Havana, Cuba

Havana  Viñale  Trinidad


I decided to fly to Cuba when I was in Costa Rica, I was curious and I wanted to understand the contradiction between the melancholic Cuban music and the European rumours saying that Cubans are cheerful, happy and they are smiling all the time.

I wanted to see Cuba before it wood have changed, Fidel Castro was seriously ill and Raul Castro, the brother, was already replacing him in some way.

It was 2007 when I flew from San Jose, Costa Rica, to Havana de Cuba without even booking a hotel or any kind of accommodation. I was prepared to sleep in the airport as the plain was landing at 1 a.m. As soon as I landed I asked a taxi driver if he knew any "casa particular" available which is a sort of Cuban B&B which usually have 1 spare room to rent out. He was very keen to looking for an accommodation for me as they get a part of the rent from the landlord of the "Casa particular".

The Casa particular is the best way to know Cuba and Cubans, just make sure you go to a legal one, which usually have a sign on the door (2 small triangles on a white background) which means that the owner is paying an annual fee and is a registered guest house, he also has the obligation to register all the guests in his house to the police office.

If you go to un illegal casa particular, you might end up in troubles as nobody would know you were there. In several circumstances tourist got mugged and in some case even killed. I'm not trying to scare who's reading this blog, this happens everywhere in the world anyway, I'm just trying to make people aware about an unpleasant situation which could spoil your trip.
I travelled all the way down from Canada to Argentina overland, crossing several countries and the only place where I got mugged was in Havana, why? Not because Cuba is more dangerous, actually is very safe, it happened because everybody told me that Cuba was the safest place in the world and nobody wold dare to touch a tourist hence I didn't pay attention as I didi in other countries and I was walking in the most dangerous part of Havana during the night, el barrio de Colon, just behind the Malecon. Locals told me they wouldn't even walk in that street during the night. In spite so, I still think that Cuba is safe, compared to other countries in latin america.

Havana

Havana is a very interesting place, it's unique, original, vintage, decadent and fascinating, there is not such a place in the world but you don't want to stay there more than 3 days.

Havana is tiring, you are a just a dollar/euro walking in the street, if you've been there you know what I mean.

Cuba has an incredible light for photography, everything is photogenic, Cuba is so colourful bright that even a beginner would take amazing pictures.

I found the streets of havana very charming with a lot of character. You can tell how reach Cuba use to be during the Spanish colonisation or in the 19th century when Havana was called the Paris of Antilles.

Thanks to the intensive trading between Cuba and North America, Cuban middle class started flourishing and Havana became very fashionable and the most important actors of the time use to work in Havana's theaters. In fact the Tacon Theater is one of the most luxurious in the world. 

 This is Havana today, the buildings are literally falling down but this is what makes Havana unique.

Walking in the street of Havana you find neo-classical, neo-baroque and Liberty architectural treasures.

2 balconies fell down during the week that I spent in Havana, an old man died while he was walking past.

The vintage car in Cuba are definitely another charming characteristic of Cuba, a Cuban friend was telling me that they actually hate those old smoky wrecks. People in the rest of the world, would pay a fortune for one of them!

Those in good conditions are used for tourists.

It is very common that I Cuban person gets married 3/4 time in his/her life

The sea is amazing even in the city, I was impressed how crystal clear  the water was.

There are a lot of musicians in Cuba, I found this place in Havana were the musicians could rehearsing for free.