Cuba – 2 – Back to the 1950s in present day Havana

As you read this article, I suggest you cue Camila Cabello’s Havana song as a suitably atmospheric background soundtrack 😉
Incidentally, you may want to read my first article on Cuba, in which I share my impressions and some of my favorite pictures, before this one.

At first blush, Havana, seen from carefully chosen angles around its Capitolio building, looks stately, grand and exotic.

Look across the street from the steps of the Capitol building, and you feel transported into a scene from the 1950s, blending colorized colonial architecture and vibrant signs of life.

Just to the side of the Capitolio, the beautifully elegant Gran Teatro would not mar the nicest European avenues …

… and its neighbor the once prestigious (and still pretending to be) hotel Inglaterra reinforces this feeling of old-world stylishness.

However, turn the corner, and, still in right in front of the Capitole, another reality emerges – quite literally, like this tree sprouting from the ruins of another once grand theater…

Turn the next corner, and you find yourself immersed into very real Cuban life, on the edge of the Havana Central neighborhood.

Most tourists however, typically have a more sanitized experience of Havana.

Some arrive by boat, distant echo of the explorers who first set foot here toward the end of the 15th century, and of the slaves brought from Africa. What a contrast.
Setting foot in the Caribbeans, Christopher Columbus reportedly exclaimed “No man has ever seen a more beautiful land!”

Tourists typically focus their attention of the small carefully restored area of Old Havana, where atmospheric plazas are reminiscent of Southern Europe, like the Plaza de la Catedral.

Street musicians play for them / us around the leafy Plaza de Armas …

… and proud owners of 1950s American cars are eager to take us for a ride around the city.

The dazzling glitter of the freshly painted bodies tends to eclipse the harshness of the neighborhoods they cross …

… as they cruise the legendary Malecón seaside avenue (which I personally found rather underwhelming).

As they rush to take snaps of the main sights, like the somewhat megalomaniac effigies of Fidel Castro and the Che on Plaza de la Revolución …

… they may also get a glimpse of one of tallest – and possibly the ugliest – building of Havana: the Russian embassy!

I much prefer the grit of the back streets of Havana Vieja, where the scenes exude energy …

… joy …

… determination …

… emotion …

… vibrance …

… and faded grandeur.

This is where real life takes place. In the absence of “regular” stores, most of the shopping is done in the street, in specialty outlets …

…  or in transportable “supermarkets”…

… and locals rush to the back of trucks offering hard discount deals on freshly arrived products.

Communication takes place, over cable …

… or on the most advanced wireless technology. 😊

Cars get their washed …

… locals watch the world go by …

… cool dudes hang out…

… or get their hair cut …

… then play baseball with broomsticks and bottle caps.

All this intensity is sometimes hard to take!

Fortunately, a bit further afield, the Colón cemetery (Cemeterio de Colón) offers a haven of peace …

… conducive to devotion.

It also hosts rather grandiloquent art.

Back to the center of Havana, one more, for the road 😉 : Havana has the most beautiful traffic jams I have ever seen!

You liked reading this article? Please share it! Thank you! – and comments are always welcome.

And if you liked it, you will probably also enjoy my other articles on Cuba:

Stay tuned, more to come!
Didier.