Cuba – The taste of Havana
Buildings with peeling paint line the tumult of the once great avenues and squares of the city, all the way to Centro Habana. Tiny Russian Ladas scamper alongside huge 1950s American Fords, Chevys and Cadillacs. Dueling horns sound as taxi drivers weave their latest shipment of gringos between rickety bikes, heavy horses, wobbly wagons and steaming food stalls. Between it all, eclectic Havanans, the hustle, bustle, delay and laziness during another day of post-Revolution life.
Rounding a corner, you’ll see rusty farmers aboard their limping donkeys wandering past gossiping old men in rocking chairs, fanning themselves in the oppressive midday heat. Sassy young girls in electric spandex body stockings and micro mini strut with feigned contempt past the leering gazes of brooding men loitering on street corners. The school children laugh, play, flirt and joke around, comically imitating them all. Spanish meets African: a beautiful mix of exotic milk and dark chocolate in all shapes and shades.
Nowhere to be seen are billboards covered with Western celebrities sporting overly bleached smiles and the latest flavor of soda. Instead, there are the watchful eyes of former “El Comandante” Fidel and Comrade “Che” Guevara, whose face you might remember from Western celebrity T-shirts with all-too-bleached smiles. On highways and streets, huge billboards, murals, and well-placed “graffiti” scream reminders of Viva la Revolución.
Tourism in Cuba is by no means overwhelming, but it is growing. Mostly in the considerable form of sun-hungry Europeans and Canadians on their hibernation-escape vacation packages. During the northern winter months, these curious-looking creatures migrate through the wide plazas in the late morning hours, before grazing in expensive restaurants, drinking ten-dollar cocktails in Hemingway bars, strolling through souvenirs with absurd prices and finally disappear. into a dense jungle of waiting wagons.
To avoid being crushed (or eaten) by the herd, it is advisable to start sightseeing early. Stroll through “must see” attractions such as the Cigar Factory and Museum, Plaza de la Catedral, Plaza de Armas, and Plaza San Francisco, and must-see museums on the tourist trail before noon. A quaint and reasonably priced treat for the palate is not hard to find. Just stand outside the most expensive souvenir shop and walk at least three blocks in any direction.
The only way to lap up the true character of Havana is to wander the roads less traveled. You could spend an afternoon holed up in an open-air bar/music store sampling CDs, tapes and cold beers with local fans eager to voice their opinion on Cuba’s best musical styles. Or weave through the maze of colorful streets and faded alleys, playing, posing and chatting breathlessly with the friendly and curious. Then I strolled down the shimmering Malacon waterfront, past the brooding men who’d managed to charm one of the girls by strutting into a kiss, safely hidden from her father’s steely gaze.
Cuba is the safest country in Latin America. As one local joked, “There are 11 million people in Cuba, and 7 million of them are police officers.” There is a notable number of police and soldiers in the streets, however, it is the eyes and ears of the Revolution that they fear the most. However, wherever in the world you find “rich” Westerners, there are always some of those entertaining but troublesome professionals, the con artist.
To be pushed around in Cuba is to open your box of “genuine” Coheba cigars to discover that they weren’t actually rolled around the thighs of a country virgin, but in the greasy, sweaty hands of some city mechanic. You are being guided to “a bar that appears in the movie Buena Vista Social Club” for highly requested drinks, before staggering back to the hotel and suddenly realizing that all the bars in Havana look like the ones at the Buena Vista Social Club. . It’s fun, irritating, generally harmless, so don’t let the idea of being picked on stop you from meeting warm, passionate and proud Havanans.
Music is the blood of Cuba, so take advantage of the opportunity where it presents itself. Slip into the restaurants and bars that surround Obispo and listen to jazz and rumba bands play Cuban classics.
A smorgasbord of fantastic entertainment after dark awaits in Havana. Folkloric and traditional music venues, such as the Casa de la Trova, offer the public a true son-style performance amidst the intimate setting of the courtyard of a ruined Vedado building.
At the newer resort, you can sit on a leather stool in a piano bar with a drink and listen to some of Cuba’s best musicians and singers before the nightclubs, cabarets and discos beckon.
It is forbidden for a tourist to leave Havana without spending a night at the Cabaret Salón Rojo, once a haven for the 1950s mafia. For $10, a waiter dressed in dinner attire will bring endless amounts of punch. rum and beer to your front row table, as you enjoy eye-catching entertainment both on and off stage. Marriages, hardships and inhibitions are left in the Salon’s wardrobe, as exotic young women slip seductively into the arms of Western businessmen, Cuban couples and friends lose themselves in music and laughter, and young backpackers fall in love. of almost anyone who is willing. to give them a sidelong glance.
The deep red curtains, plush rug, and low lighting are the perfect backdrop for this decadence, and the cabaret show itself is a retro delight. Big band music makes shapely exotic dancers in sequenced thongs tremble like rattlesnakes, while rousing singers in matching sequenced vests and skin-tight vinyl pants pump up the crowd. Once the show is over, the crowd packs onto the stage and breaks into a salsa frenzy.
There are two things you will want to take with you on a trip to Cuba. A good grasp of Cuban Spanish and some hot dance footwork. Having arrived without either, we opted for the crash course: the Rijo Lounge all-inclusive drinks pass.