A Different View of Cuba, Through My Lens

The first thing that struck me as I walked out of the José Martí Havana airport was the presence in the parking lot of vintage American cars from the 1940s and 1950s.

Those often seen pictures of Havana with old Chevies and Fords are not shots of auto shows or special events. That’s just the way the streets look in Cuba.

Maybe a quarter or a third of the cars on the streets are pre-revolutionary American cars, from 1958 and earlier. The rest are mostly nondescript late-model European and Asian sedans or commercial vans that blend into the background.

We were met at the airport by our American tour director from General Tours/Insight Cuba, Jeff Phillippe, and Rafael Benavides, our local tour guide from Havanatur, the Cuban ground operator. They were to be our good friends and allies for the next week.

A true classic at the Havana Jose Marti airport.

They took us to our hotel, the Melia Cohiba, a five-star hotel that stands over the sea wall where Havana meets the Caribbean.

It might have been a shade below the five-star standard in more developed countries, but it was luxurious, comfortable, safe, with friendly service and its own gallery of excellent paintings.

The Melia Cohiba Hotel in Havana.

Our first night we had dinner at El Templete restaurant, located on the ocean drive in Havana. Like most of the restaurants, it is state-owned and operated, but they don’t feel any different than privately owned restaurants. We sat outside under a canopy near where the cars of Havana drive along the waterfront.

Old Havana is the highlight of the whole trip, an enchanting place to be with its ornate colonial architecture, and balconies reminiscent of New Orleans, with which Havana shares much in character.

The area is increasingly becoming a tourist hot spot, similar in ambience to the revived historical sections in many European cities.

The Old Havana section.

A classic car in the Old Havana section.

We took a break at an Old Havana coffee shop.

And you'd be silly not to people watch from the outdoor cafes in Old Havana.

The interior design in Old Havana restaurants is stunning at times.

At a community project called Todos en los Manos, where children are instructed in the dramatic arts, we watched Cuban children perform a play, and then they invited us to join them in a dance.

Children are always irresistibly cute everywhere. It’s a good way for people to connect on a people-to-people cultural exchange.

The children of Todo los Manos.

In the Floridita restaurant in Old Havana, which was known as Hemingway’s favorite bar when he lived in Cuba for more than 20 years, there is a statue of him in the place where he is said to have stood.

The restaurant also claims to be the first place to have served the Hemingway Daquiri, which is made of white rum, fresh lime juice, fresh grapefruit juice, maraschino liqueur and a lime wheel for garnish.

Up close with the Hemingway statue.

The Hemingway statue from a wider view.

John Lennon has a park named after him in Havana. There is a statue of him sitting on a park bench and an inscription on the ground that says in Spanish,

“You may think I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” Rafael told us that initially Fidel didn’t like the Beatles, but in later years he grew to appreciate John Lennon and actually appeared at the unveiling of the statue in John Lennon Park.

John Lennon statue in the middle of the park named after him.

The mighty Caribbean often splashes over Havana’s sea wall even when the weather isn’t particularly rough. Hurricanes are a significant part of Cuba’s tumultuous history.

Someone called the sea wall, “the world’s longest couch,” because in the evenings, many people gather near the wall and sit on it.

After four nights in Havana, the Classic Cuba itinerary hits the road and heads south across the island to Trinidad on the south coast, where the group was lodged in an all-inclusive beach resort called Brisas Trinidad del Mar.

Along the way we got a view of the Cuban countryside, and made stops along the way to eat and to meet some artists at the Jose Fuster Art Project.

We saw the actual Bay of Pigs, though it now looks much like any other bay. Brisas was similar to all-inclusive beach resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean, with plenty of food and drinks, many activities to keep guests occupied, and a glorious beach. 

A view from the Brisas del Mar resort in Trinidad.

Sunrise over the beach in Trinidad.

The town of Trinidad is full of color and life, with art galleries, shops, restaurants, and music, always music. In Cuba live music is everywhere all the time, at breakfast, lunch, dinner and into the night, on the street, in the cafes.

Cuba lives up to its reputation as a musical mecca. People don’t have many of the entertainment options we are used to, but music is a living, ongoing presence.

Saturday in Trinidad, the street scene at night.

The band captivated us in Trinidad.

Fast food, Cuba style.

On the way back to Havana from Trinidad, we stopped for lunch in Palacio del Valle, a palace that was previously one of the homes of the dictator Fulgencia Batista, whom Castro overthrew.

Now it is a restaurant with the most splendid, opulent atmosphere imaginable. It was like having lunch as the guest of a Russian czar.

Lunch at the palace-turned-eatery Palacio del Valle.

After two nights in Trinidad, we returned to Havana for one more night before bidding a fond farewell. Havana was hard to leave. It gets under your skin, winds its way into your heart.

Looking forward hopefully to a return trip some day.

Havana skyline at dawn from the Melia Hotel.