who does he run into… Doug, who was miffed at the long line at Havana Libre to get on even slower Internet so he came here only to find... another line [one attendant making copies and trying to explain how the service worked to a not so bright German couple].  They finally got service, as Doug set up his laptop for another fruitless attempt and Chucky  borrowed one of their machines, plugged in the flash drive with her email message, and was back to Casa Maria La China to pick up the Cuban Lady to run over to CAFÉ TV [now open for lunch] to grab a sandwich – the others were doing something with Tortilla Wraps and power bars. 

CAFÉ TV is one busy place… they could only get a seat at the small bar, which was OK since they wanted sandwiches to Go and had a beer while they waited because... a To Go Order in itself was a production

[They probably had to go find a Pig to slaughter, for another slab of over cooked pork for the Cuban Sandwiches… you know the drill]  then someone had to go find take-out containers, which had to be checked in with the Cashier, who in turn would issue them only after she rang up the order, for the waitress to take to the kitchen to get filled… Yeah, a production.

Back at 55 Linea, they disassembled the sandwiches [Jake was happy to assist in wolfing down the over cooked Slabs of Pork] as they downed a couple of Bucanero’s while waiting for Doug to get back.

In the meantime  Chucky ran over to La Habana Centro to pick up Prima, who was almost in the car when she remembered to call back up to Ramon on the roof to drop a bag of Buñuelo Dough over the side on a rope and pulley to take to La China where they loaded the wheelchair, Tia and the rest of the gang and headed back to the car park near el Museo de la Revolucion for a jaunt around Havana Vieja.

Whewwwww... I'm outta breath already and we haven't even started the trek.

We'll catch up with this rag-tag bunch as they move through the colorful streets of  Havana Vieja to the Plaza de Cathedral to find some entertaining Santeras, make a stop at El Bodeguita del Medio, and then chug beer from a table top fountain in the next episode of :

 “Aiiiiii Que Cute… lets buy one of those!”

HASTA LUEGO,

Uncle Chuck & The beer guzzlin’, olive eatin’

Cuban Lady

Chuggin’ Beer from a Fountain in Plaza Vieja