So I was back in Havana after having seen Baracoa, Santiago de Cuba, Camaguey, Trinidad, Cinfuegos, and Santa Clara. Now that I’d experienced the smaller towns of Cuba, I felt ready to take on the hustle and bustle of Havana. Even though I feel comfortable in big cities, I missed the intimacy of small town Cuba and the ability to easily walk to all the sights (more importantly, to the Casa de la Trova!).
Hemingway spent a good number of years in Havana and a number of bars claim to be where he spent a lot of his time (just like almost every coffee shop in Edinburgh claims to have had J.K. Rowling having written Harry Potter in their shop). Havana’s most famous bar is ‘La Bodeguita del Medio’ which, as per Papa Hemingway had the best Mojitos in Havana. Patrons at this bar are encouraged to write graffiti on the walls which makes it an interesting place to down a drink. So ‘La Bodeguita del Medio’ is famous for Mojitos, then which bar has the best Daiquiris. That honour goes to Floridita. Hotel Ambos Mundos is where Hemingway used to stay on his visits to Havana and, of course, that hotel doesn’t forget to remind the visitor of that fact (along with selling overpriced Mojitos).
The most famous building of Havana is the El Capitolio which used to be the seat of the legislature till the Revolution. This building is supposedly modelled on Washington’s Capitol Hill. Just behind this (fittingly) is the former Partagas cigar factory. I picked up a few of those overpriced sticks of tobacco from there. I also visited the ‘Museo de la Revolucion’ which was part history part propaganda but some of the photographs were interesting.
Most of the rest of my time in Havana I spent at the Nacional Hotel (a lovely sea front Hotel, where the rich and famous of Havana come to unwind) and at the Jazz Café. Like I said, music is never far away in Cuba.
On my last day in Cuba, I made a day trip tour to the western side of the Island towards Vinales valley – where a lot of tobacco is grown. The topography of this side of the country was very different from what I had seen on the Eastern side. Vinales valley has interesting geological structures called Mogotes (which are cliffs which look more than islands in the middle of the valley). Apart from going to a Cigar-rolling factory and a Rum workshop, I also visited this cave (cueva del Indio) where we were given a boat ride inside the dark and dingy cave on the stream that flows through the cave.
I was feeling a bit down that day knowing that it was my last day in Cuba. Oh well, I might return one day – but I’ll have to perfect my dance steps before that.
Hemingway spent a good number of years in Havana and a number of bars claim to be where he spent a lot of his time (just like almost every coffee shop in Edinburgh claims to have had J.K. Rowling having written Harry Potter in their shop). Havana’s most famous bar is ‘La Bodeguita del Medio’ which, as per Papa Hemingway had the best Mojitos in Havana. Patrons at this bar are encouraged to write graffiti on the walls which makes it an interesting place to down a drink. So ‘La Bodeguita del Medio’ is famous for Mojitos, then which bar has the best Daiquiris. That honour goes to Floridita. Hotel Ambos Mundos is where Hemingway used to stay on his visits to Havana and, of course, that hotel doesn’t forget to remind the visitor of that fact (along with selling overpriced Mojitos).
The most famous building of Havana is the El Capitolio which used to be the seat of the legislature till the Revolution. This building is supposedly modelled on Washington’s Capitol Hill. Just behind this (fittingly) is the former Partagas cigar factory. I picked up a few of those overpriced sticks of tobacco from there. I also visited the ‘Museo de la Revolucion’ which was part history part propaganda but some of the photographs were interesting.
Most of the rest of my time in Havana I spent at the Nacional Hotel (a lovely sea front Hotel, where the rich and famous of Havana come to unwind) and at the Jazz Café. Like I said, music is never far away in Cuba.
On my last day in Cuba, I made a day trip tour to the western side of the Island towards Vinales valley – where a lot of tobacco is grown. The topography of this side of the country was very different from what I had seen on the Eastern side. Vinales valley has interesting geological structures called Mogotes (which are cliffs which look more than islands in the middle of the valley). Apart from going to a Cigar-rolling factory and a Rum workshop, I also visited this cave (cueva del Indio) where we were given a boat ride inside the dark and dingy cave on the stream that flows through the cave.
I was feeling a bit down that day knowing that it was my last day in Cuba. Oh well, I might return one day – but I’ll have to perfect my dance steps before that.
