By 
The last few days I have spent a lot of time walking through the center of Havana, or Old Havana, as they say around here. It is an extremely fascinating place and one of the most architecturally consistent colonial urban centers in the world.
A few days ago my local friend Pedro and I went to explore the Capitol, which is a beautiful building that, ironically, is very reminiscent of the Capitol in Washington. Built between 1926 and 1929 as the former seat of the Cuban government, its neoclassical exterior is complemented by an absolutely stunning Roman interior with all kinds of meeting rooms, a library, a souvenir shop, and an internet cafe. In the main entrance hall there is a huge statue that welcomes you as you enter, a truly amazing building.
The park outside the Capitol is one of my favorite places, despite the lack of seats and bench backs. Yesterday I also had the opportunity to visit Partagas Tobacco Company, a cigar factory that has existed since 1845. I did the $ 10 tour and saw the tobacco rolling school where students learn to produce cigars for 90 days. Later we move upstairs to the area where authentic cigars are made. Workers have quotas of 80-200 cigars a day (some of which miraculously hit the black market …) and workers sit at old wooden workstations and manually roll tobacco, while at other stations I work the outer sheet and then the label and boxes are added. I really wanted to see a tobacco factory, as tobacco remains a key industry in Cuba to this day.
Along these lines, I had the opportunity to see residential areas in Old Havana, where people live in extremely narrow conditions in collapsed houses, with the occasional house that has already collapsed, among others. Everyone’s life takes place on the street, you see children, couples, the elderly, dogs and cats at all hours of the day, people generally sit and chat, and children play street versions of “the ball”, which is baseball, the national sport. This street life is something really different than a Nordic city like Toronto, where there are only a few areas where there is significant foot traffic. And people generally don’t sit outside their houses or apartments to chat in the middle of the night.
I also had the opportunity to see the Havana train station, of course absolutely crowded with people, the port area and some fairly abandoned industrial areas with dilapidated buildings. The lack of money is evident everywhere.
Next to the Capitol is the National Theater, which is right next to the famous Hotel Inglaterra and facing Central Park, where men of all ages meet to discuss news related to their national sport. Two days ago it was the final of the playoffs between Havana Campo (if I’m right) and Santiago de Cuba, the second most important city in the country. Obviously a lot in this country, and Havana ended up losing 2 to 1, but despite the defeat a great opportunity for the locals to celebrate.
Walking through the famous pedestrian street Calle Obispo, which has many expensive shops for tourists, you approach the really old historic center of Old Havana, places like the Plaza de la Catedral (where there was a mass for Pope John Paul II around a week ago), Plaza Vieja and, my favorite place: Plaza de Armas. This plaza dates back to the early 16th century and houses the city’s former administrative office, as well as several other Spanish colonial buildings that surround a beautiful park with a statue of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, the founder of the Cuban homeland.
Yesterday I also had the opportunity to explore a market that opens every Wednesday to Saturday right next to the Malecón, near the Plaza de Armas, where they sell all kinds of trinkets and merchandise for tourists. I had the opportunity to collect some little souvenirs for my husband and my colleagues and then I sat in a small outdoor cafe where there was a young Cuban band playing traditional old Cuban music. What was really interesting was an organ that they played and that must have been from the 1920s, accompanied by all kinds of Cuban percussion. I really love Cuban music, but I haven’t had a chance to listen to it much yet. My friend and I wanted to go visit the “Casa de la Música” yesterday where they play live music at a reasonable price, but for some reason it was closed, which is not unusual around here.
I also had the opportunity to walk to “Prado”, a long avenue with a pedestrian walkway with trees on both sides and two lines of traffic on both sides of the pedestrian zone, something reminiscent of the Ramblas in Barcelona. Very close to the Prado is the Museum of the Revolution, which was the palace of the last Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista, before the Revolution. Fidel Castro’s yacht, the “Granma” that he used to cross from Mexico with his fellow rebels, is on display in a glass-enclosed building just behind the Palace-like Museum of the Revolution, and is surrounded by several tanks and military vehicles dating back to of the revolutionary combat. The revolution is definitely present wherever you go.
I think I have seen most of the important places in the city, excluding the Plaza de la Revolución, which houses the Central Committee and the political apparatus of the Cuban government. I have yet to take a little excursion to that area and also take a photo or two of the Che Guevara memorial, who still seems to be a highly revered individual around here, often admitted more than Fidel Castro.
2 weeks is quite a long time to spend in a city and due to the fact that I have completely immersed myself in the culture, I think I have a pretty good idea of Havana and I am mentally preparing to go home slowly but safe. . It has been great, but I am also happy to come home to see my husband, my friends, to regain my normal life. There are only 2 and a half days left for my Cuban experiment and there are a few more places to see, but I’m also looking forward to going home to Toronto.