Havana

Havana skyline from across the harbour

Rooftop view from atop the Gomez Vila building, La Plaza Vieja

And so to Havana, capital of Cuba and home to 2m of Cuba's

12.5m population.  By day the city resounds to the sound of hammers, chisels and drills; by night it reverberates to the beat of the drum, rattle of the maracas, and melody of the guitar.  The 500th anniversary of the founding of the city occurs in 2019, and

proud of the UNESCO status conferred upon the old town, Havana's inhabitants are striving to restore this fine colonial city to its former glory.

 

There is a lot still to be done.  Decaying apartments rub shoulders with beautifully restored mansions. Pedestrianised areas give way to potholed roads, and queues outside the city's pharmacies and bakeries spill over onto the forecourt of the many private restaurants springing up to meet the burgeoning demand. Havana is no longer a city caught

Restored

 

Restoring

 


Awaiting Restoration

in a 1950's time warp.  Progress is evident everywhere and Fidelism is giving way to capitalism in an apparently seamless transition. And all this is happening as a result of tourism despite the American embargo still being in place.  We felt that in another 5 years the city will have lost its decaying charm and, perhaps with it, that special ingredient that makes Havana so unique.

 

La Plaza Vieja....at ground level



........and from above

 We made a walking tour of the four major squares in Old Havana, admiring the restored merchants houses, many now converted into museums or hotels, sampling the best coffee in Cuba, visiting the

Cathedral

Cathedral, and drinking daiquiris at Hemingway's favourite watering hole.  One night we enjoyed a flamenco show, the next a traditional Cuban three piece band in a quiet restaurant set back from the main tourist trail.

 

Cars.  Oh the cars! Cadillacs that would stop the traffic and turn heads in the UK are two-a-penny in Havana. Most taxis are relics from the 1950's, refurbished with Lada engines, but with original upholstery and interior fittings.   Outside the Capitolo building, the former seat

of parliament, a line of beautifully restored old American cars gleams in the sunlight, the drivers ready to take you on an open top tour of the city.  Of course we couldn't resist!  We were whisked through the harbour tunnel to the suburb of Casablanca on the far side of the bay where stands a huge statue of Christ and where the San Carlos de la Cabana fort dominates the narrow entrance to

The Capitolo Building

the harbour.  This impregnable structure with walls 700m high and a ditch 12m deep was  used as a base by Che on his triumphant return to Havana after Batista fled the country.

 

We visited the Plaza de la Revolucion, the venue for some of Castro's most rousing speeches, and the scene of wild celebrations in 1998 to welcome the Pope. The plaza is overlooked by a huge statue of the national hero, Jose Marti, and it is here where Castro stood to address the people following the revolution.

....and decaying

Decayed...

 

 On our final day we visited the Museum of the Revolution, housed in the former Presidential Palace.  It was a fitting conclusion to our tour of Cuba to see and read the documentary evidence of the main battle sites of the Revolution, most of which we had visited on our tour around the country.