Havana oases – Travels in Cuba

Havana Landmarks – some tips

This post features tips about places you will probably consider visiting in Havana, whether you are travelling alone or with a guided group. Your guide book (or my book Travels in Cuba) will have more background information, but my insider tips will hopefully help you get more pleasure out of your visit.

Tip #1 Take photos in the Cemetery of Colon (Necropolis de Colon)

If you like taking dramatic black and white photographs, you should visit the Cemetery of Colon in Vedado, which is overflowing with extravagant white marble statues and mausoleums from the 19^th and 20^th centuries. The cemetery is vast and park-like and contains the elaborate tombstones of famous as well as not-so-famous Cubans.

One tomb you shouldn’t miss is that of Amelia Goyri, a well-to-do lady who died in childbirth and was buried with her child. Her fame is based on two miracles connected with her burial. The grave is marked by a life-size statue of Amelia holding a baby in one arm and a large cross in the other. Local people – mostly women – visit the grave to pray for the health of mothers and babies, leaving flowers at the feet of “La Milagrosa”, the miraculous one. Continue reading Havana Landmarks – some tips

The Ambos Mundos: Hemingway’s hotel in Havana

While wandering down Obispo in Havana’s picturesque pedestrian zone, Julian and I came upon a hotel with considerable character called ‘Ambos Mundos’.
“What does that mean?” I asked my Cuban friend.
“Yes, it’s a strange name,” he answered, “It means ‘both worlds’, as in the best of both worlds.”

It turns out that Ernest Hemingway, the American author most closely connected with Cuba, lived at the Ambos Mundos from 1932 to 1939. It’s where he started writing his famous book For Whom the Bell Tolls Continue reading The Ambos Mundos: Hemingway’s hotel in Havana

Oases of solitude in mid-Havana

Havana’s historic centre is movement, loud music, entertainment. It’s non-stop camera clicking, jiniteros vying for your attention, crazy coco-taxis buzzing past. But among all the noise and bustle there are pockets of calm waiting to be discovered and enjoyed for what they are — a chance to pause and observe, to sit down and bask in silence, to reflect on the vicissitudes of history.

The most striking of these oases is the vast courtyard of the Convento de Santa Clara de Asis, just a few blocks off Obispo. When I arrived there the street door was closed, but the warden, who was sitting just inside playing dominoes with a friend, let me in to look around. I stayed there – alone – for over an hour. The courtyard is a garden of trees and cloistered walkways, flowers and beautifully restored buildings dating from 1643. The convent no longer houses nuns, but now contains a hostel and the offices of the Havana Restoration Project.

A more visible sort of garden oasis found every few blocks in the centre of Havana is the “pocket park”. This is a sort of green living room for block residents. Tall palms and hanging vines provide shade for the many benches, while birds and fountains provide calming background music. Men read newspapers and play chess, mothers and grandmothers wait for children to be released from school, toddlers chase pigeons… and there’s still room for the odd tourist or two.