Photos From Havana

Following is a random selection of photos from my limited time and experience in Cuba:

Day Trip to Vinales

Vinales is a couple hours from Havana by bus through flat agricultural land with a backdrop of seemingly distant mountains. Our group stopped in the town of Vinales, a UNESCO site because of its 'colonial architecture' according to our guide. The low buildings with heavily columned porches are what makes this town distinctive. I don't know that for certain having only Havana to compare it to.

The best scenery was on the way to the tobacco farm: green, humpy mountains and red-orange fields. I have to confess I was a little disappointed that the tobacco had just been harvested. Inside the drying barn, a pole building sided with palm fronds, we are given a cigar-rolling demonstration. Here the ground is still plowed behind a team of cattle. It was interesting to learn that a good number of these farms are privately owned but committed to sell a a large percent of their crops to the state at a set price

Taking a turn, we headed a little deeper into the mountains, headed for lunch beneath a huge mural and a short boat ride in one of the many caves that once housed primitive tribes, even a few revolutionaries. Or so they say.

Oh! Those Cuban Cars

One cannot mention Cuba without talking about the old cars, American classics that make collectors drool. These are left over from the glory days of the late 1940's until the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959. One taxi driver told me he didn't trust them because the body might be Chevrolet, the frame Dodge, and the engine could be from a Lada. I paid close attention and, even with my limited knowledge of cars, I sometimes couldn't tell what they actually were.Thus I declare the Cubans to be masters of the cutting torch. I loved to stand on the curb in the Capitol Plaza with my camera, shoot the cars and watch the people.

If one is lucky enough to own a car in Cuba there is money to be made as a taxi. Spiffy convertibles, colorful and carefully restored, offer rides to tourists with big bucks. Many of the others taxi the locals. They are designated by a white sign on the windshield that simply says 'taxi'. A person stands on the street, sticks an arm out, the taxi stops and the hopeful rider gives a location. If the driver is going that way the rider piles in with the other passengers and off they go. If not, the taxi pulls away and the person needing a ride flags another. The more passengers a taxi can fit, the more money he makes. If one owns a station wagon or van he is fortunate indeed. If not,why not make one? These are what I like to call 'cutting torch taxis'

Definitely tourist rides.

This vehicle is vintage Chevy up fron and Toyota van in back.

For those who prefer their rides a little on the cute side there are coco-taxis. I did not see many of these in transit.

.





La Habana

Now that the US and Cuba are talking again there are so many opportunities to have a look. One can arrange to go to Cuba through art, humanitarian and church groups, as well as to visit distant family. Hooray for Raul Castro and Barak Obama.

Havana, or La Habana is definitely shabby sheik, ragged, worn down, but is on its way up. The glory days of the old gambling mecca and sugar plantations are evident on so much of the architecture. Yet how does one define glory when it brought on a revolution? Good question.

The older sections of Havana, Viejo and Centro, are crowded and noisy. Music blares from so many windows, people sit in doorways and balconies, boys play soccer or baseball in the street, vendors sing out their wares; it is alive and I love it. Vedado and other neighborhoods are less densely populated, more sedate. Despite all the noise, bustle and, yes, lots of hustle, Havana has the reputation of being a safe city.

Scenes from Habana Viejo:

What contrast!

Street scenes from the Centro neighborhood:

 

Scenes from Vedado: 

 

Of course there are the tourist attractions, restored, made pretty, so many museums, churches, fabulous architecture.  Being short of time and money, I missed so much of the grandeur of their interiors.

There are so many 'casas particulares' in Havana, rooms to rent in private homes. Some are very nice, as pictured below, others are a little drab but still clean and comfortable. Furnishings tend to be an interesting mix of 'retro' styles. Breakfast can be purchased and usually comes with plenty of fresh fruit and juices. Ask for milk in your coffee and you will likely get a glass of warmed milk on the side.

The interior of a rather regal casa

...and the view frmo the balcony.

Calle de Hamel is a street in Havana Centro that is short in length but long on art. I understand it was a project of sorts but don't know how many artists were involved. Crammed into one block are murals, sculptures, the Little Prince in a tub and an area for children. 

 Graffiti is not everywhere in Havana but art does exist in many forms. Some is politically motivated, some obviously spontaneous and other work is not so clear.