Impressions of Havana

On By syaltimateIn Atlantic, Cuba, La Habana, Media Blog

First hours in La Habana

that was on our way to Havana at breakfast stop
bbq porc
wasn’t that a cute tractor
this pretty lady was just around the corner of our accommodation
start of our stroll through Old Havana
in Old Havana there were many nice little bars/caffees
a sewing room plant in the heart of Old Havana
we found this beautiful old farmacie
this old man was playing the piano in the lobby of a hotel
Plaza de Armas
here we were close to the inner bay, the east border of Old Havana
old transportation meet modern ones
that statue sat on the other side at Habana del Este
they seemed to have so many canons that they used it in all towns to keep streets car free
in front of El Templete museum
Inside the chapel are three large paintings of the mass by French painter Jean-Baptiste Vermay (1786–1833).
El Templete ” little temple” Statue in Plaza de Armas was built in the early 19th century, it marks the spot where Havana’s first mass was celebrated
the park of Plaza de Armas
I liked that over grown well
one of the many statues in Old Havana
an impressive entrance
such a cute pussycat
interesting wall art
Coche Mambí, a 1900 train car built in the US and brought to Cuba in 1912; “put into service as the Presidential Car, it’s a palace on wheels, with a formal dining room and louvered wooden windows” a pity we didn’t visited the inside 
Plaza Vieja
the further south we walked the more ruins we saw
we found a market with way more products available than in Cienfuegos
the further we walked the more “normal cuban life” we saw
parque Cristo
in this area the relation tourist / Cubans was much better
as we still had some time until our cooking event we had rest there at Parque Cervantes

Then we were off to Guanabacoa where we had our cooking class

the spiritual room of Surama, our chief
all the items had meanings
Surama, Ted, preparing the “Canchánchara” cocktail and El Capitano
honey, lime juice and rum; easy
our ingredients
cutting went well with canchánchara
I looked a little messy after cooking; Surana looked fine
on our way back to our casa particular, we stopped at plaza central
many cool cars in front of Hotel Inglaterra
at the rooftop of Hotel inglaterra
some people had ordered huge lobster, it did not look nice to me

Second day in Havana

We first went to the famous Malecón, the maritime promenade, where we enjoyed a delicious breakfast in a very pretty cafe with the name Malecón 663. Being full of energy we then kept on walking and let ourselves drift through the city.

the house in the middle was our casa particular
Parque 13 de Marzo
some wrecks down houses, we were not sure if people were still living there
it was a big difference being outside of Old Havana, a lot of areas looked sad
but people still tried to make it a bit more pleasant
the Malecón in the early morning looking east
here looking west to the district of Vedado
Fragments of the text written by Rafael Miranda San Juan, the author of this emblematic work:
“Faces can show the soul of the people, the diversity of gender. It is imposible for me to avoid beauty, confrontation and transculturation among us. Today our globalized world is this. It is presence here and
there”
Why women? Because they are the utmost expression of life. My interest, as an artist, is to donate this piece to the heart of the city.
May it beat among us, so that passersby may coexist with it and forever treasure it in their memory”
more art along the Malecón
power distribution box
the pelican knew where to get an easy breakfast, that’s why he liked staying with the fisher
he was a friendly pelican

Breakfast at Malecón 663 restaurant/cafe and boutique hotel equipped with a cool decoration

A quick visit at Hotel Nacional

This famous old hotel had a garden with a cool view over the bay which we wanted to check out

its difficult to see, but the garden was quite elevated above the sea
and these were the tuktuks which used to be used a lot in Havana, we haven’t seen much of them anymore

District of Vedado and back to Old Havana

Vedado impressed with some pretty areas
avenida de los presidentes
the sad decay of buildings, unfortunately everywhere
exhausted from our loooongwalk we decided to take a cab back
a view of “el Capitolio”
the cool car needed a pick up
we went back to Parque Cristo
here we had dinner at a restaurant with a rooftop
Plaza de la Catedral at night

Impressions of Vista Hermosa farm in Bacuranao

I took this pic while we were waiting to be picked up to visit the farm, we were waiting just around the corner of our accommodation
the farm
oxen were still used to plow the land
happy chick
lazy pics
busy workers preparing sugar cane sticks
peacocks enjoying their life
poultry having a walk
this cactus was very old about 100 years
grazing cow
plenty of veggies
a strong bull
guinea pigs, we learned that those cute pigs prevent from rats; apparently rats can’t stand the smell of guinea pigs
cuddling piglets
orchids
and the hungry crew

Some evening impressions of northern part of Old Havana

Havana Police Headquarters , a fort of the Policia Nacional Revolucionria de la Habana; it was designed like a medieval castle and was built in the 20th century
a park close to Avenida del Puerto
always waiting to hunt some tourists
another evening at the hotel inglaterra, it was a nice place to end the evening

More walking on our last day

in Vedado I saw this little shop, my favourite were the many old sewing machines
Che was everywhere
Mr. Einstein at the university
at the vicinity of the university
a street in Central Havana
and obviously back in the touristy area
queuing for ice cream, it was absolutely worse waiting as the ice cream was sensational

4 thoughts on “Impressions of Havana”

  1. Eamon Crosbie's avatar Eamon Crosbie

    Hi guys, I love looking at your photos of Cuba and now I feel I must visit it sometime soon. You seem to be having a great time. Keep up the good work. Safe travels. Lots of love, Eamon

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    1. Hi Eamon, great to hear from you and we hope all is well on you side. We liked Cuba so much that we decided to go via Cuba back to Panama and skip Belize and the Bay Islands. All the best, Norbert & Sabine

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  2. Franzi2a's avatar Franzi2a

    Hallo Sabine , herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag und dass Du auch in Zukunft noch viel Freude an den Events hast. Gleichfalls liebe Grüße an Norbert. Die Tante

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    1. Liebes Tantchen, vielen Dank fuer die Glückwünsche. Ich hoffe es geht Dir gut und vielleicht sehen wir uns mal wieder im Sommer, wenn wir nach Deutschland kommen. Alles Gute, Sabine

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