lahabana. com magazine

lahabana. com magazine

1 AUG 2016INCLUDING GUIDE TO THE BEST PLACES TO EAT, DRINK, DANCE AND STAY IN HAVANA

lahabanamagazine

INCLUDING GUIDE TO THE BEST PLACES TO EAT, DRINK, DANCE AND STAY IN HAVANAAUG

SUMMERA LO CUBANO


2 AUG 2016

magazine

3 MAY 2016

LA HABANA.COM is an independent platform, which seeks to showcase the best in Cuba arts & culture, life-style, sport, travel and much more...

We seek to explore Cuba through the eyes of the best writers, photographers and filmmakers, both Cuban and international, who live work, travel and play in Cuba. Beautiful pictures, great videos, opinionated reviews, insightful articles and inside tips.

HAVANA GUIDEThe ultimate guide to Havana with detailed reviews of where toeat, drink, dance, shop, visit and play. Unique insights to the place that a gregarious, passionate and proud people call home.

HAVANALISTINGS


magazine

AUG 2016

performances of 12 principal dancers from ballet companies from the United States, Russia, Great Britain, Germany and Italy.

There’s a wide selection of kids’ activities this month, from the circus, to variety shows, to musicals, to puppet shows at theaters, the Zoo, the Trompoloco Big Tent, the Aquarium and even the Coppelia Ice Cream Parlor. Our thanks to Jauretsi for her input on how to make the most of your holiday in Cuba and how to live like a local on your vacation to Cuba.

And to top the summer day, take a stroll down the Malecón in the evening, when the temperature is milder and the sea breeze refreshes everyone who sits on Havana’s most famous lounge. Read about it in the article We’ll Always Have the Malecón. Havana in the summer—and in any other season—is fascinating. So take advantage of it, appreciate it, love it.

Abrazos! The LaHabana.com Team

EDITORIAL

¡Qué calor! Boy, it’s hot! That’s what you hear the most on the street these days in Havana…and all across Cuba. Because August sees the thermometer rise and the pace of life slow down. Long hot summer days full of humidity fill the month, and you always hope for an afternoon shower that refreshes a little…just a little. You can’t hide from the heat so embrace it and enjoy what the city has in store for you these days.

And what better way than to go to the beach. So in this issue we pack our swimsuits and take you to Juliet Barclay’s pick of the best beach in Cuba: the idyllic Playa Pilar on Cayo Guillermo. Although you don’t have to go so far to find crystal-clear waters and fine golden sand. Several articles dwell on how Havana residents spend their holidays at the beaches on the city’s northern coast, the Playas del Este. And not only by the sea, but close to rivers, camp sites or visiting relatives in the provinces.

However, if you’re looking for other things besides swimming and tanning, the capital has great things to do in the summer. Music-wise, the Hip-hop Festival takes place from August 25 to 28, the Rap Festival from August 13 to 18, and Verano in Jibacoa, Cuba’s top electronic music festival, from August 5 to 7. The Jibacoa festival combines beach and music, so it’s great for killing two birds with one stone. And for a folkloric taste of Cuba, the Timbalaye Rumba Festival (August 26-30 in Havana & Matanzas) will open at the Regla district across the bay with the performances of several folkloric dance and music groups.If you like ballet, this month offers a special treat: Ballet Royalty (August 20 at the Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso) an exceptional opportunity to enjoy the



5 AUG 2016


6 AUG 2016

Cuba Travel Network: Definitely Di fferent

Why travel with Cuba Travel Network?

Come and experience Cuba with a company that’s passionate about the magical island. Our on theground team in Cuba is the first to know about the country’s developments—from new hotels and tourpossibilities to ever-changing travel regulations, and we love to show our beautiful home to the world.

With Cuba Travel Network, experience Cuba as a traveler, not a tourist.

• CTN is the premier travel service provider for the individual traveler planning trips to Cuba, handlingaccommodation, all domestic flights and excursions.• On-the-ground assistance from expert concierge representatives throughout the island.• Choose from fully guided, flexible and special interest tours.• Real-time availability and immediate booking confirmation for 220+ hotels and 50+ rental car locations.• Secure online payment; Visa & MasterCard accepted.

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Rest of the world - [email protected] | +53 (0)7 214 0090

CubaTravelNetwork.com

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AUG 2016

CONTENTS AUG 2016

SUMMERA LO CUBANO

08

50

39

42

46

14

54

17

56

22

60

63

25

29

32

36

10 Pitfalls to Avoid (or “Save Your Cuban Holiday”)

Summer on the Litoral Norte Northern Shore

Beach Party

Verano in Old Havana

The Delightful Rivers of Cuba

Live Like a Cuban

Summer days!

As sure as the day is long

Cuba’s best beach

Summertime the Cuban way

Summer in Havana

Cuba on vacation

Visiting Family and Friends in the Summer

We’ll Always Have the Malecón

Daring to Dream the Olympics

Surviving Dominoes


HAVANA LISTINGS

HAVANA GUIDE

VISUAL ARTSPHOTOGRAPHYDANCE

MUSICTHEATREFOR KIDSEVENTS

FEATURES RESTAURANTS BARS & CLUBS LIVE MUSIC HOTELS PRIVATE ACCOMMODATION


8 AUG 2016

(or “Save Your Cuban Holiday”)

10 PITFALLS

TO AVOID

By Jauretsi

This may seem like a scary essay on bad things in Cuba, but I assure you, it is every bit just as positive. You see, any one of these challenges can arise during a stay, but with a little foresight and smart packing, you can evade the bad stuff like Neo dodged the Agents in Matrix. Every country has its own version of things to watch out for. In Havana, at least, there is no need to double check your shoes for hidden scorpions nestled in your socks like Costa Rica; however, if you travel deep into the countryside in eastern Cuba, you may have several creepy crawlies to protect against. So here it is, we present you with the good, the bad, and the ugly. Cuba is not one of those places with a drugstore around the corner, nor is there is Best Buy nearby for techy needs. Heed the following, and be a hero on your Cuban holiday.


9 AUG 2016

SUNSTROKEYou would think most people know this by now, but there’s always a few cocky travelers who wish to challenge the sun. This summer, temperatures are easily reaching up to 90 °F 32 °C (and more), so pack those SPF’s in your beach bag. Waterproof is even better. If you do happen to fall asleep in the sun, or carelessly got get caught up drinking daiquiris outdoors unbeknownst to your sunburn, fear not, a few home remedies by a local Cuban can make all the difference. First off, Vinegar is a healer to dab on a sunburn. An aloe plant is master remedy for sunburns, and can sometimes be found where vegetables are sold. To avoid the whole mess on long walks, hold up an umbrella while walking the hot streets of Havana. It is good to know that parasol culture is still alive in Cuba. Another common Cuban accessory is the hand held fan, à la Karl Lagerfeld. The classic shop to purchase one is named La Casa del Abanico en la Habana Vieja (Obrapía 109, e/ Mercaderes y Oficios).

This is the Caribbean. Rains can make for a humid day, and worse yet, a fertile breeding ground for pesky mosquitos. The past few years has seen a rise in Dengue fever in Cuba, so make it a priority to pack mosquito spray for your next trip. Dengue can be areal vacation killers as well as giant health risk. Symptoms can begin 3 to 14 days after infection. If you prefer to avoid toxic deet chemicals found in over-the-counter producers (such as OFF), consider using Dr. Scholls Big Spray, which contains natural oils. We’ve road tested it, and it works. Smart for children too. If you’ve already been bitten and need to heal, try some toothpaste on the affected area. If you can get to a local farmers market, try applying one of the following: chopped onions, aloe vera, raw honey, or lime/lemons to the skin. In addition to mosquito spray, if your vacation includes a trip to the rural forests of Viñales, you may want to pack a little citronella candle to guard your room through the night.

12. MOSQUITOS


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34

ASTHMAIf you’re the type to suffer acute asthma, Havana streets can sometimes trigger some wheeziness due to the car exhaust of some vintage vehicles. Cuba does not have the standard emission testing of United States for vehicles, so expect a few cars to spit out black smoke. There is also no smoking laws inside clubs, so expect some smoky nightclubs (Hello Gato Tuerto). It’s nothing a rescue inhaler cannot fix. The other precaution to be mindful of is which “casa particular” you are renting from. Please ask to see photos of the rooms in advance. Luckily, Airbnb provides the luxury of scooping out the home before confirming. Some rooms (very rare, though) have no windows, which can collect a musty smell. Others can have mold building in the walls (note: some hotels can also have mold build-up too). If you detect this early, ask for another room. If you are stuck for the night, take a walk outside, visit the pool or backyard for fresh air. In dire cases, the foreigner’s hospital, Cira García, is located near in the Playa district. Your flight ticket comes with automatic insurance, and the clinic will be able to provide you with a quick nebulizer to get back on your feet. The second home enemy is dust mites, which might be found in old mattresses. Many Cubans do not replace mattresses every six years as recommended by allergy experts. If you are sensitive to dust mites, bring an allergy bed cover for mattress and pillows (easy to pack). Bad sleep equals a groggy traveler. This can save your holiday slumber and keep you focused, alert, and ready to build fun memories to last a lifetime.

This curse is the most dreaded sentence for any holiday—be it Cuba or India. Nothing kills an adventurous holiday like Montezuma’s Revenge. For starters, DO NOT DRINK tap water. Even if a local friend offers you a glass, and tells that they never get it. Keep in mind that locals may have developed an antibody over the years, unlike your delicate American tummy which will violently respond to the same glass of water. The instruction is simple: Bring a bottle Pepto-Bismol. It cannot be bought in Cuba. If you don’t use it, better yet! Now you can leave a gift to a friendly local or fellow traveler. Pay it forward. Pepto now comes in little cute pink pills if you can’t carry a liquid bottle in your rollaway bag. Forgot the Pepto? Here are some home remedies: yogurt, ginger, apple cider vinegar, banana and chamomile tea. For the uber sensitive, brush your teeth with bottled water and be mindful of ice cubes served in drinks via street vendors. Most of the fancy paladars are trustworthy with ice-cubes since most of their clients are foreigners… and who wants to upset their clients? If you feel the slightest tiny case threatening your health, drink LOTS of bottled water to wish it away. In serious cases of dysentery, please visit the Cira García Clinic

DIARRHEA


11 AUG 2016

I will preface this section by saying that Cuba is one of the safest places to travel. Due to the lack of gun culture by the general population (police are able to carry guns), it is not common to hear of “stick-ups” on the corner. In general, it is safe to say that Cubans are not violent people, compared to some neighboring Caribbean countries. Having said all this, don’t be careless or cocky. Hold on tight to your iPhones. In a country with zero Apple stores, you can imagine the determination to snag an iPhone, and much more to resell it on the black market. Put your phones away while on vacation. Due to the lack of wifi on every block, this should be an exercise in living off-the-screen, so take advantage of that. You can Instagram when you get home. If you’re an American, you will most likely be carrying a fair share of cash, so be smart about where you leave it in the hotel or home. The bigger hotels have safes in each room. Most homes do not. It is always wise to befriend your housekeeper and tip her kindly to protect your goods. If all else fails and your cash is gone, remember that Western Union works in Cuba; however, it is not possible to send money to a foreigner. In this case, you will need to find a resident Cuban to pick up the money, in return for a “thank you” tip for spending the energy to go save your bootie.

5LIGHT THEFT

ANIMAL WATCH During the month of May and partially June, the little nuisance of sea lice can be found roaming some beaches. The little critters stick to your clothes, so if you take a dip in the ocean, just shower afterwards or remove bathing suit. Another trick is the application of oil sunscreen, which prevents the lice from sticking to your body. Jellyfish is another bummer that comes around mostly in the summer season. The beaches are mostly safe, but if for any freak chance you get stung, it is wise to know that a good paste of meat tenderizer or papaya is good to reduce pain. Another home remedy for stings is plenty of vinegar, or applying a paste made of baking soda. Good old-fashioned ice packs do wonders too. When diving on the island, also be mindful of lion fish with their poisonous spears. In terms of other animals in your general circumference, fear not, a Cuban crocodile will not face you unless you wander in swampy areas. Also, take note, if you spot a tarantula in Cuba walking into your home (a frightening sight for any tourist), be aware that it is NOT poisonous. For the most part, the Cuban tarantulas prefer to live in trees anyways.

6


12 AUG 2016

Take one trip to Cuba and you will notice the most beautiful people in the world. Add to the fact Cubans love to flirt and can get a little frisky with strangers. If you plan to do the horizontal mambo with a local Cuban, be safe. Wear a “Jimmy Hat” aka condom. Here’s the state of STDs in Cuba. All Cubans are offered free medical checkups. This means Cuban medicine focuses lots on preventative medicine, and watches other forms of problems very early in their onset. The other side of the coin is that prostitution seems to be a big money maker for some families with women begrudgingly sacrificing their bodies to make ends meet in a difficult economy. On the topic of HIV, Cuba put a big leash around the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s by quarantining any person diagnosed positive. That means quickly removing family members from their households and shipping them off to isolated medical camps to be treated. As crazy as that sounds, it put the cabash on AIDS in Cuba with few known cases arising since then. There are still plenty of other STDs that can still be contracted, especially with the high frequency of sex with outsiders. Trust us, you don’t want to play Russian roulette with your private parts. We repeat. Use caution and wear a rubber.

Cubans can be wildly creative with their storylines when trying to extract money from you. My favorite is the person trying to sell you fake cigars. The story goes: “My Mother [or wife] works at the Cohiba factory, she takes some cigars for herself, which I will sell to you for a better price.” If you are trying to impress your boss back home with a box of Cuban Cohibas, it will be quite embarrassing to discover you got him a box of fakes. Avoid any tall tales from the street and go to an official seller with boxes that are properly stamped by the government. This is one item you do not want to find on the black market. The other scam happens rarely but it does. There are times when a local offers to exchange your money into CUCs at a better exchange rate. In rare instances, the foreigner can be holding fake bills. Careful with strangers who exchange your money. This only works if you are referred by a trusted family friend who has your best interest at heart. In general, we just ask you exercise basic intelligence you would use in any country. Ask how much a ride costs before getting into the taxi. A dishonest taxi driver can overcharge you after reaching your destination, putting you in an awkward position. You may agree upon $30 for your ride, but upon arriving to the destination, it is not $30 pesos as he said (equivalent of little more than $1.00 USD). Instead, the driver changes his story and its now $30 CUCs (which is approx. $33 USD). I blame more the crappy economy than the individual who is trying to feed his family. Still, nobody likes to be played for a fool. Just keep your scam-alarm on at all times.

7. SEXY TIME 8. SCAMS


13 AUG 2016

9

BATHROOM ALERT Supplies are low in Cuba, and is most apparent in the bathroom stalls of the island. Enter most lavatories and you’ll find the lack of toilet paper, hand soap, or paper towels. The air drying machines are almost laughable. The initial intention is to turn them on, put your hands under them, until one feels the weak breeze, and ultimately wipes hands dry on pants instead. The best way to combat this shortage is to bring a ton of mini-Kleenex packs. Too much is never enough. You can always leave spare packs behind to friends. If you are a germ-phobe, bring a bottle of Purell to remove any additional bacteria. The general rule is that Havana has gotten better at supplying toilet paper (depending on which type of establishments you frequent), but if you travel to the outskirts of Cuba (i.e. Vinales, Cienfuegos, or deeper out there), be prepared to visit the “no-toilet-paper” zone. God is in the details. Bring Kleenex and your friends will love you.

TECH STUFF Snapped a lot of brilliant vacation photos? Accomplished some inspirational writing on your trip? Remember that this summer may experience a few blackouts in Cuba, thus making your computer vulnerable to crashes. We suggest to NOT leave your computer plugged into a wall during your day missions, nor at night while you sleep. Another tip is to bring a surge protector on your trip. If you don’t want to carry cumbersome hard drives, then we suggest you bring lots of SD camera cards which sort of act like a backup hard drive for your photos after you fill up a few, and keep them safe in a tiny plastic container. Also, if you can, bring a bunch of USB sticks. You may befriend a musician or filmmaker who wants to offer you music or a film. In Cuba, locals do not use WeTransfer or YouSendIt.com websites for large data transfers. Conversely speaking, you may want to offer music back as a gift to someone. Overall, USB sticks are golden in Cuba and the main form of spreading digital files, so feel free to leave some as gifts as well.

10

CUBA ON VACATION

by Victoria Alcalá


14 AUG 2016

Every country has its own rhythm. Cuba, where the workers are guaranteed one month of holidays every year, follows a beat in the working world that increases in momentum from the start of each year, after the Christmas festivities during “winter” and it picks up in intensity when spring arrives. And in June, with the advent of summer, the heat starts to slow down daily routines. With just the mention of high temperatures in the month of June, there will always be someone who proclaims: “If it’s this hot now, just wait for July and August!”

Biorhythms are on the downward spiral after the first fortnight of July. Almost everyone has booked their vacations, institutions are being manned by only the few indispensable souls, students have wrapped up their examinations and schools are deserted, some offices only stay open by a miracle… By the end of July this pace has dwindled by leaps and bounds and in the month of August the country has practically grounded to a halt. (Here’s a historical tidbit: A Sunday just after lunch in the first days of August turned out to be the perfect moment for the English to capture Havana.) Some people have said that we should just eliminate these two months from the calendar.

If you have left some minor health issue to be looked after in July or August and you are going to see a doctor, it’s quite possible you will be told that the doctor won’t be back until September. If you want to fix that pesky dripping faucet, you won’t be able to find a plumber. If you would like to make some electrical repairs, the technician will not be available. If you have finally put together some spare cash to get those closet doors redone, you’ll find that the carpenter has picked up and gone to visit his relatives in


15 AUG 2016


16 AUG 2016

Guantanamo. Nothing will get examined, fixed, repaired or built in those two months and everyone disappears from their habitual locations: they may be at the beach or enjoying the countryside.

As the Cuban national days of July 25, 26 and 27 draw near, the board of directors of companies will postpone any discussions that could imply greater effort; they postpone all analyses until September and immediately start planning their “Vacation Strategy.” Some places will shut down for the month of August even though they are virtually closed as of July 25, and maybe just a tad earlier…

At the end of July and throughout August the only thing exponentially increasing is the consumption of electricity because we are all using our air conditioners and fans. The county’s demand for power in those months is gigantic and even though during the rest of the year almost everyone is busy making sure those electrical devices are going to be providing the necessary coolness indoors, there is never any guarantee that some of these devices won’t be breaking down, going up in smoke or exploding…

When the final days of August roll around, you see signs that people, tanned and in a good mood, are starting to get back to “normal.” Here come the plumbers, electricians and carpenters, etc. back to their regular spots. Doctors return from their holidays, students and teachers begin to get classrooms ready and mothers are running around getting school uniforms shipshape and buying school supplies for the kids. Offices are filling back up and all the work shifts are being organized again. The on-the-job business is resumed and someone always states “As we were saying

yesterday…”, without knowing that they are quoting a famous saying attributed to Friar Luis de León as he returned to his duties in the University of Salamanca after a four-year sabbatical…in jail.

In September, Cuba’s labor and social pace picks up speed at a dizzying rate until the close of the year. That short December break is never like the one in the summer but there are those who prefer it because they can enjoy the film festival, the FIART International Arts and Crafts Fair, Jazz Plaza or just visit with friends and family, preferably in Remedios with its parrandas or in Bejucal with its charangas. But if you analyze it very carefully, the perfect thing would be to book your vacation in September: just think about it, you could enjoy three whole months of well-deserved R and R.

LIVE LIKE A CUBANby Jauretsi / photos Y. del Monte


17 AUG 2016


18 AUG 2016

Greetings fellow traveler. We’d like to pose a mission of sorts for your next vacation to Cuba. Call it a challenge, call it an opportunity, or call it a riddle. Whatever you’d prefer. All you need is a sense of adventure and wide open eyes to navigate the terrain. Ok. Let’s get to the point. Traveling in Cuba as a local versus a foreigner is a whole different ball of wax, but you came and asked for the real Cuba, correct? Here’s a guide to get you started.

For starters, we ask you to structure your trip using only “moneda nacional,” that is the term for local pesos, versus the tourist money (aka Convertible Pesos). For the diehards in this experiment, we ask you to consider the monthly wage of an average Cuban, that is, approximately equivalent to $20-$50 a month. Let’s assume you saved money all year long, and have only $10 to spend a day (and that is highly generous for what most Cubans spend on one day’s vacation). Therein lies your challenge, to enjoy the fruits of the island, on this stipend per day. If you are coming from the United States, bring items that are valuable to sell (batteries, USB sticks, old cell phones, etc). Most Cubans have a side hustle in addition to their regular job. When you are low on cash, now you have some black market goods to sell to strangers. Remember, in Cuba, it’s all about alternate forms of income.

In order to melt into the atmosphere, it is impotent to use local colloquial language. When approaching a Cuban to begin conversing, muster all confidence of a Cuban and belt out “¿Qué bolá?!” which is the equivalent of “Wassup?” So commonly spoken is this phrase that President Obama used these words when greeting local comedian Pánfilo on National Television.


19 AUG 2016

Instantaneously, Cubans drew a laugh and nodded their heads in approval, almost as if Obama now has “Cuban cred.” The other oftenly used word is “Asere” which translates exactly into “Brother”, as in “Asere, ¿me puedes decir la hora?” (Hey Bro, can you tell me the time?). Sometimes it can be used in all multiple tones to express anger or love. It usually depends on what type of emotion you throw behind the word.

If you’d like to continue this task with utmost authenticity, you’ll promise to avoid big hotel lobbies, with all its Western toys, gift shops, and accessible products. Instead, stick to the public Wifi Parks to check all your emails, or at the very least, stand on the sidewalk beside a hotel, which is where all the true locals maximize a Hotel’s Nauta reach. To chat online like a resident, download the app IMO before arriving. For some reason, it is the strongest video chat to be used in Cuba, sort of like Cuba’s version of WhatsApp. All those times you see Cubans laughing or crying in the park with a mother, brother, or lover, approximately 99% of the time, they are using IMO to relay their most intimate feelings in public. You will be able to purchase black market NAUTA cards at the parks by keeping your ears open to a wandering stranger’ s whisper, “Tarjeta de Enterrrrnet”.

For transportation, you’ll need to zip around town at lightning speed, but must forsake the convenience of a yellow taxi parked in front of major hotels. Instead, you will become familiar with the local transportation, also referred to as “Máquinas.” These old vintage cars shaped like an almond (thus the reason for its nickname “Almendrones”) ride up and down specific streets only. I like to refer to them as Cuba’s subway system, although

these cars are above ground. For example, if you stand on Neptuno Street, on the tip of Prado in Habana Vieja, just put your hand up in the air when you see an old car drive by. How will you know? Most likely, the car will be packed with bodies. With a little patience, waiting, and smiling, the right car will eventually pass by and scoop you up. Slowly you will learn the main avenues for Máquinas (Línea, 3ra Avenida, 23rd St, etc). If you ride across town, from Havana Vieja to Miramar, the ride will be 10 pesos (approx half of CUC1). If you you go beyond Vedado and past the Miramar bridge (for example, a journey from Havana Vieja to Siboney, the ride becomes $20 pesos (almost 1 CUC). this means your transportation will not be destroying your new budget. For a true experience, I assign you to ride a large bus at least once in the week. Standing like sardines in a packed bus is the ultimate Cuban experience. Buses cost 40 cents of a peso (less that 2 cents of a CUC!).

Now that you know how to get around, find a local party. I’m not talking about the air-conditioned VIP rooms at Factoría de Arte Cubano catering to foreigners. No, I’m talking about the down and dirty pastimes. Free is better for a local Cuban. Purchase a bottle of rum and walk to the Malecón, Havana’s biggest couch, and begin your “people-watching.” Subcultures tend to cloister on specific blocks. Some have cute hetero kids, some are the gay blocks, and some are just quiet corners with privacy to chat with an old friend. What is your flavor? Pick your block by walking all up and down the Malecón on a Friday night. This night of partying will cost you $1-2 if you share a bottle of rum. Another street to spend a weekend evening is Calle G. The tree-lined promenade welcomes


20 AUG 2016

independent thinkers, otherwise known as “freakies.” A bit Bohemian, a bit skateboards, and a bit rockers, this street gravitates the artistic freaks, and there is never a dull night on this avenue. It is intersected by 23rd and Línea streets, both main avenues for the “Máquina” cars to drop you off. See how it’s all coming together?

This leaves us with the limitations on where to sleep at night. Remember, in this experiment, you are not allowed to rent a room at a major hotel. If you choose to book Airbnb, you must stick to the humble budget. Truth be told, most Cubans scour the website Revolico for rentals. The site is sort of a Cuban version of Craigs List, filled with listings ranging in apartment rentals, tech needs, and shopping. Revolico has two

different price ranges for renters: one is for foreigners, and the other is for locals. Your challenge will be to find a place within the local offerings. You may need to enlist a Cuban friend to rent for you, since most renters will shun you upon discovering you are an “extranjero” (foreigner) renting at local rates (this is easily explained by the amount the renter is paying for a license to rent rooms or apartments as a self-employed worker).

Ready to hit the beach? Forget to fancy Yacht Club that charges $10 per entrance fee, with all its five-star service and wooden reclining chairs. This time, you are going to the locals’ beach in all its raw glory, and packing your own lunch, beers, and beach chairs. Santa

María, loved on the Playa del Este coast, is a good start. While you are at it, bring your iPod and power speaker, and blast those tunes on the beach. You may start a dance party on the sand. Expect to clash with the surrounding reggaeton tracks blasting out of a neighbor’s towel as well. Just sit back and soak in the breathtaking beach and locals wafting around, almost like a nightclub in the daytime, except the men and women have less clothes on. Children run amok from towel to towel, making this Cuba’s favorite pastime for the whole family—a hot sunny day mixed with cold beers.

Now, what about Food? Well, this category seems to be the most delineated topic of conversation between locals and foreigners.


21 AUG 2016

If you have snobbish tastes of an American foodie, this part of the experiment will be your biggest concern. Your budget will not allow for fabulous daily dinners at Riomar or Otramanera, two deliciously culinary paladars enjoyed by tourists or wealthy Cubans. Street vendors instead offer pizza (at times, appearing like frostbitten frozen foods), croquettes (hit or miss), or hamburgers (not the typical robust American burgers with fixings). Some peso dinners are surprisingly tasteful and golden finds. It’s a bit of a roulette game, with an ounce of instinct. There is one saving grace in all this chaos—the farmers market. Keep an eye open for fruits or vegetable markets all around Havana Vieja, Centro, And Vedado. Typical finds in Cuba include Pineapple, Guava, Eggplant, Malanga or Taro, Bananas, Plantains, and Cucumbers, among other

things. All these products cost roughly a few cents in pesos. The famous spice store on Mercaderes (in Habana Vieja) offers a treasure trove of Spices from Cinnamon to Curry. Some local markets sell simple pasta boxes and fresh fish. Now, imagine how creative one can be with that.

After you’ve mastered the art of simple living, you are ready to venture outside the capital. Remember you are not allowed to rent exorbitant REX cars ($80 a day), nor reserve a tidy vintage car with driver. One option is a nice scenic trip outside Havana via train. A classic electric train leaves from Casablanca ( just a ferry ride away from the Havana Harbor) towards Matanzas, making this a scenic 4-hour train ride. The Viazaul buses are probably the biggest provider of transportation all across the island. Just to compare fares, a foreigner can pay up to $200

CUCs to reserve a private driver for a full day drive to Varadero, roundtrip. Instead, take yourself to the Viazul Bus Station in Nuevo Vedado and reserve a ticket on the Varadero bus for only $10 CUC (note: the buses are air-conditioned too). Once hopping off the bus, just stroll the streets of Varadero looking for the famous Renters Logo (resembling an upside down anchor) which indicates the Cuban resident is renting rooms in their home. If you negotiate tough enough, you may find a home for $10 a night. Other local venues that Cubans take their families to are the Seaquarium, the Circus, the Natural Hot Springs, and Baseball Games. If you find yourself in Santiago (the other side of the island), try hitchhiking on a “camión” or “camioneta.” The buses are harder to locate, so most trucks will stop and pick you up. Beware, they could get packed to the gills, and safety is not high on the radar, but this was the adventure you asked for.

If you wander outside of Havana, the two most important things in your arsenal of necessities is a roadmap, and the functioning ability to speak Spanish. If you can’t defend yourself using Spanish, we suggest you stick to the Havana area, where a decent percentage of residents can maneuver through busted Spanglish at the very least. If you choose to take this mission, we ask you bring a ton of patience, humility, an open heart, and a little coin purse (for frequent tipping to local angels who inform you in times of need). Cuba is a nation of contradictions, but it is also a country full of unlimited potential and resilient people who make lemonade out of lemons. As the updated phrase is repeated often on the streets. It’s not easy, but it isn’t impossible.

SUMMER DAYS! by Nicolás de Camors

Photos Alex Mene and Ana Lorena


22 AUG 2016


23 AUG 2016

Every year as the final days of June are coming into view, we always say the same thing: “If it’s like this now, imagine what it will be like in August.” When what we call winter in Cuba has finally disappeared and the fresh showers of April and May are a distant memory, that burning body heat takes over. No hand fans, electric fans or air-conditioning systems, lemonades or cold beers can fight it off.

After the first summer season blast, we begin to dream about water, whether in pools, rivers or ponds. But as a rule, what comes to mind is the beach. Then we have to make the decision about whether we are going to rent a cabin, a house or an air-conditioned room in a hotel. It depends on the budget which in almost all cases is meager. Most of us opt for daily treks to the beach, complete with huge parasols or tiny camping tents.

And so the preparations begin. First, what food to take? Let’s hope nobody suggests rice and vegetables with fish or even buying a plate of imitation fried rice. The number one preference is a tie between congri and tamales, two foods which I think really don’t go together. Everything else can vary but there should always be something fried, croquettes made of


24 AUG 2016

some unidentified ingredients and maybe something for dessert.

All these food elements are in the realm of the females in the family; the men are in charge of refreshment: bottles and coolers with ice water, lots of ice cubes and soft drinks—only a few lean towards the natural fruit juices, perhaps scared away by the odious task of peeling, chopping, blending and straining. If the budget allows, a stash of beers or Havana Club rum (or both) and something to snack on. And among these masculine preparations, the set of dominos will always be there.

The ladies add their bulky bags of large and small towels, hats and kerchiefs, pareos, sandals for the sand and others for the pavement, a big bottle of drinking water to rinse your feet before putting on the second sandals, sunglasses, soap, shampoo, hair conditioner, eau de toilette, several kinds of lotions (sunblock and moisturizer for after the swim), two kinds of brushes, a large comb and a small comb, cosmetics, a book or a magazine and a bunch of those enigmatic objects that reside in the depths of a woman’s purse.

And if there are kids, they need their life-savers, flotation devices and rafts, shovels, rakes and pails, plastic beach toys, clothes, shoes and just about everything else. Our women-folk tend to have the gift of being the memory of the family. Just when we are there with water up to our armpits, feeling cool, free and without a care in the world, suddenly somebody (usually a man!) can be heard to complain: “Jeez, woman! You forgot the can opener!”


25 AUG 2016

AS THE DAY is longAs sure


26 AUG 2016

By Andreas Clark

Just like two plus two make four, when summer arrives, when summer vacation finally arrives, those old games that everybody has always played show up on the streets again with very few changes. And it’s on the streets because on our Island over half of our lives take place on the streets, outside our front doors. Starting with childhood games, the street calls us, incites us and demands our presence.

First you see one kid outside his door, then another and another. Not long after dawn, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, dressed in shorts (today’s shorts are the same ones worn yesterday and the day before yesterday), most are shirtless and some are shoeless…they look each other over without a word, and often without having had breakfast yet, and the rejoicing starts.An expert eye can make out four or five marbles in a closed fist. The challenge gets taken over to a corner. Marble hits marble, meters away, with an accuracy at hitting the target that’s worthy of Billy the Kid. The game goes on until there are so many playing that waiting for your turn takes forever until, suddenly, someone takes out a ball. You can play a lot of things with a ball…for example “el quemao”: you throw the ball until you hit a player. You can also play “cuatro esquinas” or just throw the ball back and forth with or without a glove. And you don’t even need a ball. Sometimes all you need is a tin can and a stick—this is called “kikirilata.”

And how much better can it get if you actually have a soccer ball? Or worse, depending on the neighbor’s attitude. Those soccer balls always need the company of scrappy old school desks to stand in for the goal nets. The goal that makes photo by Ana-Lorena


27 AUG 2016

it through the legs of those desks gets more ovations and cheers than any one of those professional efforts by Ronaldo, Messi or Neymar because it’s not easy to handle a half-inflated soccer ball, evading six or seven devils on your tail and having it pass through a space that’s just one meter wide and half a meter high…now that’s what we call scorring a Goooooal!

And what if we don’t have a baseball or a soccer ball or marbles? What if all we have is a tremendous desire to play? That’s when the miracles start happening. That’s when the “pegaos” and the “cojíos” take over and furious running back and forth ensues, playing hide-and-seek and God help whoever has left the door of their house open because the entire neighborhood is one big hiding place, especially that lovely little made-to-measure coffee table with the huge flat-screen TV on it. Then there is that eternal game of “bad guys vs. good guys” (cops and robbers) which often disintegrates into a shoving match, bad language and the occasional knock on the head. They have also been known to end in a shouting match about who did what to whom.

By mid-, the exuberance has reached such a pitch that you can see neighbors shaking their heads and praying for a thunder storm, tsunami, tornado, earthquake…anything to calm down the noise in the street and let everyone finish sleeping in. If you’re lucky, nothing will happen. But if the gods that day are actually listening to these petitions, Armageddon is the result. Its starts to pour cats and dogs and contrary to what that neighbors had prayed for, what couldn’t get any worse suddenly gets worse. photo by Ana-Lorena


28 AUG 2016

The water falling from the heavens refreshes all the black, white, mulatto, yellow and every skin color in between of all those impossible Havana kids. Whoever was tired gets energized. Whoever couldn’t go , suddenly has their motor running at top speed. And that’s when the real fun starts! Racing through puddles, splashing any poor devil that gets in the way, standing under the overflowing drain pipes…complete mayhem.

But all good things must come to an end. There is a magic moment just at the end of the afternoon, not a minute earlier, when everything is over. You can hear the chorus of mothers’ voices all over the block yelling in unison: “Dinner!!!” Woe to the kid who doesn’t race home after that announcement. Chaos has ended. Neighborhood calm reigns supreme…until the sun rises again the next morning.

photo by Mene


29 AUG 2016

Urban travel sophisticates may try and persuade you that to find the real authentic Cuba, you need to get away

from the beach. While this may be true, you will be missing out on crystal-clear waters, fine golden sand whether in a virgin backwater in Isla de la Juventud or in mecca-to-decadent tourism in an

all-inclusive in Varadero. Let’s be honest: they all have their virtues! In this piece, Juliet Barclay sets out to find the best beach in Cuba…it’s a tough assignment,

but someone has to do it!

CUBA’S BEST BEACH’’

’’

by Juliet Barclay / photos Robert Pujol


30 AUG 2016

However does one find the best beach in Cuba? There are an awful lot to choose from and most of them are fabulous. The longest and most famous is Varadero on the north coast, where you would be hard put to it to walk the length of the beach in a day, especially after all the cocktails that you somehow find yourself drinking en route. A brisk early morning walk soon becomes a late morning saunter, then a wander lunchwards, then a yawny shuffle out onto the beach, then a very stationary session under a shady palm tree. Varadero has white sand, blue sea, masses of good hotels, lots of things to do and even more people to talk to. It’s particularly good for families with small children and the staff of the larger hotels can be relied upon to keep them amused whilst their parents chill out.

Cuba is surrounded by around nine hundred cays, small islands of the sort that pirates used for burying their treasure. One of the smaller ones off the northwest coast is Cayo Santa María, which is the proud host to Playa Ensenachos. Its beach is extraordinary: a long curve of soft white sand, almost deserted, leading down to a huge expanse of shallow aquamarine water as warm and as clear as air, which gradually deepens to dark blue in the distance. Ensenachos is not only one of the best beaches in Cuba but probably one of the best in the whole Caribbean. The sand has a texture similar to talcum powder and it feels like double cream between your toes when you stroll through the shallows.


31 AUG 2016

But it is the final beach, Playa Pilar on Cayo Guillermo that is really the star of the show. When you’re shivering in the bus queue in mid-January, this is the kind of tropical fantasy you longingly conjure up. It is a perfect bliss of rolling sand dunes, a beautiful bay, warm turquoise water and authentic rustic charm unspoiled by deckchairs and morning cocktails. The Meliá hotels on Cayo Coco are the best places to stay (www.solmelia.com) and from there, when you tire of your morning daiquiri, you can easily visit this very special beach which is the stuff that dreams are made of. Go on, close your eyes for a moment and imagine you’re already there, floating in the shimmering shallows, sucking a mango and knowing that stretching ahead of you is day after day of utter and unmitigated idleness on what is without a shadow of a doubt the best beach in Cuba.


32 AUG 2016

SUMMERTIME the Cuban way

photo by Mene


33 AUG 2016

Summer is a hot, magical time when families tend to get together and share experiences, chat and catch up with everybody. s enjoy the season in a great variety of ways. Our temperaments and our climate are the principal ingredients.

The island of Cuba is lucky to have a huge number of wonderful natural sites. Some of them are virginal, others are very popular, but they all become scenarios for relaxing and taking part in healthy leisure activities. Each of our provinces has its own special charm. There are those famous for their beaches, others for mountainous landscapes, and others for their rivers and waterfalls. The most fortunate of them manage to bring together all of these attractions into one single site. Many people like to get out of their homes to spend a few days in these little paradises. Others prefer to take daytrips to the beach, returning home just before nightfall so as not to miss out on any of the city’s many nighttime activities.

The months of July and August are famous for providing an intense cultural panorama all over the Island, especially in Havana. Dance and theater companies have prepared very attractive shows, usually including a series of premieres and also reruns of some of their more popular plays and shows. Concerts abound and they cover the full range of musical genres—something for every taste, age bracket and social group. Summer concerts take place both in theaters and al fresco, and this is one of the reasons why many vacationers like to stick around in the cities at night.

By Andreas Clark


34 AUG 2016

This summer promises to be an especially rich and novel season in many respects. Part of the reason is due to the enthusiastic way in which private business initiatives have been springing up these days. Just a few years ago, it was really difficult to find somewhere with a unique ambience to spend some time with family, friends or the love of your life. Nowadays, this has changed quite a bit. Cafés, bars, restaurants, pastry shops and other similar places have been opening their doors everywhere, providing the settings we need for those pleasant moments in our busy lives. Even though sometimes their prices make these places a little out of reach, these are new options that have been welcomed onto the scene.

Playing sports such as volleyball, basketball and tennis, parlor games such as chess, checkers and Parcheesi has become a summer highlight, particularly for children and teenagers. The National Sports Institute, INDER, has fitted out special spots in every municipality so that such activities can be enjoyed with quality and in an organized manner. Their experts are right there to guide anybody who is interested in learning about any of these pastimes. Since Cuba is basically a country of movie-lovers, the summer months give us more time to take in a great variety of films, either on TV or in the capital’s movie theaters. Both have scheduled movies that will be sure to appeal to audiences. Groups of friends also get together to watch the digital versions of the latest movies in the comfort of their own homes.

And those who enjoy a good book, from time to time will find many opportunities for this during the summer. Book sellers seem to blossom all over the city in the summer so that no matter how old you are, you will be able to find something to your liking. Book publishers, institutions and literary clubs hold street events, bringing readers and authors together on an informal basis, such as the well-liked and popular La Noche de los Libros [Book Night].Among the vacationers who flee urban centers to find refuge in glorious natural settings, there are some who indulge at the same time in their love of research and

photo by Mene


35 AUG 2016

learning, getting away to discover more about their island, whether it is in terms of history, nature or about the people who live in other regions. We can include here the speleologists who pursue their passion for delving into the mysteries of our caves.

During daytime hours, cities also offer many interesting things to do. Many museums and amusement parks plan special summer programs. There are a number of arts and crafts fairs to be visited: the most outstanding one is Arte en La Rampa at Pabellón, centrally located in El Vedado’s most famous stretch of 23rd St, La Rampa. Recreation, culture and history create a fascinating package in the Rutas y Andares Project which is sponsored by the Office of the Historian of Havana. By going on short guided strolls through areas of interest, you can learn about the past and the present at the very sites where significant events occurred.

And in closing, one last thing: Cubans start thinking about how they are going to spend their family vacations many months ahead of time. Summer therefore gets transformed into a very attainable and undeniable dream come true.

photo by Mene


36 AUG 2016

SUMMERIN HAVANAphoto by Ana-Lorena


37 AUG 2016

By Margaret Atkins

It’s August in Havana. The scarlet flamboyanes* are beginning to shed the blossoms that have been an explosion of color ever since May. We start seeing the first avocados and those incredible mameyes.** And there is heat, heat and more heat. Late in the afternoon, we get torrential rainfall that seems to be announcing the end of the world. Warm fat raindrops are barely able to cool down the scalding pavement. Kids run out into the rain and play in the puddles. And then it suddenly stops. With a bit of luck, we get a fleeting rainbow, but the gorgeous sunset is a regular feature. When the evening rolls in, especially in the downtown areas where houses are close together, people sit on the sidewalks to chat and play dominoes. Out come the chairs, the music, the fans. This often goes on till midnight or later, when the night air brings some relief from the heat and finally one can get some sleep. The Havana Malecón also fills up with folk who are searching for some breezes or groups of young people with guitars, lovers, street vendors.

At sunrise, the sea is remarkably calm, smooth as glass—“like a plate” is the Cuban expression. Cubans love to go swimming in this almost warm waveless sea; it’s an amazing blue like the cloudless sky. Those who are able to afford it, rent houses by the beach and others are just happy to go swimming every day at Playas del Este—the beaches to the east of Havana. They go by bus, taxi, motorcycle or whatever other transportation is available. Or they go

photo by Ana-Lorena


38 AUG 2016

to the beaches that lie to the west, which are a little closer—but not as pretty—and they all return in the late afternoon, tired, salty and happy.

Houses generally keep their windows and even their doors open, waiting for the welcome breezes of fresh air and visitors. Friends and relatives arrive from other provinces to spend a few days in the capital. These are days for happy get-togethers, some drinks or beers, going to the circus, puppet shows for kids, the zoo or the aquarium. City streets are overrun by pedestrians and the public transportation is more impossible than usual. Queues at the popular Coppelia Ice Cream Parlous in Vedado are longer than ever. You start to see people with tans; skirts get shorter and necklines drop. And for those of us who choose to stay at home, national TV channels have special programming that includes copious packages of kid’s shows and endless movie shows. The kids are out of school and their parents have saved up their holiday time and their money for the summer. Some mothers, however, who have to go on working take their children to the office and so it’s not uncommon to see many workplaces filled with youngsters who are allowed to take over by common consensus.

By the end of August, and back-to-school day on the first Monday of September already in sight, a round of goodbyes, preparations for the ride back to the provinces, and shopping takes over. The summer that had begun with some given by the most popular music groups now ends in the same way, singing and dancing. To say that summer is over at the end of August is somewhat of a joke though because the heat continues until the end of September and often, right through to October, and it is not uncommon to get very warm days in November and December, too. As a popular slogan says: “Cuba is an eternal summer.”

* Flamboyan: flowering tree noted for its flamboyant display of flowers, hence the name. In English it is given the name of Royal Poinciana or Flamboyant. It is also one of several trees known as Flame tree.** Mamey: name of an evergreen tree and its fruit, also known as mammee or mammee apple

photo by Mene


39 AUG 2016

by LOUPhotos Alex Mene

BEACH PARTY


40 AUG 2016

The University of Havana has developed a custom that has nothing to do with academic matters—in fact, it couldn’t be more different.

This new “extra-curricular” activity, which rapidly gained in popularity, began on the last day of the European Football Cup. A group of fun-loving college students decided to organize a beach party where they could enjoy the beach and the sun, and at the same time watch the final on a portable TV set. The party was so successful among the students that since then it has become a monthly event held on one of the beaches on Havana’s coast.

Around 10 am, the first shorebirds begin to arrive carrying tents, dominos, balls, coolers, umbrellas, refreshments and food to get through the day. And of course a CD player. What party can go without music? The place slowly begins to fill and there is little room to walk. The party is held at a closed beach to avoid unpleasant and unwanted visitors that may spoil the fun. Admission is through tickets that are sold at the different faculties a week prior to the get-together. The people arrive in different forms of transportation: trucks, buses, cars, whatever gets them to the beach. By noon, the sand is filled with sun worshippers, dancing couples and others who simply like to take it easy and sip their refreshment of choice.


41 AUG 2016

Those who are more athletic throw balls over the net in an attempt to play something that resembles volleyball. By this time, some are already feeling hungry and start taking out the supplies they brought from home. Others, however, prefer to buy their food (fried chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, etc) right on the beach.

The day flies by and with the sunset, a band begins to play. The show includes dancers and competitions with the participation of the audience.

By 7 pm, the effects of an entire day at the beach are evident in some of the people. The sun, the sea, the partying have made them drowsy

and are sleeping on the sand, their faces red as tomatoes, and oblivious to the roar of the multitude around them.

One good thing about this beach party is that most of the people know each other or have at least crossed each other’s path sometime or another at the university campus. There’s a flow of positive energy thanks to the healthy recreation.

More and more youth join the dancing. Come to think of it, the name “beach party” is almost an excuse to hold this large outdoor party. Not many people actually bathe. Most of them just want to hang out with their friends in a pleasant and safe atmosphere.


42 AUG 2016

VERANO IN OLD

HAVANABy Victoria Alcalá photos Y. del Monte


43 AUG 2016

Planning ahead doesn’t seem to be very high on the list of virtues for Cubans, even though they do have quite a few. That’s why we go out into the neighborhood at dawn looking for a fuse to replace one that has just blown in our home, for a thermometer if it looks like the kid is a bit feverish or for a couple of tablespoons of flour for the béchamel sauce for our croquettes. Therefore it’s no surprise to anyone that July and August find many Cubans without any sort of vacation plan. In other words, they haven’t reserved a hotel, a house on the beach or a spot in the campismo, depending on the state of their personal finances. And that’s not to mention not having booked a bus ticket to visit the mother-in-law in Cienfuegos and not knowing how to keep the kids entertained.

Luckily there is always someone thinking for us and, at least in Havana, each summer brings new options to choose from that will make those two months something different for our offspring who demand a “prize” for having passed into the next grade in school (as if that wasn’t their primary job in life). And so that gives us a handy excuse to not give the house the thorough cleaning it needs, to put away dozens of buttons needing to be sewn on until the day before school starts, to turn a blind eye to the kitchen shelf that needs a new coat of paint or to refuse to run to the office for some unforeseen job that needs to get done.

Old Havana is an unending source of entertainment: let’s add our names to the list of those who would like to erect a monument to Eusebio Leal while he is still alive. The Rutas y Andares [Routes and Walks] is a program, which for the modest price of five pesos for up to three adults and theree children on each ticket (that’s


44 AUG 2016

less than one peso per person if all six covered by the ticket participate) provides visits to just about all the museums in the Historical Center of Havana, entertaining and instructive tours guided by experts and an infinite number of workshops for the youngest ones in the family so that they can learn how to dance with Danza Teatro Retazos, create a bonsai, produce hand-made paper, start a stamp collection or draw their own comic strips. Grandparents who must so often be excluded from family outings because of those annoying ailments of old age may take the option of going on “virtual visits”, which allow them to enjoy the city through audiovisual materials accompanied by interactive chats designed for all tastes…and they are free of charge.

Add to that the fact that Old Havana is a show in itself: you can walk along its streets and discover the buildings that have been restored, stroll along the newly amenable Avenida del Puerto with its lovely Alameda de Paula and its Maritime Promenade, rummage through the giant arts and crafts market that is Almacenes de San José, be astounded by the “living statues” or by the hullabaloo of stilt-walkers. Of course, those of us with children can stop to see the El Arca Puppet Theater or the Parque de la Maestranza amusement park.

For those preferring to commune with nature, the deer sculpted by Rita Longo welcome all to the Havana Zoo on 26th Street in Nuevo Vedado, or you can visit the National Zoo with its African Savannah and Lion Habitat, Parque Lenin, the Botanical Gardens, Parque Metropolitano, ExpoCuba…all these palces all offer so many possibilities, at modest entrance prices. You can spend the entire day breathing in the clean air, lounging


45 AUG 2016

on the grass while watching the youngsters run around in complete safety, using up (thank God) all that delightful childhood energy.

Cultural options abound: concerts, theater premieres, trova get-togethers, the Circus, the Puppet Theater, exhibitions at museums and galleries. And it’s not just in El Vedado or Old Havana. For example, the artist Kcho’s El Romerillo Workshop is always cooking up something new. The En Guayabera Cultural Center in Alamar, the suburb on the far eastern side of the Havana Bay tunnel, has something for every age and taste, although it schedules activities particularly for young children. The Museum of Fine Arts schedules jazz, song and trova concerts on Sunday mornings, and on Thursdays at noon there is always a kids’ program. The recently spruced up Coppelia Ice Cream Parlor is open for games and learning experiences as well as for its ice cream treats. Just a few steps away from Cuba’s top ice cream palace, at Pabellón Cuba, popular musicians perform every day in the early evenings. Or maybe there’s something right on your block—Just a few days ago, the garden at my home was transformed into a scenario for magicians and clowns brought together by the Municipal Board of Culture.

For those of us who cannot conceive of a summer without sand and sea, there is always the option of daily trips to the beaches to the east of Havana or to the seashore in Miramar: lots of water, lots to eat and just for the minimal effort of wearing your bathing suit under your clothes. So you really don’t need to spend your time planning for summer in advance…you can still enjoy an action-packed summer vacation at the drop of a hat.


46 AUG 2016

The Delightful RIVERS OF CUBA


47 AUG 2016

By Ricardo Alberto Pérez

We Cubans may be fortunate enough to live on an island with gorgeous sandy beaches and turquoise seas that can put any other such scenery to shame, but many of us prefer to swim in fresh waters, particularly in rivers. We take daytrips inland just for that reason, or camp out for several days. Another option is taking advantage of the numerous campismo sites which have set up simple cabins and facilities close to the most important Cuban rivers.

Imagine fresh clean streams, surrounded by wonderful natural scenery often backed up by mountains and valleys and overrun with lush vegetation taking in a wide variety of species of plants. Endemic fauna inhabits these areas to complete the picture greeting all visitors.

We have chosen a few specific locations on the Island which will beautifully illustrate these vacation spots. Many of them are quite close to our cities yet they seem to have an unending capacity to surprise us with their existence and they clearly are a vital contribution to the Cuban identity.

One of these places is the Canímar River in the province of Matanzas. It flows out into the sea through a steep shoreline, something like a canyon. In its vicinity are sites rich in legends and archeological finds. Río Canímar Tourist Park is one of the most comfortable facilities of its kind in the entire country, just 27 kilometers from Varadero Beach. One of its attractions is a boat trip down the river, surrounded by hills. It is a rugged trip with no shortage of unexpected twists and turns, allowing visitors to communicate with nature.


48 AUG 2016

Thousands of years ago this spot was a veritable paradise for the natives, providing fresh water, abundant hunting and fishing including many species of fish and shellfish. Nowadays, its geography presents us with majestic reminders of that past. When you spend some days here, not only can you feel like you are travelling back to that past but you are guaranteed a very relaxing time.

Far from Canímar, in the eastern part of Cuba, the La Mula River in Santiago de Cuba Province has the distinction of flowing down to the sea from the highest mountains in Cuba, the Sierra Maestra. Some years ago, a campismo popular facility was built to provide accommodations for the thousands of people who like to visit every year. The experience is certainly one that is not too common in our modern world.

At the Campismo Río La Mula facility you can enjoy swimming in the ocean if you like because it is located right at the spot where the river flows into the sea, part of the lovely eastern coast of Cuba. If you are in an ecological frame of mind you can enjoy swimming in the water holes in the river that form natural pools, protected from the sun by a canopy of leafy vegetation.

Other visitors are delighted by the prospect of hiking in the hills to reach the Poza Los Morones or, on the southern slope ascending to Cuba’s highest peak, Pico Turquino.

While we are in the far eastern end of the Island we can also visit the city of Baracoa, the first town to be founded by the Spanish when they were colonizing Cuba. Only 10 kilometers from that city lies the campismo base called El


49 AUG 2016

Yunque, on one of the shores of the Duaba River that flows through this area, right at the highest point of Baracoa’s massif. The name is due to how much the outcropping resembles a metalworker’s anvil (yunque).

Anywhere you roam in this area, the sound of the rippling Duaba River currents will be your accompanying soundtrack. A natural lookout gives you the chance to observe the full extent of the landscape of mountains and rivers, the Atlantic Ocean and Puerto Santo Bay where Admiral Christopher Columbus landed on his first journey to the New World. For the more adventurous travellers, there are spots where you can pitch your own tent, set up your campsite and at the same time enjoy the site’s recreational facilities, such as an audio/video rec room, horseback riding and a dance floor.

El Yunque is the ideal base from which you can also take excursions to the waterfalls or to the top of El Yunque in the company of experienced guides to learn about one of the most picturesque sites having the greatest biodiversity and the most endemic species in the area. This is the Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, a protected area that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These are just three of the many rivers flowing through our Island. Their charms have captivated vacationers for years and are certainly worth exploring. What you get are many memorable experiences and the desire to go back again and again.


50 AUG 2016

N O R T H E R N S H O R ESUMMER on

the LITORALNORTE

by Ricardo Alberto Pérezphotos Alex Mene and Ana Lorena


51 AUG 2016

About 56 kilometers east of Havana, on the road to Varadero, lies a stretch of territory known as the Literal Norte, or Northern Shore, with its group of beaches and facilities which become very popular every summer (truth be told, it is popular the year round). Generations of Cubans have very special memories of this area; many milestones in our lives have occurred just a few meters away from the sea that defines us. For over 40 years, I’ve been lucky to have seen how this bit of nature has been thoroughly enjoyed and, to some extent, transformed by human activity.

Everyone from my generation will never forget that in our youth, in the 1980s, the Campismo Popular reached incredible heights. Several such sites equipped with cabins and accessory facilities were opened on this northern shore and fortunately some of them still survive. Just a few days ago I took off on a tour of these with a bunch of friends. Not only was it a sort of trip down memory lane, but it revealed that even though the times have changed, people who go to them still enjoy themselves the same way.

Since this area has access to both hilly terrain and seacoast, a great variety of attractions are offered. You can barbecue a fish that you have just caught, you can spend hours at a pool playing games organized by the activities coordinator, you can practice all sorts of sports or hike in the hills to a wonderful lookout. It’s the perfect opportunity to come into direct contact with nature, especially when it comes to observing the iguanas and different species of birds.

Parallel to the coast is a stretch of exuberant vegetation mainly made up of those


52 AUG 2016

picturesque flowering plants known in Cuba as uvas caletas, in English, or seagrape or baygrape. There is nothing better than to wind your way among them on horseback. The campismo sites rent out both guides and horses to enjoy this leisure activity.

Further east, between the estuaries of the Jibacoa and Canasí rivers lies a seven-kilometer stretch with a wide variety of accommodations, at a range of prices: Villa Loma and Villa Trópico hotels, and the Los Cocos, Las Caletas, El Abra, La Laguna, Playa Amarilla and Peñas Blancas campgrounds; Peñas Blancas in particular is blessed to be right on the Canasí River where it joins the sea. The Memories Jibacoa Hotel is found in the same area, providing relaxing accommodations for foreign tourists.

Another option is for campers to take their own tent and pitch it in the campgrounds authorized for such purposes. The area is also well-known for having good diving and watersports that require heights, such as windsurfing, paragliding and parachuting.

If what you are looking for is a place to get away from it all, far from the madding crowd, but to get close to people you love and be able to do some swimming, there are some tiny ideal beaches to be enjoyed. One of the most famous such beach is known as Playa de los Enamorados (Lovers’ Beach) on a hidden cove that’s practically invisible from the highway (hence, the name Lover’s Beach).

The Northern Shore extends east to Puerto Escondido on the Bacunayagua River. There are five campismo sites here, but unfortunately their facilities are much deteriorated these days and so a vacation there is not such a good idea. Only the adventurous would give it a try despite this


53 AUG 2016

warning. However, the adventurous or the very young (say, a bunch of high school or college buddies) will be rewarded here by an amazing natural setting.

Nighttime on the north shore is a whole other story—there is always somebody around with a guitar and immediately a group gathers around a bonfire (which can be both romantic and an effective way to chase away the insects). Other vacationers will go looking for the discos in the neighboring areas or participate in pools activities. Don’t forget the lure of a good game of dominoes or those wonderful moonlight walks by the sea. So, if you’re the kind who does not mind roughing it, a campismo site may be just the place to spend your summer holidays.


54 AUG 2016

VISITING FAMILY and FRIENDS in the SUMMERNowadays it’s pretty commonplace that many Cubans don’t live in the same place where they were born. In the last few decades we have been seeing many more people moving from area to area on the Island, as a result, these people are leaving behind relatives and customs. It’s natural that they always hope they will get to return to them from time to time. The summer vacation is the ideal time to get back to strengthen those wonderful bonds of love and identity.

This is the reason why some of the vacation travellers during July and August aren’t heading out to hotels or campgrounds. Instead, they’re off to visit the homes of both close family (parents, grandparents, siblings, uncles, cousins…) and even more distant relatives. It is a time to rediscover those family ties and catch up on news.

All of this reminds me of a wonderful personal experience. When I was a kid I used to love going with my parents to visit the farm that belonged to my aunt and uncle just a few kilometers away from the

By Ricardo Alberto Pérez

photo by Mene


55 AUG 2016

city of Remedios, famous for its parrandas. Playing with my cousins, seeing the animals and the fresh fruit on the trees, the beautiful landscape that included a river and all the undergrowth made me feel like I was living an adventure. Something special always happens on these occasions between guests and hosts. People living in the country have a tradition whereby they always share the best they have in their homes: the best bed, the best food or the best electrical fan. Often two groups are created on these visits: one group is made up of the youngsters, the other one is composed of adults and each one defends its own particular interests. The younger folk tend to prefer going on excursions, playing volleyball or football, and going to discos and dance parties in the evenings, while the adults will set up the domino tables, roast some pork and make sure everything is in place for a carefree stay.

When the relatives live in the countryside, horses will probably become the major attraction for the city slickers. Going on horseback rides becomes an exciting activity, and sometimes the horsemen and women will engage in some improvised races. An added bonus of these rides is that you can also discover some lovely scenery far away from everything.

Some of these summer travellers will go with a specific objective in mind, such as like attending carnivals and other regional festivities. These often have quite a different flavor from the ones celebrated in Havana. The carnivals in Santiago de Cuba, Manzanillo and Bayamo, just to mention three, are always described as highly original and well-attended

by local inhabitants and visitors alike. The Santiago de Cuba carnival, for instance, is considered the best in Cuba.

In the midst of this summer parade of people going to and fro, new inter-personal relations are bound to crop up. New love affairs are born and in some instances new families are formed. Friendships are bolstered and we can interchange customs including everything from eating habits to new recreational possibilities. Hosts will always show off the best of their neighborhoods or cities.

Sometimes these trips are the result of sincere friendship. Every year hundreds of young people come to Havana from all over the country to study at universities. In many cases they make great friends in the capital, living with them for the greater part of each year. In order to reciprocate, they will often invite their Havana buddies to spend some time at home with them during their vacations.

I am sure that most Cubans have enjoyed trips of this sort and have been able to relax and return to the daily grind refreshed and, as they say on the street, “con las pilas cargada,” that is, with their batteries recharged.


56 AUG 2016

WE’LL ALWAYS have

THE MALECÓN


57 AUG 2016

During the long, suffocating, dark days of the Special Period, there were basically just three things to do in Havana in the evenings: drink that bitter sparkling wine that didn’t even come in a bottle, go with a couple of buddies to cool off in view of the sea by sitting on the Malecón wall, or, when all else failed, go and sit on the Malecón wall and drink that sparkling wine.

That notion of going to the Malecón to kill some time, bad or good, didn’t start then. It dates much farther back. In fact, it is such an ancient notion, that you could say that the desire to sit on the Malecón was a characteristic of Havana residents even before there was a Malecón. That’s why it was invented.

In the early 19th century, plans began for a promenade for that open space of pointy-tipped rock (diente-perro) and sea, and by 1859, the greatest Cuban engineer of the era, Francisco de Albear, was commissioned for the job. He quickly drafted a plan but the Spanish government took so long to fund the project that Albear had enough time to construct the aqueduct bearing his name and which today still constitutes one of the principal sources for supplying water to the city.

It wasn’t until 1901, during the US occupation, that engineers Mr. Mead and Mr. Whitney finally got busy on the project; however, one year later, only a scant 500 meters had been built. It continued to be put together in intermittent spurts and stretches right up to 1959. It was a great wall that drew a line around most of the city and which should be included in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest park bench in the world.

By Eloy Castillo

58 AUG 2016

But all that is past history. Today it’s a different story. When I look out my window, I see cruise ships passing, filled with tourists from Yuma-land and I can also see the white-sailed boats going to a fro, and some motorboats speeding like never before. Time flew by and at one time Havana Bay had become so polluted that no seagulls ventured there any more. But people kept on going to the Malecón during the late afternoons for a breath of fresh air, to strum a guitar, to cry the blues and to drink a beer, nevermore that sparkling wine, no matter how typically Cuban it was. Luckily, shipping activities have been relocated to the brand new Special Development Zone and Container Terminal at the Port of Mariel. So practically the only boats you see today in the Havana Harbor are ferries that go to the fishing villages of Regla

and Casablanca on the opposite shore and cruise ships. And, yes, the seagulls are flying over the bay again. Young (and not so young) couples in love, or who haven’t fallen in love just yet, go and sit on the Malecón’s wall to talk about nothing, about life, about their ex’s, to end up kissing under that same nocturnal sky that will witness other couples just like them kissing, that same night, the night before and the night after that. Because the wall is fantastic for that, for beginning new relationships—and also for breaking them up when they run out of steam. It’s not only couples at the start or the end of their love story, or groups of friends who call that long, white, hard bench their own, night after night. The wall also caters for solitary figures who feel the need, or desire, to be alone; they arrive at sunset, escaping their homes and



59 AUG 2016

the heat, telling their wives and kids that they’re going fishing. And you will see them there, hour upon hour, with the most sophisticated fishing equipment, casting their lines into the waters over and over, persistently yet unsuccessfully. But they never give up in their efforts, right up to dawn when they decide it’s to head back home with happy faces and not a single fish. Dawn is also when the folk decked out in running gear show up; some run and some walk along the wall, eager to look better and more eager still to be seen doing it. And then there are those truly solitary souls who have tired of their solitude but haven’t been able to get rid of it. Both men and women, sitting at some spot, their backs to the city, staring at the sea in the face as if they were begging, screaming for a miracle at the top of their lungs, for some man or woman to save them from lives that aren’t going anywhere.

The Malecón is also a mini-mart of knick-knacks, candies, warm, roasted or sugar-coated peanuts; plush toys and flying colored lights going back and forth, to the sky, to infinity and beyond; flower sellers, strolling musicians with maracas, guitars and bongos, playing sons, guarachas, boleros and even congas in sparkling keys being punctuated by the sound of coins striking Bucanero and Cristal beer bottles. And there goes the ubiquitous pink Chevrolet convertible, overflowing with tourists who are taking it all in with envy, wanting more and more. This wall that borders the northern shore of the city is all that and more. But it provides no protection from the advance of the sea; instead it metamorphoses into an amazing scenario whenever the gigantic waves break against it, rising into the air meters above sea level, white foam spattering the grey pavement and creating salty rivers along the sidewalk. The wall doesn’t define the end of the city but the start of the Island; it defines the city but it doesn’t enclose it because Havana keeps on jumping past the Malecón, it assails it whenever it likes with proclamations, slogans and also with offerings of thanks to Yemayá.

This paper island afloat in a “mare nostrum” that doesn’t besiege us but serves as a gentle bridge for whoever comes and goes: our Malecón becomes the door, wide open and democratic, where Cubans expose themselves to the salty spray and the ebb and flow of destiny. What a tremendous metaphor for the Cuban people in the crash of never-relenting waves and the eternal nature of the rocks facing the sea. Here we are, stuck in the middle of the Gulf Stream, against hell or high water, always smiling and always happy.


60 AUG 2016

My neighbor Ramón, the guy who lives in the apartment downstairs, holds a record that few athletes have been able to obtain and which is the envy of everyone. He’s been to the last three Olympics and now the Games in Rio are going to be his fourth round. Ramón is no athlete, or anything even remotely like it—he works as a technician for Cuban TV.

What luck! Always in the front rows, this neighbor of mine has really been there, experiencing it all in the flesh and making sure that the rest of us in Cuba get to enjoy the Games on the small screen. Through his efforts over the past twenty years, we saw our Cuban athletes’ victories, as well as defeats, sometimes more the former rather than the latter. But he didn’t get to see—due to age differences—our legendary fencing ace Ramón Font become the first Cuban Olympic Champion, in fact the first champion of the Americas, winning his medal at the first modern Olympic Games in London, England in 1900. Of course nobody else on this Island saw it either because television hadn’t been invented yet!

But if Font was great, there was a man who was even greater and even more enormous, unbeatable until today and maybe forever: Félix de la Caridad Carvajal y Soto, more commonly known in Havana as “El Andarín Carvajal.” And the man never even won a medal. He was a courier for the Liberator Army during the Cuban War of Independence against Spain and it was said that he would run about fifty kilometers every day carrying rebel correspondence back and forth. When the war ended, whether by inclination or simply because there wasn’t anything else for him to do, he became a mailman, continuing his back and forth habit, always on foot. Since walking was his thing, he would wear posters on his chest and back as he walked around the city, eking out an existence in the advertising game.

By Andreas Clark


61 AUG 2016

And so it went until in 1904 “El Andarín” learned about the St. Louis Olympic Games and he got it into his noggin to compete in the Marathon. Now he went out into the streets wearing a new poster asking people for money to help him pay for his dream. He earned a bit but it was barely enough to pay for passage to New Orleans. That left him more than one thousand kilometers to cover to get to St. Louis. How did “El Andarín” do it, without a cent in his pocket? It was obvious: bit by bit, walking all the way. You can image Carvajal’s condition when he reached the starting-line. But wait, the story continues. He appeared wearing a long-sleeved shirt, trousers and his beloved mailman’s boots. All the other runners couldn’t stop laughing at the sight until one Good Samaritan offered to shorten both his sleeves and trousers, if not to give him a more “sporty” demeanor, at least to make him a bit more aerodynamic.

Believe it or not, very early in the race, Carvajal took the lead in the group…so much so that there were ten kilometers between him and his closest rival. But he was hungry. They said that he hadn’t had a hot meal in days; not a hot or a cold meal, in fact nothing, because he hadn’t eaten at all. As luck would have it (bad luck!) he noticed an apple tree growing beside the road and he stopped to gulp down some fruit. That was a bad idea. But if you were in his place, who’s to say you wouldn’t have done the same thing? After downing all those apples, which, to make matters worse were not ripe, the least that came over him was an attack of vomiting.

We won’t even mention what else attacked him. All in all, and despite the many stops his body begged him to make along the way, Carvajal managed to cross the finish line in fifth place. Of the 32 athletes who began the race, he was

CUBA AT the OLYMPICS

1900


62 AUG 2016

one of the 14 who actually finished the marathon. And unexpectedly, his ranking improved when the first-place runner, an American named Fred Lordz, was disqualified for having done most of the race comfortably seated in his coach’s car. As a result, Carvajal moved up a notch to fourth, just one place away from a medal. And they say that the apples were not to blame; in fact, everything started because of them!

With his tour de force, Felix Carvajal had conquered the impossible and his fellow Cubans at that time celebrated his fourth place as a glorious success, something that was unthinkable in a country where, from number two on down, everyone is a loser. So much so that only one other athlete on the Island has managed to have Cubans celebrate for her having come in second. That athlete was Ana Fidelia Quirot ,who achieved it at the Central American and Caribbean Games at Ponce in 1993, just a few months after having suffered severe burns over 38 percent of her body. It was by her sheer will that she won the silver medal for the 800-meter race, something she repeated at the Atlanta Olympic Games.

I saw her then, I didn’t even have a TV and I really didn’t care much for sports, but my curiosity got the better of me when I saw the crowd of people pressed to the grille of a Havana window, watching that unforgettable competi-tion on a black-and-white Soviet television set. The sound was bad and the picture was even worse, but we could just make out all the scars accompanying that Cuban woman who was running after her dream. When Ana Fidelia cros-sed the finish line, even though she came in second, peo-ple started shouting, hugging one another, laughing and crying, all together. It was then that I realized, as I realize today, that we are all Ana Fidelia. The year was 1993, as I said before; we were living through the worst of the Spe-cial Period, and that woman symbolized us. With all of our troubles, with all of our pain, each in our own way, each with our suffering and our sweat, we were carrying on day after day so that each one of us could achieve what every single person dared to dream.

RAMÓN FONST_ Fencing

4 Gold medals1 Silver medal

MIJAÍN LÓPEZ_ Greco-Roman wrestling

2 Gold medals

ALBERTO JUANTORENA_ Track athlete

2 Gold medals

PEDRO LUIS LAZO_ Pitcher

2 Gold medals2 Silver medals

DRIULIS GONZÁLEZ_ Judoka

1 Gold medals1 Silver medal 2 Bronze medals


63 AUG 2016

photo by Mene

SURVIVING DOMINOES


64 AUG 2016

By Andreas Clark

When they tell the story about how four fun-loving Cubans, partial to rum, the guaracha and pork, who haven’t seen each other in three weeks suddenly meet, and immediately make plans to have a great time next Sunday, to bring their wives and kids (if they have any) to sit around a table from noon to midnight, we might think that something is not quite right, that this story has got to be all wrong. But it isn’t so far off; all that’s missing are a few details. First, at the table there have to be glasses half-full with rum, two ice cubes per glass. And if the rum is Havana Club Añejo Especial, all the better. It’s not that expensive and normally there is no hangover. Next, they are going to spend the afternoon playing a game that originated in the Far East, requiring concentration, memory, knowledge of mathematics, logic and tons of common sense. Do you get the picture? They’re playing dominoes.

As in poker, dominoes is one of those games that isn’t played with the tiles you have, but with the ones you don’t have and especially, with the head of your opposition, and above anything else, you play with your partner against other partners. That’s what makes it important because cooperation between partners will make all the difference.

For starters, one has to decide on the opener: even or odd? Each couple has to make photo by Mene

that choice about a tile selected at random and placed face down in the center of the table. At that moment, invariably, one of the people designated to choose will say: los hombres no paren (Men don’t give birth), a play on words, specifically par (= even) resembling parir (= to give birth)]. Therefore, their choice will be on the odd or, the not-even. If they guess correctly, they get to open and if perchance they have it in their hands, they will undoubtedly start off with la caja de cerveza (the case of beer), the double nine. This is not the same as the double eight, which is called la caja de muerto (casket for the dead, or coffin).

If you don’t have the case of beer, sometimes you can have the caja de laguers (case of lagers), starting with another double because that is going to increase the possibility by one hundred percent that right off the bat you are going to see your opponent tocar madera (tapping on the table to pass) and begin the game in the sort of bad mood that is going to last right up to the end. But if you should begin with anything less than a double, something is wrong: it means that the person who opened hasn’t got a clue about how dominoes are played.

But watch out! That isn’t necessarily so bad because what is important is to win, and to win in dominoes you have to play well. Nobody better for this than the person who sits down at the domino table knowing nothing about the game. The worst that can happen to you is to sit down to a game and discover that one of your opponents, or even worse both of them, have never played before. If you win, it won’t be recognized as a real victory because winning over beginners isn’t really winning. However, if you should lose, and that does happen—unfortunately it happens much more frequently


65 AUG 2016

photo by Ana-Lorena


66 AUG 2016

than you would expect—it will be a defeat that will be rubbed in your face over and over again, for the rest of the afternoon and in the most serious cases, until the day you die.

One of the central rules of dominoes is that nothing is relative and what has the most weight at the domino table is to forget the rules. Even though you may have heard it said that dominoes is a game invented by a mute, they also say that if others are talking, you should shout. Of course shouting just for the sake of shouting isn’t the point; you have to know what to shout and then shout as if you were the sixth dan Master of Dominoes, recently graduated from the Shaolin Temple, for example, crying out sin cola nacen los patos (ducks are born tailless) when you put a five down or when you hit the table with your tile exclaiming te cogió la puntilla (you got caught by the nail) revealing your contribution of the zero-one tile. Or screaming agachao (crouching) at whoever suddenly puts down a tile, which, had they done so two turns back, would have avoided making their partner pass their turn… and demanding dale agua (give it some water) whenever you think that the person shuffling the tiles before the game starts is doing it too slowly, too carefully or with something nasty in mind.

And there is something, or rather someone, who is always present at the domino table: the Prowler. That’s the person who doesn’t talk much, who circles around all the players, looking at everyone’s tiles, wearing the face of a philosopher, but never uttering a single word. The Prowler observes every tile, making it look like they understand every move and grimacing with approval or disapproval. But they are really envious, dying to play, but knowing full well that whenever they try, they lose big time. It doesn’t matter how many long, long nights they have tried to apply reason, to understand and to learn that damned game of dominoes, playing all alone in front of their computer screen. That person is me!

photo by Ana-Lorena

magazine

HAVANA LISTINGS VISUAL ARTS

PHOTOGRAPHY

DANCE

MUSIC

THEATRE

FOR KIDS

EVENTS

HAVANA GUIDEFEATURES

RESTAURANTS

BARS & CLUBS

LIVE MUSIC

HOTELS

PRIVATE ACCOMMODATION



68 AUG 2016

VISUAL ARTS

photos by Alex MeneMuseo Nacional de Bellas Artes. Edificio de Arte Cubano

MUSEO NACIONAL DE BELLAS ARTES. EDIFICIO DE ARTE CUBANO

THROUGH SEPTEMBER 12

Relatos de una negociación, by Belgian-Mexican artist Francis Alÿs, exhibits paintings, drawings, sculptures, videos, documents, objects and actions that reflect critically on contemporary society.

THROUGH AUGUST 22

Mens sana in corpore sano. Sport in classical antiquity corroborates the significant role of sport in Ancient Greece through 20 ceramic pieces from the valuable Lagunillas Collection and two Greek coins from the National Numismatic Museum FUCINA DES ARTISTAS

THROUGH AUGUST 19

Hábitat, by Nestor Siré, delves into the association between the spatial and the social, based on the impact of non-state production forms, the sale of homes, and the legal regulations and social practices that reformulate the urban space. It also addresses everyday practices, tinged by a spiritual, emotional and experiential component, which occur within doors.

EDIFICIO DE ARTE CUBANO. MUSEO NACIONAL DE BELLAS ARTES

THROUGH AUGUST 29

Cardinales is a group of paintings in which Cuban artist Carlos Alberto García used a mixed technique on cloth. The medium- and full-scale pictures were created especially for this occasion. The artist has defined his work as “very much connected to early 20th-century avant-gardes, especially Expressionism.

GALERÍA ARTIS

THROUGH JULY 17

Sujetos y predicados exhibits works by X Alfonso, Iván Capote, Yoan Capote, Ariamma Contino, Francisco de la Cal, Humberto Díaz, Adrián Fernández, Adonis Flores, Alex Hernández, Liudmila y Nelson, Alien Maleta, Meira y Toirac-Marón, Yusnier Mentado, Jorge Otero, René Peña, Susana Pilar, Mabel Poblet, Carlos Quintana, Jennifer Rico, Fernando Rodríguez, Enrique Rottemberg and Ronal Vill.

FÁBRICA DE ARTE CUBANO

THROUGH AUGUST 31

El vinilo contraataca presents silk-screen posters in 33rpm record format.

THROUGH AUGUST 31

Cuadros de una exposición, exhibits works by Eduardo Abela, Héctor Frank, Danilo García, Rocío García, Víctor Manuel Gómez, Javier Guerra, Juan Manuel Hernández, Sofía Márquez de Aguiar, Michel Mirabal, Pedro Pablo Oliva, Nelson Ponce, Zaida del Río, Eduardo Roca (Choco), Rubén Rodríguez, Onay Rosquet, Aziyadé Ruiz and Carlos Zorrilla.

FACTORÍA HABANA

THROUGH AUGUST 20

Clara Porset…el eterno retorno vindicates an artist who is considered one of the most important designers of the 20th century.


69 AUG 2016

CENTRO DE ARTE CONTEMPORÁNEO

WIFREDO LAM

THROUGH AUGUST 15

Como el que no quiere las cosas. For the critic Nelson Herrera Ysla, “I do not know if I am looking at a painting or a catchall…What is vital, essential, is the emotion when we realize that we have been deceived by the painter’s magnificent craft.”

GALERÍA VILLA MANUELA

THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2

Como la primera vez, Casas, pays homage to the life and work of the late Ramón Casas, bringing together small- and medium-size drawings and sculptures from the last two decades of his production. The three-dimensional proposals combine elements of wood, metal, plastic, textile and other materials, in compositions that are generally upright, looking like obelisks or monumental towers.

GALERÍA VILLENA

THROUGH AUGUST 22

Apuntes de viajes, by Pedro Pablo Oliva, is a collection of over 100 small-scale drawings, inks and watercolors, which have been made intermittently over the last few months, during which the artist has travelled from country to country in order to carry out his projects.

TALLER EXPERIMENTAL DE GRÁFICA DE LA HABANA

THROUGH SEPTEMBER 15

Muestra colectiva por el 55 Aniversario del Taller Experimental de Gráfica. The artists, members of the Experimental Graphic Workshop, will undertake the work of another absent artist, according to their esthetical affinity.

GALERÍA GALIANO

TALLER LA MARCA

THROUGH AUGUST 14

Bonito color exhibits the creations of tattoo artist Yaimel López. Ten copies of the poster of the exhibition, plus T-shirts, and postcards will be on sale.

VITRINA DE VALONIA

THROUGH-OUT AU-GUST

Las ciudades oscuras exhibits comic fantasy-themed comic strips created in 1983 by Belgian draftsman François Schuiten and French screenplay writer Benoît Peeters. The comic strips are set in an imaginary continent located in a parallel world, invisible to ours.


70 AUG 2016

PHOTOGRAPHY

photos by Huberto Valera Jr.

THROUGH AUGUST 5

Cuba iluminada, by multi-prized photographer Héctor Garrido. This is his latest photographic project, “Illuminated Cuba,” to which he has dedicated the past six years of his life. During this time, Garrido has photographed 250 figures in the fields of culture, art, science, society and sport in Cuba. A job which he defines as “undoubtedly one of the most important in my career” not only professional-wise, but because through this project he met the woman who is now his wife, Cuban actress Laura de la Uz. An exhibition not to miss.

CENTRO DE DESARROLLO DE LAS ARTES VISUALES

CASA DEL ALBA

THROUGH AUGUST 13

Balcón Latinoamericano, exhibits photos of Fidel Castro.

THROUGH AUGUST 31

Una noche. Imágenes de la Cuba musical Vanguardia, by Mike Magers.


FOTOTECA DE CUBA

THROUGH AUGUST

Hereros, pastores ancestrales de Angola, by Sergio Guerra from Brazil delves into the lives of kuvales, one of the subgroups in which the Herero people in southwest Angola are divided. Excellent pictures of great artistic and anthropological interest, concerning marriages, ritual bathing or male circumcisions and other aspects of this culture and its relationship with water, its pastoral economy, their nomadic way of life, the practice of polygamy, of organization of life among women, etc.


71 AUG 2016

LA BAYADÈRE AUGUST 12 & 13, 8:30 PM; AUGUST 14, 5PMGRAN TEATRO DE LA HABANA ALICIA ALONSO

Performance by the Laura Alonso Ballet Company.

DANCE

BALLET ROYALTY AUGUST 20, 8:30PM GRAN TEATRO DE LA HABANA ALICIA ALONSO

An exceptional opportunity to enjoy the performances of 12 principal dancers from the American Ballet Theater, the Boston Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet. the Mikhailovsky Theater Ballet, The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, the Berlin Opera and La Scala, in a program that includes scenes from La Sylphide, Giselle, Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire, Swan Lake (Black Swan Pas de Deux), Las llamas de París, The Dying Swan and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme.

MÁS QUE FLAMENCO AUGUST 11, 7PMMUSEO NACIONAL DE BELLAS ARTES. SALA TEATRO

Performance by the ECOS Flamenco Company.

GEDE IN CONCERT AUGUST 12-13, 8:30PM; AUGUST 14, 5PM, TEATRO MELLA

Performance by the GEDE Company directed by Santiago Alfonso. The company combines modern and contemporary dance, theatrical codes and popular dances with a renovating and experimental spirit.


72 AUG 2016

CONTEMPORARY FUSION

MUSICThe contemporary fusion and electronic music scene has expanded recently as new bars and clubs have opened party promoters have organized events in parks and public spaces. Good live music venues include Bertolt Brecht (Wednesdays: Interactivo, El Sauce (check out the Sunday afternoon Máquina de la Melancolía) and Fábrica de Arte Cubano which has concerts most nights Thursday through Sunday as well as impromptu smaller performances inside.

In Havana’s burgeoning entertainment district along First Avenue from the Karl Marx theatre to the aquarium you are spoilt for choice with the always popular Don Cangrejo featuring good live music with artists of the likes of Kelvis Ochoa, David Torrens, Interactivo, Diana Fuentes, Descemer Bueno, David Blanco, just to name a few, Las Piedras (insanely busy from 3am) and El Palio and Melem bar—both featuring different singers and acts in smaller more intimate venues.

BALNEARIO UNIVERSITARIO EL CORAL

FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS / 1PM-1AM

Electronic music with rapping, DJing, Vjing, Dj-producers, breakdancing and graffiti writing, among other urban art expressions.

EN GUAYABERA

SUNDAYS / 5PM

Discotemba

CENTRO CULTURAL BERTOLT BRECHT

WEDNESDAYS / 11PM

Interactivo

CAFÉ CONCERT EL SAUCE

SUNDAYS / 5PM

La Máquina de la Melancolía, with Frank Delgado and Luis Alberto García

TERCERA Y 8

MONDAYS / 5PM

Baby Lores

CASA DE LA AMISTAD

SUNDAYS / 9PM

Rock ’n’ Roll with Vieja Escuela.

DIABLO TUN TUN

SATURDAYS / 11PM

Gens


73 AUG 2016

MUSICCONTEMPORARY FUSION

SALÓN ROSADO DE LA TROPICAL

FRIDAYS / 9PM

Electronic music with Sarao

SUBMARINO AMARILLO

MONDAYS / 9PM

Miel con Limón

HAVANA HARD ROCK

EVERY OTHER FRIDAY / 6PM

Soul Train, a show of soul musicnorteamericana

SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS / 6PM

Rock cover bands

CAFÉ CANTANTE. TEATRO NACIONAL

SUNDAYS / 5PM

Qva Libre

DON CANGREJO

AUGUST 5 /7:30PM

Buena Fe

HOTEL ARMADORES DE SANTANDER

FRIDAYS / 8PM

Trumpet player Yasek Manzano and DJ Wichi del Vedado

LA TROPICAL. JARDINES

SATURDAYS / 9PM

Sarao Audiovisual Project


74 AUG 2016

SALSA TIMBA

CASA DE LA MÚSICA DE MIRAMAR

ALL DAYS 5 PM, 11 PM

Popular dance music

Sur CaribeMONDAYS 11 PM

CASA DE LA MÚSICA HABANA

AUGUST 28, 6 PM

Dancing with Chepín and Bonne (with a popular dance competition)

NG La BandaFRIDAYS 11 PM

Lazarito Valdés y Bamboleo

SATURDAYS 5 PM

CABARET PICO BLANCO. HOTEL SAINT JOHN’S

WEDNESDAYS / 10PM

Popular dance music (Vacilón)

CAFÉ CANTANTE. TEATRO NACIONAL

MONDAYS / 11PM

Popular dance music

THURSDAYS / 5PM

Popular dance music

CASA DE 18

FRIDAYS / 8:30PM

Iván y Fiebre Latina

SATURDAYS / 8PM

Ahí Namá

TERCERA Y 8

WEDNESDAYS / 11PM

Alain Daniel

DIABLO TUNTÚN

THURSDAYS / 11PM

Popular dance music (NG La Banda)

JARDINES DEL 1830

FRIDAYS / 10PM

Azúcar Negra

SUNDAYS / 10PM

Grupo Moncada


75 AUG 2016

MUSIC

JAZZ

Jazz Café Mellow, sophisticated and freezing due to extreme air conditioning, the Jazz Café is not only an excellent place to hear some of Cuba’s top jazz musicians, but the open-plan design also provides for a good bar atmosphere if you want to chat. Less intimate than La Zorra y el Cuervo – located opposite Melia Cohiba Hotel.

Café Jazz Miramar SHOWS: 11 PM - 2AM

This new jazz club has quickly established itself as one of the very best places to hear some of Cuba’s best musicians jamming. Forget about smoke filled lounges, this is clean, bright—take the fags outside. While it is difficult to get the exact schedule and in any case expect a high level of improvisation when it is good it is very good. A full house is something of a mixed house since on occasion you will feel like holding up your own silence please sign! Nonetheless it gets the thumbs up from us.

UNEAC

AUGUST 18 5 PM

La Esquina del Jazz, hosted by showman Bobby Carcassés

CAFÉ MIRAMAR

MONDAYS 4 PM

Lunes de la Juventud

SATURDAYS 10:30 PM

Reinier Mariño (guitar) and his group

CASA DEL ALBA

AUGUST 12 8PM

Ruy López-Nussa (drums) y La Academia


AUGUST 13 10:30PM

Zule Guerra (singer)


76 AUG 2016

CAFÉ TEATRO BERTOLT BRECHT

AUGUST 27 / 3PM

Rafael Espín and guests

CASA DE 18

WEDNESDAYS / 8PM

Héctor Téllez

THURSDAYS / 8PM

José Valladares

FRIDAYS / 8PM Leidis Díaz

SUN / 4PM Georgeana

CASA DE LA AMISTAD

SATURDAYS / 9PM

Roberto Javier

CASA MEMORIAL SALVADOR ALLENDE

AUGUST 26 / 6PM

Ángel Quintero and guests

CASONA DE LÍNEA

SUNDAYS / 8PM

Trova

CENTRO CULTURAL FRESA Y CHOCOLATE

THURSDAYS / 4PM

Trova with Frank Martínez

SUNDAYS / 6PM Singer Leidis Díaz

CENTRO IBEROAMERICANO DE LA DÉCIMA

AUGUST 6 / 3PM Ad Libitum Duet

AUGUST 28 / 5PM

El Jardín de la Gorda with trovadors from every generation

CLUB AMANECER

FRIDAYS / 5PM

Conjunto de Arsenio Rodríguez

DIABLO TUN TUN

THURSDAYS / 5PM

Trova with Ray Fernández

DOS GARDENIAS

WEDNESDAYS / 10PM

Haila María Mompié

DELIRIO HABANERO

FRIDAYS / 10PM Son en Klab

SATURDAYS / 10PM

Sonyku

EL JELENGUE DE AREÍTO

TUESDAYS / 5PM Conjunto Chappottín

WEDNESDAYS / 5PM

Trova

THURSDAYS / 5PM

Conjunto Arsenio Rodríguez

FRIDAYS / 5PM Rumberos de Cuba

SUNDAYS / 5PM Rumba

GATO TUERTO

FRIDAYS / 5PM La Hora Infiel, with music, visual arts, literature and more.

FRIDAYS / 9PM Osdalgia

DAILY / 8PM Gato Tuerto Nights, hosted by Julio Acanda

HOTEL TELÉGRAFO

FRIDAYS / 9:30PMPM

Ivette Cepeda

HURÓN AZUL, UNEAC

SATURDAYS / 9PM

Bolero Night

LE SELECT

FRIDAYS / 9:30PM

Grupo Moncada

CASA DE ÁFRICA

JULY 9 / 4PM

Folkloric group Obiní Batá

ASOCIACIÓN YORUBA DE CUBA

FRIDAYS / 8:30PM

Obbiní Batá (folkloric group)

PABELLÓN CUBA

TUESDAYS / 4PM

Trova with Fidel Díaz and Ihosvani Bernal

FRIDAYS / 4PM Tres Tazas with trovador Silvio Alejandro

CABARET EL TURQUINO. HOTEL HABANA LIBRE

FRIDAYS / 11PM

Mónica Mesa

MUSIC BOLERO, FOLKLORE, SON AND TROVA


77 AUG 2016

CLASSICAL MUSIC

CASA DEL ALBA

AUGUST 7 , 5PM

En Confluencia, dedicated to guitar.

AUGUST 14 , 5PM

Young Composers.

BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL JOSÉ MARTÍ

SATURDAYS 4PM

Concerts by chamber soloists and ensembles.

AUGUST 21 , 5PM

De Nuestra América. Guests: Reinier Mariño and his group

AUGUST 28, 5PM

Seis por Derecho, with guitarist Bárbara Milián and guests

SALA GONZALO ROIG. PALACIO DEL TEATRO LÍRICO NACIONAL

AUGUST 28 5PM

Cuerda Dominical, with guitarist Luis Manuel Molina.

TEATRO MARTÍ

FRI, SAT & SUN, FROM AUGUST 19 TO SEPTEMBER 11

Les Miserables, musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, adaptation and production by Alfonso Menéndez.

SALA ERNESTO LECUONA. GRAN TEATRO DE LA HABANA

AUGUST 6 7PM

Teatro Lírico Nacional in concert.

AUGUST 4 5PM

Camerata Cortés in concert.

AUGUST 14 5PM

Concert Todo por amor, with the performance of Camerata Martin.

AUGUST 21 7PM

Pentagrama de la lírica nacional, with the participation of opera singers of the Teatro Lírico Nacional.


AUGUST 6 , 7PM

Alejandro Falcón (piano) and Rodrigo Sosa (quena) will play folkloric pieces, Latin American popular genres and classical music. Guest musicians: Barbarito Torres (tres), Ruy López-Nussa (percussion), singer Bárbara Vicens and the String Quartet of the Orquesta de Cámara de La Habana.


AUGUST 13 , 5 PM

A choral meeting between the Philadelphia Boys Choir and Chorale, directed by Jeffrey R. Smith, y the Vocal Leo chamber choir directed by Corina Campos.


78 AUG 2016


THEATRE

TEATRO MELLAGRUPO KOMOTÚAUGUST 5 Y 6, 8:30PM; AUGUST 7, 5PM

SALA ADOLFO LLAURADÓTEATRO EL PÚBLICO / PRODUCTION: ALEXIS DÍAZ DE VILLEGAS MARTES, MIÉRCOLES Y JUEVES, 8:30PM

El muro

Adulterios

Rerun of the 2014 comedy show on the 20th anniversary of the popular Komotú Group from Guantanamo.

The play is based on Woody Allen’s one-act Central Park West that deals with adultery between two couples who are friends.

TEATRO RAQUEL REVUELTATEATRO PÁLPITO / PRODUCTION: ROBERTO CARLOS SILVA, FRIDAYS, SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS, 8:30PM

La derrota

A production that combines dance and theater in which one of the younger members of the company makes his debut as director.

TEATRO BUENDÍATEATRO BUENDÍA / PUESTA EN ESCENA FLORA LAUTEN , FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS, 8:30 PM; SUNDAYS, 5PM

Éxtasis: un homenaje a la madre Teresa de Ávila

For the always lucid Norge Espinosa, “Teresa of Avila, obsessed with the idea of founding monasteries, temples, places of worship, is the focal point of the play, conceived through texts by Raquel Carrió, Eduardo Manet and Flora Lauten…[This is] a show that erases any idea of a biography of a saint and we find in it passions, fears, hopes and battles that unveil her as a woman whose only weapon is her faith….It is a sober production that emphasizes the idea of legacy and the act of founding.”

TEATRO NACIONAL DE CUBA. SALA AVELLANEDACENTRO PROMOTOR DEL HUMOR / PRODUCTION: OMAR FRANCO, AUGUST 5 Y 6, 8:30 PM; AUGUST 7, 5PM

A Pululu

Comedy show that examines major events in the nation’s life, from the fall of the socialist bloc to the reestablishment of Cuba-US relations.

SALA EL SÓTANOTEATRO DEL SILENCIO / PUESTA EN ESCENA DE RUBÉN SICILIA, TUESDAYS THRU THURSDAYS, 6PM

SALA EL SÓTANOLA BERNARDA / PRODUCTION: TONY ARROYOFRIDAYS, SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS, 8:30PM

Génesis

Proyecto Julieta

Premiere by one of the most experimental companies in today’s Cuban theater.

Juliet survived her beloved; 60 years later, she is still grieving his death and tells the story among the character that visit her and the memories that haunt her.

SALA ABELARDO ESTORINOTEATRO DE DOS / PUESTA EN ESCENA DE JULIO CÉSAR RAMÍREZ, AUGUST 12, 6PM

El baile

Monologue based on Abelardo Estorino’s play of the same name, in which a woman in need sells a necklace, quite against her feelings. The play touches on the complex family relations in Cuba today.


79 AUG 2016

photos by Huberto Valera Jr.

Jugando espero COPPELIA ICE CREAM PARLORTHURSDAYS, 2PM

Games and other attractive activities for the kiddies.

Los payasos burladores y burladosTEATRO NACIONAL DE GUIÑOLAUGUST 12, 5PM; AUGUST 6, 7, 13 & 14, 11AM & 5PM

Puppet show by Teatro Papalote

Las noches del cafetal TEATRO NACIONAL DE GUIÑOLAugust 18 & 25, 5pm; August 19, 20, 24 & 25, 11am y 5pm

Puppet show by Los Cuenteros

El león y el ratónTEATRO DE TÍTERES EL ARCAFRIDAYS, SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS, THROUGH JULY 14, 3PM

Opening of the play by Mexican puppeteer Mireya Cueto, adapted by the multi prizewinner puppeteer Adalett Pérez.

FOR KIDS


80 AUG 2016

EVENTS IN HAVANA

Rutas y Andares 2016The successful, traditional summer tours organized by the City Historian’s Office since 2001 bring the rich cultural heritage of Havana closer to its people and visitors alike. The program is focused on visits to museums, tours around the city and workshops. Tickets will be on sale at Museo de la Ciudad, Museo de Arte Colonial, Convento de San Francisco de Asís, Museo Casa Natal de José Martí, and Maqueta del Centro Histórico, starting July 5, Tuesday-Saturday, 9am-5pm; Sundays, 9:30 am-noon. The Quinta de los Molinos wil have I a sales point on its premsies for its Special Ruta, Mondays-Friday, 9:30am-4pm. Detailed information at the Centro de Información Cultural, Oficios #8 e/ Obispo y Obrapía, La Habana Vieja, or call 7866 4035 / 7864 4336-37 (ext. 107).

Purchasing tickets for the Routes gives free access to the museums included therein, Tuesday through Saturday from 9:30 m to 5pm, and Sundays from 9:30 am to pm. The Routes “Imaginaries of a City,” “Ethnographic Museums” and “Old Havana Pharmacies” will have a guide every Tuesday, at 10am. Guided tours begin Tuesday, July 12 until August 16. The remaining days, the museums included in each proposal may be visited freely.


81 AUG 2016

EVENTS IN HAVANA RUTAS (ROUTES)

IMAGINARIES OF A CITY

Will focus on the reconstruction of Havana environments from the colonial era to the present day, the transformations of spaces due to social interaction, customs, popular traditions, festivities and walks within the walled city and El Vedado. Visits to Museo de la Ciudad, Museo de Arte Colonial, Casa de la Obra Pía, Museo de Naipes, Museo de la Cerámica, Museo Napoleónico and Casa del Vedado

ART IN ETHNO-GRAPHIC MUSE-UMS

Nature and art: objects from popular culture and decorative art created by the peoples of Africa and Asia in their historical development (visits to Casa de África, Casa de los Árabes and Casa de Asia), and Latin American Printmaking (visits to Casa Oswaldo Guayasamín, Casa del Benemérito de las Américas Benito Juárez and Casa Simón Bolívar).

OLD HAVANA PHARMACIES

Learning about pharmaceutical forms: ointments, essences and electuaries. Visits to Museo Farmacia Taquechel, Museo de la Farmacia Habanera y Farmacia Johnson.

ART IN ETHNO-GRAPHIC MUSE-UMS

Butterfly Conservatory;, History of the Quinta de los Molinos; Trees at the Quinta; Animals, Care and Handling; Bonsai Growing; Ornamental & Wild Birds, Pigeons, Care and Handling; Ornamental Plants at the Quinta

SPECIAL ROUTE ON FIDEL CAS-TRO’S 90TH BIRTHDAY

Opening of the Azpiazo-Castro-Resende firm, where Jorge Azpiazo, Fidel Castro and Rafael Resende served as lawyers from 1950 to early 1952. Visits to Casa de África, Casa Oswaldo Guayasamín, Casa Simón Bolívar, Casa Juan Gualberto Gómez, Armería 9 de Abril, Museo de la Revolución and numismatic collections, with interpretation services for the deaf

QUINTA DE LOS MOLINOS

Butterfly Conservatory;, History of the Quinta de los Molinos; Trees at the Quinta; Animals, Care and Handling; Bonsai Growing; Ornamental & Wild Birds, Pigeons, Care and Handling; Ornamental Plants at the Quinta

FACTORÍA HA-BANA

Videos and lectures on the exhibition Signos. Arte, industria y viceversa. Design in Cuba; artistic and educational projects from 1960 to 1990. Lectures on projects from 1960 to 1990 and serial publications. Showing of documentaries Telarte by Idelfonso Ramos, Variaciones by Humberto Solás and Héctor Veitía, and Utopía posible by Felipe Dulzaides.

THE ARTS Lectures, exhibitions, fashion shows, Q&A with artists, music shows


82 AUG 2016

EVENTS IN HAVANA

ANDARES (WALKS)

OPEN HOUSE AT THE CAPITOLIO BUILDING

Visit to the restoration project of Havana’s Capitolio. Tours are held twice a week and tickets will be sold individually for each tour. Once you buy your ticket, you need to register at Centro de Información Cultural (Oficios 8, entre Obispo y Obrapía, La Habana Vieja).

WALKING WITH THE WALKERS

The imprint of Africa in our culture, Walking along the path of Francophony, Illustrious Writers in Havana, Martí and his imprint on the Havana trip, the Colón Cemetery, Good and bad practices in heritage restoration

ARCHITECTUR-AL WALK

Urban landmarks in the traditional and modern city: Parque Central (with interpretation services for the deaf), Alameda de Paula, Traditional Malecón, Plaza de la Revolución, La Rampa and Calle Paseo

(A selection of the most popular tours in previous editions)

VIRTUAL WALKS FOR THE ELDERLY

AU-GUST 2

Planetarium

AUG 3 Palacio del Segundo Cabo: Great European Museums: National Gallery

AUG 4 Vitrina de Valonia

AUG 5 Casa Oswaldo Guayasamín: contemporary Ecuadorian crafts

AUG 9 Planetarium

AUG 10 Palacio del Segundo Cabo: Great European Museums: National Gallery

AUG 11 Casa de las Tejas Verdes

AUG 18 Museo de Bomberos de la República de Cuba: stories of fires and firemen

AUG 25 Casa Víctor Hugo: Wifredo Lam and París

AUG 9 & 16

Centro Hispanoamericano de Cultura: Great Spanish and Latin American writers (Baldomero Lillo, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Rubén Darío and Gabriela Mistral)


83 AUG 2016

EVENTS IN HAVANA Arte en La RampaJULY 1-SEPTEMBER 18, TUESDAYS-FRIDAYS, 2-8PM; SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS, 10AM-8PM. CLOSED MONDAYS AND JULY 30, PABELLÓN CUBA

As is customary every summer since the year 2000, the Art at La Rampa Crafts Fair opens its door at the Pabellón Cuba, emblematic building of 1960s Cuban architecture, with an attractive offer that includes the sale of serigraphs, footwear, clothing, costume jewelry, fans, household goods, furniture, ornaments, and much more. Fashion shows, concerts and activities for the kiddies will also take place during the Fair.

This edition will have 50 individual stands and around 10 from the Cuban Fund of Cultural Property, as well as products from Egrem, Artex, Génesis, ICAIC, UNEAC, Abdala, Editorial de la Mujer, Casa de las Américas, Distribuidora Nacional del Libro, Centro Provincial del Libro and Casa del Abanico. The provinces of Cienfuegos, Matanzas, Artemisa, Mayabeque and Havana will be represented by their craftspersons. Specialized stores, like the Tienda del Mueble (furniture) and designer Freixas (clothes) will also showcase their wares.

The music programming that is always present at the Pabellón Cuba ( Fridays, Saturdays & Sundayus, 6pm) includes popular musicians Polito Ibáñez, Ernesto Blanco, Interactivo and Telmary, among others. And the photographic exhibition Soldado de las ideas Soldado de las ideas will open with photos taken of Fidel Castro by Liborio Nodal and Ismael Francisco.

CubadanzaAUGUST 1-12

TEATRO NACIONAL DE CUBA

The two-week long International Workshop on Cuban Modern Dance, Cubadanza, aimed at professional dancers and students, teaches different Cuban popular rhythms and dances from which Cuban modern dance draws on and shows how the pelvic region and the undulation of the torso, among other characteristics, are the fundamental basis of the Cuban technique of modern dance. According to the availability of the company for the period in which the workshop will take place, it will possible to attend rehearsals and demonstrative lessons with first dancers of Danza Contemporánea de Cuba.


84 AUG 2016

EVENTS IN HAVANA Jornada de Hip HopAUGUST 25-28

VARIOUS VENUES IN HAVANA

The early 90s saw hip hop take roots in Cuba as a new form of expression, and the mid-90s the opening of this festival with the performances of the most important rap groups in Cuba. A predominantly young, enthusiastic audience attends the concerts, and also take part in the colloquium with discussions on hip-hop culture and issues regarding this type of music, which has delved into controversial aspects of Cuban life, such as racism, still latent in Cuban society.

Simposio y Festival de Rap AUGUST 13-18

LA MADRIGUERA

Besides the usual well-attended concerts, this rap festival and symposium, which is organized by the Cuban Rap Agency, proposes an interesting program of workshops, lectures, Q&A with musicians on the situation of the genre today and its future.

Timbalaye, VIII Festival Internacional de la Rumba CubanaAUGUST 26-30 , HAVANA AND MATANZAS

Created to delve into the patrimonial basis of rumba, the International Cuban Rumba Festival in its 8th edition will be dedicated to the 130th anniverssary of the abolition of slavery and the 50th anniverssary of Miguel Barnet’s testimonial novel Biografía de un Cimarrón about a fugitive slave.

Rumba is one of the most authentic manifestations in Cuban culture. Widely popular and 100% Cuban, it was born as a process of hybridization of elements of different origins, in which the legacy of African cultures played a predominant role while it exhibited significant Spanish components. It emerged in Cuba in the late 19th century, and developed after the abolition of slavery.

More than a music and dance representation, rumba is a way of life, a philosophy that contains a mystique connected to religions and affiliations. It does not need specific instruments—the clapping of hands is enough to get a rumba going. For the people in the neighborhoods and in the streets, rumba is suited to their lives, to their emotions. And this is what Timbalaye, a yoruba word that refers to feasible dreams and projects, is all about.


85 AUG 2016

August 5-7 Jibacoa Beach, Mayabeque provinceThis is the top electronic music festival in Cuba, which takes place by the sea, at the popular Jibacoa Beach on the northern coast of Cuba, approximately 60 km east of Havana. The festival is attended by around 30,000 people, most of them college students. This is three days and nights of non-stop music and dance by the sea with rock bands like Osamu, Karamba, Nube Roja, Primera Base, Revelación Urbana and En Fusión; DJs Lejardi and Xander Black, just to mention a few. Concerts start in the evening and last all night till dawn. Bring your own tent or rent one at the beach!

FESTIVAL DE VERANO EN JIBACOA


86 AUG 2016


87 AUG 2016

Los Mercaderes

EL ATELIER EXPERIMENTAL FUSION

Calle 5 e/ Paseo y 2, Vedado (+53) 7-836-2025

CAFÉ LAURENT SPANISH/MEDITERRANEAN

Calle M #257, e/ 19 y 21, Vedado (+53) 7-831-2090

BELLA CIAO HOMELY ITALIAN

Calle 19 y 72, Playa (+53) 7-206-1406

CAFÉ BOHEMIA CAFÉ

Calle San Ignacio #364, Habana Vieja

Interesting décor, interesting menu. Attractive penthouse restaurant

with breezy terrace. Great service, good prices. A real home from home.

Bohemian feel. Great sandwiches, salads & juices

LOS MERCADERES

CASA MIGLIS SWEDISH-CUBAN FUSION

Beautiful colonial house.Polpular place whit great food and good service.

Oasis of good food & taste in Centro Habana

CUBAN-CREOLE

Calle Mercaderes No. 207 altos e/ Lamparilla y Amargura. H.Vieja (+53) 7861 2437

Lealtad #120 e/ Ánimas y Lagunas, Centro Habana(+53) 7-864-1486

Calle #35 e/ 20 y 41, Playa.(+53) 7-203-8315

OTRA MANERA INTERNATIONAL

Beautiful modern decor. Interesting menu and good service.

EL COCINERO INTERNACIONAL

Calle 26, e/ 11 y 13, Vedado. (+53) 7-832-2355

D.EUTIMIA CUBAN/CREOLE

CORTE PRÍNCIPE ITALIAN

Calle 9na esq. a 74, Miramar (+53) 5-255-9091

Industrial chic alfresco rooftop with a buzzing atmosphere Absolutely charming. Excellent

Cuban/creole food. Sergio’s place. Simple décor, spectacular food.

Callejón del Chorro #60C, Plaza de la Catedral, Habana Vieja (+53) 7 861 1332

Ave. 3raA y Final #11, La Puntilla, Miramar(+53) 7-209-4838

RÍO MAR INTERNATIONAL

Contemporary décor. Great sea-view. Good food.

LA FONTANA INTERNACIONAL

Calle 46 #305 esq. a 3ra, Miramar(+53) 7-202-8337

IVÁN CHEF EL LITORAL

Consistently good food, attentive service. Old school.

Brilliantly creative and rich food. Watch the world go by at the Malecón’s best restaurant.

Aguacate #9 esq. a Chacón, Habana Vieja (+53) 7-863-9697

Malecón #161 e/ K y L, Vedado (+53) 7-830-2201

SPANISH INTERNATIONAL

NAZDAROVIE

Well designed Soviet décor excellent food & service.

Malecon #25, 3rd floor e Prado y Carcel, Centro Habana (+53) 7-860-2947

SOVIET

Calle 240A #3023 esq. a 3ra C, Jaimanitas(+53) 5-286-7039

SANTY SUSHI/ORIENTAL

Authentic fisherman’s shack servicing world-class sushi.

San Rafael #469 e/ Lealtad y Campanario, Centro Habana(+53) 7-860-9109

SAN CRISTÓBAL CUBAN/CREOLE

Deservedly popular.Consistently great food. Kitsch décor.

HAVANA’Sbest places to eat

Calle 13 #406, e/ E y F, Vedado.(+53) 7-832 4894http://www/medhavana.com

MEDITERRÁNEOHAVANA INTERNATIONAL

Interesting and diverse menu.Beautiful terrace.


88 AUG 2016

TOP PICK

Style of food: InternationalCost: ExpensiveType of place: Private (Paladar)

Style of food: InternationalCost: ModerateType of place: Private (Paladar)

Best for Quality décor, good service and great food. Best new place recently opened.

Best for Beautiful modern décor and good food.

Don’t Miss Drinking a cocktail at sunset watching the world go by on the Malecón

Don’t miss Pork rack of ribs in honey. Sweet& sour sauce and grilled pineapple

Malecón #161 e/ K y L, Vedado.(+53) 7-830-2201

Calle 35 #1810 e/ 20 y 41, Playa(+53) 7-203-8315

Style of food: SovietCost: Moderate Type of place: Private (Paladar)

Best for Getting a flavor of Cuban-Soviet history along with babuska’s traditional dishes in a classy locale.

Don’t miss Vodka sundowners on the gorgeous terrace overlooking the malecon.

Malecon #25 3rd floor e/ Prado y Carcel, Centro Habana

(+53) 7-860-2947

El Litoral

Nazdarovie TOP PICK

TOP PICK Otra Manera

TOP PICK


89 AUG 2016

Style of food: Contemporary fusionCost: ExpensiveType of place: Private (Paladar)

Style of food: SpanishCost: ExpensiveType of place: Private (Paladar)

Best for Authentic, charming and intimate atmosphere in Cuba’s best known restaurant. Great food, professional. Classy.

Best for Spectacular innovative food. Light and airy place where it always seems to feel like Springtime.

Don’t Miss Uma Thurman, Beyoncé or the Queen of Spain if they happen to be dining next to you.

Don’t Miss The lightly spiced grilled mahi-mahi served with organic tomato relish. Try the suckling pig and stay for the cuatro leches.

Concordia #418 e/ Gervasio y Escobar, Centro Habana.(+53) 7-866-9047

Aguacate #9, Esq. Chacón, Habana Vieja.(+53) 7-863-9697 / (+53) 5-343-8540

Style of food: TraditionalCost: Moderate Type of place: Private (Paladar)

Best for taking a break from long walks and seeking shelter from the stifling Cuban..

Don’t miss location in the cool inner courtyard of the colonial building.

Ground floor of the Palacio de la Casa del Conde de Lombillo, Calle San Ignacio #364

(+53) 5- 403-1 568, (+53) 7-836-6567 www.havanabohemia.com

La Guarida

Café Bohemia TOP PICK

TOP PICK

Iván Chef JustoTOP PICK


90 AUG 2016

Los MercaderesTOP PICK

Don’t miss Wonderfull balcony view to the clasic street.

Style of food Cuban creoleCost ModerateType of place Private (Paladar)

Best for Beautiful colonial house.Polpular place whit great food and good service.

Calle Mercaderes No. 207 altos e/ Lamparilla y Amargura. Habana Vieja(+53) 7861 2437 y (+53) 5290 1531

Casa Miglis TOP PICK

Style of food Swedish-Cuban fusionCost ExpensiveType of place Private (Paladar)

Best for The beautifully designed interior, warm ambience and Miglis’s personality create the feeling of an oasis in Central Havana.

Don’t Miss Chatting with Mr Miglis. The Skaargan prawns, beef Chilli and lingonberries.

Lealtad #120 e/ Ánimas y Lagunas, Centro Habana

www.casamiglis.com

(+53) 7-864-1486


92 AUG 2016

Corner Café

EL FLORIDITA

CERVECERÍA 1950S TRADITIONALS SLOPPY JOE’S BAR

Hemingway’s daiquiri bar. Touristy but always full of life. Great cocktails.

Microbrewery located overlooking the restored docks Simply brilliant.

Guest performers include BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB MEMBERS Recently (beautifully) renovated.

Full of history. Popular. Lacks a little ‘grime’.

TRADITIONAL BARS

Sociedad Rosalía de Castro, Egido 504 e/ Monte y Dragones, Old Havana (+53) 5-270-5271 Ánimas esq. a Zulueta, Habana Vieja

Avenida del Puerto y San Ignacio, La Habana Vieja(+53) 7-866-7157

ANTIGUO ALMACÉN DE LA MADERA Y EL TABACO

Obispo #557 esq. a Monserrate, Habana Vieja(+53) 7-867-1299

Calle 10 #510, e/ 5ta y 31, Miramar (+53) 7-836-3031

EL COCINERO

ESPACIOS

TABARISH

FAC

Fabulous rooftop setting, great service, cool vibe.

Laid back contemporary bar with a real buzz in the back beer-garden.

A comfortable place to chat / hang out with your friends. Great service.

X Alfonso’s new cultural center. Great concerts, funky young scene.

CONTEMPORARY BARS

Calle 26 e/ 11 y 13, Vedado (+53) 7-832-2355

Calle 20 #503, e/ 5ta y 7ma.

(+53) 7-202-9188

Calle 26 e/ 11 y 13, Vedado (next to the Puente de Hierro)

(+53) 5-329-6325 www.facebook.com/fabrica.deartecubano

HAVANA’Sbest Bars & Clubs


93 AUG 2016

DON CANGREJO

CORNER CAFÉ

SANGRI-LA

BOLABANA Love it/hate it—this is the oldest Friday night party place and is still going strong. Outdoor by the sea.

Great live music every day. very frequently by locals. Good tapas.

For the cool kids. Basement bar/club which gets packed at weekends.

Packed night after night with a young dressed-up clientele wanting to party. Don’t go looking for Buena Vista Social Club!

CONTEMPORARY BARS/CLUBS

Calle 39 esq. 50, Playa(+53) 5 -294-3572

Ave. 1ra e/ 16 & 18, Miramar (+53) 7-204-3837

Calle B e/ 1ra y 3ra. Plaza de laRevolución(+53) 7837 1220

Ave. 21 e/ 36 y 42, Miramar(+53) 7-264-8343

Calle 17 #809 e/ 2 y 4, Vedado(+53) 7-831-2433

San Juan de Dios, esq. a Aguacate, Habana Vieja (+53) 7-867-1676

CABARET LAS VEGAS

FASHION BAR HAVANA

CAFÉ BAR MADRIGAL

Can get dark and smoky but great drag show (11pm) from Divino—one of Cuba’s most accomplished drag acts.

A superb example of queer class meets camp, accompanied by a fantastic floor show.

Pop décor, fancy cocktails, and the staff’s supercilious attitude, this is a gathering spot for all types of folks.

GAY-FRIENDLY

Ave. 21 e/ 36 y 42, Miramar (+53) 7-264-8343

Corner Café TOP PICKCONTEMPORARY BAR/CLUBS

Best for Frequently by locals. Great tapas.

Don’t Miss Live music every day.

Calle B e/ 1ra y 3ra. Plaza de la Revolución

(+53) 5-264-8343

Sangri-La TOP PICKCONTEMPORARY BAR/CLUBS

Best for Hanging out with the cool kids on the Havana Farundula in the most popular bar/club.

Don’t Miss The best gin and tonic in Havana.

Ave. 21 e/ 36 y 42, Miramar

(+53) 5-264-8343


94 AUG 2016

CONTEMPORARY BAR/CLUBS

BAR / TRADITIONAL

Best for Laid back lounge atmosphere in the garden area which often has live music. Good turnover of people.

Best for Immense original bar lovinglyrestored. Good service, History.

Don’t Miss Ray Fernandez, Tony Avila, Yasek Mazano playing live sets in the garden.

Worst for Not quite grimy. Too clean.

Calle 10 #510 e/ 5ta y 31, Miramar (+53) 7-202-2921

Ánimas, esq. Zulueta La Habana Vieja, (07) 866-7157

Best for Trendy new location near Salón Rosado de la Tropica.

Don’t Miss Hipsters meet the Havana Farándula.

Calle 39 esq. 50, Playa

Espacios

Bolabana TOP PICK

TOP PICK

Sloppy Joe´s Bar

TOP PICK

CONTEMPORARY


95 AUG 2016



Best for X Alfonso’s superb new cultural center has something for everyone

Best for Hanging out with hip & funky Cubans who like their live music.

Don’t Miss Artists who exhibit work should demonstrate ongoing creativity and a commitment for social transformation.

Don’t Miss Interactivo playing on a Wednesday evening.

Calle 26 e/ 11 y 13, Vedado(next to the Puente de Hierro)

Calle 13 e/ I y J, Vedado(+53) 7-830-1354

Best for A superb example of queer class meets camp, accompanied by a fantastic floor show.

Don’t Miss The staff performing after 11pm

San Juan de Dios, esq. a Aguacate, Habana Vieja (+53) 7-867-1676

Fábrica de Arte

Fashion Bar Havana

TOP PICK

TOP PICK

Bertolt BrechtTOP PICK

GAY FRIENDLY


96 AUG 2016


97 AUG 2016

CONCERT VENUES

Paseo y 39, Plaza de la Revolución.Calle 26 e/ 11 y 13, Vedado (next to the Puente de Hierro)

KARL MARX THEATRE

BASÍLICA SAN FRANCISCO DE ASÍS

FÁBRICA DE ARTE

SALA COVARRUBIAS

World class musicians perform prestigious concerts in Cuba’s best equipped venue.

A truly beautiful church, which regularly hosts fabulous classical music concerts.

X Alfonso’s new cultural center. Great concerts inside (small and funky) and outside (large and popular!).

Recently renovated, one of Cuba’s most prestigious venues for a multitude of events.

Calle 1ra esq. a 10, Miramar (+53) 7-203-0801

Oficios y Amargura, Plaza de San Francisco de Asís, Habana Vieja

TEATRO NACIONAL

SALSA/TIMBA

CAFÉ CANTANTE MI HABANA

SALÓN ROSADO DE LA TROPICAL

CASA DE LA MÚSICA

CASA DE LA MÚSICA Attracts the best Cuban

musicians. Recently renovated with an excellent new sound system.

The legendary beer garden where Arsenio tore it up. Look for a salsa/timba gig on a Sat night and a Sun matinee.

A little rough around the edges but spacious. For better or worse, this is ground zero for the best in Cuban salsa.

Smaller and more up-market than its newer twin in Centro Habana. An institution in the Havana salsa scene.

Ave. Paseo esq. a 39, Plaza de la Revolución (+53) 7-878-4273

Ave. 41 esq. a 46, Playa(+53) 7-203-5322 Galiano e/ Neptuno y Concordia, C. Habana

(+53) 7-860-8296/4165Calle 20 esq. a 35, Miramar(+53) 7-204-0447

CENTRO HABANA MIRAMAR

HAVANA’Sbest live music venues


98 AUG 2016

Calle 23 e/ N y O, Vedado(+53) 7-833-2402

CAFÉ JAZZ MIRAMAR

JAZZ CAFÉ

LA ZORRA Y EL CUERVO

Clean, modern and atmospheric. Where Cuba’s best musicians jam and improvise.

A staple of Havana’s jazz scene, the best jazz players perform here. Somewhat cold atmosphere-wise.

Intimate and atmospheric, which you enter through a red telephone box, is Cuba’s most famous.

Cine Teatro Miramar 10:30pm – 2amAve. 5ta esq. a 94, Miramar

Galerías de Paseo Ave. 1ra e/ Paseo y A, Vedado

CONTEMPORARY

TROVA & TRADITIONAL

CAFÉ TATRO BERTOLT BRECHT

BARBARAM PEPITO´S BAR

TEATRO DE BELLAS ARTES

SALÓN 1930 COMPAY SEGUNDO

TRADICIONALES DE LOS 50

DON CANGREJO

GATO TUERTO

EL SAUCE

Think MTV Unplugged when musicians play. Hip, funky and unique with an artsy Cuban crowd.

Some of the best Cuban Nueva Trova musicians perform in this small and intimate environment.

Small intimate venue inside Cuba’s most prestigious arts museum. Modern.

Buena Vista Social Club style set in the grand Hotel Nacional.

The 1950s traditionals, a project created over 10 years ago, pays tribute to the Golden Era of Cuban music: the 1950s.

Love it/hate it—this is the oldest Friday night party place and is still going strong. Outdoor by the sea.

Late night place to hear fabulous bolero singers. Can get smoky.

Great outdoor concert venue to hear the best in contemporary & Nueva Trova live in concert.

Calle 13 e/ I y J, Vedado (+53) 7-830-1354

Calle 26 esq. a Ave. del Zoológico. Nuevo Vedado (+53) 7-881-1808

Trocadero e/ Zulueta y Monserrate,Habana Vieja.

Hotel NacionalCalle O esq. a 21, Vedado (+53) 7-835-3896Sociedad Rosalia de Castro, Egido #504 e/

Monte y Dragones, Havana Vieja (+53) 7-861-7761

Ave. 1ra e/ 16 y 18, Miramar (+53) 7-204-3837

Calle O entre 17 y 19, Vedado (+53) 7-833-2224

Ave. 9na #12015 e/ 120 y 130, Playa (+53) 7-204-6428

JAZZ


99 AUG 2016

Hotel Nacional de Cuba

CONDE DE VILLANUEVA

Delightfully small and intimate. For cigar lovers.

Mercaderes #202, Lamparilla(+53) 7-862-9293

HOSTAL VALENCIA Immensely charming, great value.

Oficios #53 esq. a Obrapía, Habana Vieja (+53) 7-867-1037

PALACIO DEL MARQUÉS...

Cuban baroque meets modern minimalist

Oficios #152 esq. a Amargura, Habana Vieja

FLORIDA

Beautifully restored colonial house.

Obispo #252, esq. a Cuba, Habana Vieja(+53) 7-862-4127

TERRAL

Wonderful ocean front location. Newly renovated.

Malecón esq. a Lealtad, Centro Habana (+53) 7-862-8061

SARATOGA

Stunning view from roof-top pool. Beautiful décor. Paseo del Prado #603 esq. a Dragones, Habana Vieja(+53) 7-860-8201

SANTA ISABEL

Narciso López, Habana Vieja (+53) 7-860-8201

IBEROSTAR PARQUE CENTRAL

Luxury hotel overlooking Parque Central

Neptuno e/ Prado y Zulueta, Habana Vieja(+53) 7-860-6627

BOUTIQUE HOTELS IN OLD HAVANA

SIMPLY THE BEST…

Luxurious historic mansion facing Plaza de Armas

HAVANA’SBest Hotels


100 AUG 2016

RIVIERA

Spectacular views over wave-lashed Malecón

Paseo y Malecón, Vedado (+53) 7-836-4051

HOTEL NACIONAL

Eclectic art-deco architecture. Gorgeous gardens.

Calle O esq. a 21, Vedado (+53) 7-835 3896

MERCURE SEVILLA

Stunning views from the roof garden restaurant.

Trocadero #55 entre Prado y Zulueta, Habana Vieja(+53) 7-860-8560

AMBOS MUNDOS

A must for Hemingway aficionados

Calle Obispo #153 esq. a Mercaderes, Habana Vieja(+53) 7- 860-9529

DEAUVILLE

Lack of pretension, great location.

Galiano e/ Sán Lázaro y Malecón, Centro Habana(+53) 7-866-8812

VEDADO

Good budget option with a bit of a buzz

Calle O e/ 23 y 25, Vedado (+53) 7-836-4072

SAINT JOHN’S

Lively disco, tiny quirky pool. Popular.

Calle O e/ 23 y 25, Vedado(+53) 7-833-3740

BOSQUE

On the banks of the Río Almendares.

Calle 28-A e/ 49-A y 49-B, Reparto Kohly, Playa(+53) 7-204-9232

ECONOMICAL/BUDGET HOTELS

FOR A SENSE OF HISTORY

H10 HABANA PANORAMA

Cascades of glass. Good wi-fi. Modern.

Ave. 3ra. y 70, Miramar (+53) 7 204-0100

OCCIDENTAL MIRAMAR

Good value, large spacious modern rooms.

Ave. 5ta. e/ 70 y 72, Miramar (+53) 7-204-3583

MELIÁ HABANA

Attractive design & extensive facilities.

Ave. 3ra y 70, Miramar(+53) 5-204-8500

MELIÁ COHÍBA

Oasis of polished marble and professional calm.

Ave Paseo e/ 1ra y 3ra, Vedado(+53) 7- 833-3636

BUSINESS HOTELS

HAVANA’SBest Hotels


101 AUG 2016

HAVANA’Sbest private

places to staySueño Cubano

MIRAMAR 301LUXURY HOUSE

4 bedrooms private luxury villa with swimming pool

JULIO Y ELSACluttered bohemian feel. Hospitable.

Consulado #162 e/ Colón y Trocadero, Centro Habana( +53) 7-861-8027

CASA ESCORIAL

Attractive accomodations with a panoramic view of Plaza Vieja

Mercaderes # 315 apt 3 e/ Muralla y Teniente Rey, Plaza Vieja, Habana Vieja(+53) 5-268 6881; 5-278 6148

VITRALES

Hospitable, attractive and reliable boutique B&B with 9 bedrooms. Habana #106 e/ Cuarteles y Chacón, Habana Vieja(+53) 7-866-2607

HABANABeautiful colonial townhouse with great location.

Calle Habana #209, e/ Empedrado, y Tejadillo, Habana Vieja.(+53) 7-861-0253

1932Visually stunning, historically fascinating. Welcoming.

Campanario #63 e/ San Lázaro y Laguna, Centro Habana(+53) 7-863-6203

CAÑAVERAL HOUSE

But undoubtedly the most beautiful about private homes in Cuba

39A street, #4402, between 44 y 46, Playa, La Habana Cuba(+53) 295-5700http://www.cubaguesthouse.com/canaveral.home.html?lang=en

SUEÑO CUBANO

Old palace carefully restored, seven rooms, suites with bathrooms and featuring 24 hour service.Calle Santa Clara número 66 entre Oficios e Inquisidor. Habana Vieja

53 7866010939 339 1817730

MID RANGE - CASA PARTICULAR (B&B)

UP-SCALE B&BS (BOUTIQUE HOSTALS)


102 AUG 2016

VILLASOL

Rent Room elegant and well-equipped. Beautiful wild garden and great pool.

Calle 17 #1101 e/ 14 y 16, Vedado (+34) 677525361 (+53) 7-832-1927 (+53) 5-360-0456

RESIDENCIA MARIBY

Vedado.(+53) 5-370-5559

MICHAEL AND MARÍA ELENA

This leafy oasis in western Havana has an attractive mosaic tiled pool and three modern bedrooms.

Calle 66 #4507 e/ 45 y Final, Playa

(+53) 7-209-0084

CASABLANCA

Elegant well-equipped villa formerly owned by Fulgencio Batista. Beautiful wild garden.

Morro-Cabaña Park. House #29

(+53) 5-294-5397www.havanacasablanca.com

SUITE HAVANA

Elegant 2-bedroom apartment in restored colonial building. Quality loft style décor. Lamparilla #62 altos e/ Mercaderes y San Ignacio, Habana Vieja

(+53) 5-829-6524

TROPICANA PENTHOUSE

A luxurious penthouse with huge roof terrace and breath-taking 360 degree views of Havana and the ocean.

Galiano #60 Penthouse Apt.10 e/ San Lázaro y Trocadero (+53) 5-254-5240 www.tropicanapenthouse.com

CASA CONCORDIA

Beautifully designed and spacious 3 bedroom apartment. Spanish colonial interiors with cheerful, arty accents.

Concordia #151 apto. 8 esq. a San Nicolás, Centro Habana

(+53) 5-254-5240www.casaconcordia.net

BOHEMIA BOUTIQUE APARTMENTS

Gorgeous 1-bedroom apartment beautifully decorated apartment overlooking Plaza Vieja.

San Ignacio #364 e/ Muralla y Teniente Rey, Plaza Vieja

(+53) 5- 403-1 568 (+53) 7-836-6567www.havanabohemia.com

APARTMENT RENTALS

LUXURY HOUSES

A sprawling vanilla-hued mansion with 6 rooms decorated with colonial-era lamps, tiles and Louis XV furniture

TOP PICK

San Ignacio #364 e/ Muralla y Teniente Rey, Plaza Vieja, Habana Vieja

[email protected]

(+53) 5 4031 568: (53) 7 8366 567 www.havanabohemia.com

Bohemia Boutique Apartments RedBest for 3 small balconies (facing the Patio of the Palace), 1 spacious bedroom with air conditioning

Don’t Miss The apartment is fully furbished, plenty of light and very well ventilated.


103 AUG 2016

TOP PICK

TOP PICK

TOP PICK

Bohemia Boutique Apartments BlueBest for i1 internal balcony, 1 spacious bedroom on the mezzanine with air conditioning.

Don’t Miss The apartment is fully furbished, plenty of light and very well ventilated.

San Ignacio #364 e/ Muralla y Teniente Rey, Plaza Vieja, Habana Vieja [email protected] (+53) 5 4031 568: (53) 7 8366 567

Sueño CubanoBest for Old palace carefully restored, seven rooms, suites with bathrooms and featuring 24 hour service.

Don’t Miss Relax at any of the four terraces, feel the mellow touch of antique and original Cuban furniture.

Calle Santa Clara número 66 entre Oficios e Inquisidor. Habana Vieja53 78660109 / 39 339 1817730WWW.SUENOCUBANO.COM

Cañaveral House Best for Large elegant villa away from downtown Havana. Great for families or groups of friends.

Don’t Miss Basking in the sun as you stretch out on the lawn of the beautifully kept garden.

9A street, #4402, between 44 y 46, Playa, La Habana

(+53) 295-5700http://www.cubaguesthouse.com


104 AUG 2016

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