Before leaving for the airport, I went to have a look around Havana’s cathedral, a Cuban baroque building, with two vast towers and completed in 1787. Designed by Italian architect Francesco Borromini, it was described by the novelist Alejo Carpenter as “music set in stone” and is one […]
If the Museo de la Revolucion is to be taken at face value, the Cuban Revolution of 1959 was nothing short of a miracle for its people. Rid of dictator Fulgencio Batista, the displays described how within months of the new government taking over Cubans enjoyed lower rents, […]
After a busy day exploring Havana’s historic sites, there is little more relaxing than enjoying a mojito on the expansive colonnaded veranda and the well-kept lawn terrace of Hotel Nacional. Palm trees bring welcome shade for your ringside view of the Malecon – the Cuban capital’s 9km open […]
For the buildings that do still stand, the long process of restoring Habana Vieja has begun. City Historian Eusebio Leal Spengler – who has been working in the city since 1982 when the district gained World Heritage status from Unesco – set up a holding company called Habaguanex […]
Rather than the cobbled streets, lively squares and colourfully painted colonial era homes and public buildings from tourist brochures, my first experience of Habana Vieja (old Havana) was that of dilapidation. I walked through narrow, sewage-laden alleys with crumbling buildings that looked like they could topple at any […]
Past In The Present 