Cuba

Visited: July 2015

Duration of visit: 14 days

Capital city: Havana

Population: 11.3 million (2015)

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

• Havana Vieja – an open-air museum of historic buildings, revolutionary slogans, live music, lifestyle and despair.
• Tasting mojitos in the unique environment of traditional bars with Cuban music or salsa dancing couples.
• Sleeping in casas particulares and communicating with local owners to better understand Cuban current situation.
• Varadero – vacation on perfect Caribbean beach in first-world luxury hotel, where kids could get off the leash.
• Walking on the remains of a path of iconic Che Guevara in Santa Clara.
• Exploring historical architecture in UNESCO listed old towns of Trinidad and Cienfuegos.

Cuba is one of the very few real socialist countries that has been fighting the invisible war against the whole world for the last 55 years. It is so unique, special and controversial that it is impossible to compare it with any other country in the world.

I visited Cuba as a sole destination with my family in 2015, for 2 weeks. This time priorities were slightly different than, when I travel alone. Small kids (4 and 6 years old) in the backpack set travelling in a different way. I knew we didn’t have enough time to explore the whole island, so we focused on the western part; Havana, Varadero, Santa Clara, Trinidad and Cienfuegos.

A wonderful mix of history, remnants of the revolution, beautiful beach and unique cultural experience.

We are all Spanish speakers, therefore, the communication with locals was extremely easy and direct. Knowing Latino culture, respecting Cuban tradition, understanding historical facts and being accompanied with kids opened the door to communicate openly on various occasions.

Organizing a trip around Cuba is very different than in any other country: common accommodation platforms (Booking.com, Airbnb.com), stable internet access and frequent public transport are no-existent in Cuba in 2015.

We were sleeping in casas particulares – Cuban homes, which possess a special government permit to rent rooms to foreigners. The comfort was not as high as in hotels or resorts, but we got a unique opportunity to live with Cubans, talk to them, eat with them and understand better their culture.

The owners of casas particulares are privileged citizens who have much higher income than average inhabitants, luxury and probably also the right political connections to get operational permits. They still have to pay high taxes on their income, but their standard of living is comfortable.

Public transport is limited for foreigners and difficult to access to. On some intercity routes we were forced to used private transport, while on others decent buses were available and we were allowed to travel with Cubans.

The most memorable, first impression of Havana during the ride from the airport to downtown of La Habana Vieja were the well maintained almost empty, wide highway and boulevards with very little cars. It turned out later that heavy traffic is non-existing anywhere in the country.

La Habana Vieja, one of the finest ensembles of urban edifices of its time in the Americas, was under renovation.

Many buildings, including the Capitol and some churches were protected, covered and surrounded by scaffoldings, probably for a long time already.

Reminiscent of the US Capitol building, it offers a mix of Neoclassical and Art Nouveau styles, topped with the magnificent cupola, inspired by the Panthéon in Paris. The Capitol building was inaugurated in 1929 and was the seat of Cuban government until the Revolution in 1959.

An impressive and eclectic concentration of museums, galleries, bars, restaurants, plazas and small parks make the area an open-air museum, which is degrading faster than it can be restored or maintained. The area of approximately four-square kilometers is partially surrounded by Havana city walls.

Living in these historical buildings that lack modern infrastructure must be difficult, but walking around and exploring living history is exciting. It is obvious there is a lack of resources to properly refurbish and maintain over 900 buildings of historical importance, ranging from intricate 17^th century baroque through 19^th century neoclassical to glitzy Art Deco.

The main attractions in the Havana Old Town are the four plazas, the Spanish-built fortresses, bars and areas with live music. An eclectic mix of restored buildings, and dilapidated buildings offered us refuge for several days, which we enjoyed in good food, listening to local musicians and admiring dedicated salsa dancers in small bars.

One of the most unique experiences in Havana is a taxi ride in one of the old, well maintained classic cars dating from 1935 to 1960. Due to import restrictions, Cubans evolved to be the masters of improvisation, recycling, reusing and repairing cars that had been obsolete all around the world for decades. The engineering has been developed to an extend that local mechanics are able to reproduce any parts that might be broken.

Even though the colorful Cadillac, Ford, Buick, Chevrolet and even Mercury or Chrysler vehicles look perfect from outside, the outdated technology doesn’t make them the most enjoyable for a ride in midday heat. They operate as shared taxis, private taxes as well as private cars that can be rented for any destinations around the city or further.

What would be a trip to Cuba without visiting one of beautiful sandy beaches? We chose the most famous beach resort destination in Cuba – Varadero. Well,

Varadero is not real Cuba.

It is pretty much the same as any other beach resorts town, located anywhere in the world. Up-scale 4 – or 5 -stars hotels owned and operated by international chains that completely isolate foreign visitors from the reality of the country and offer them a unique experience of cocktails, beach, parties, swimming pool, open bar, shows, water activities and buffet style all-you-can-eat food.

The main reason we wanted to be comfortable for a few days was to give liberty to the kids, who really enjoyed swimming, drinking and night shows without being closely supervised all the time. I was surprised to see a lot of Latino or even Cuban guests in the hotels competing who would eat more food or drink more cocktails from early morning until the late evening, when the bars finally closed.

After reading his biography, watching documentaries and trying to understand a life of this unique and most popular guerrillero – revolutionary fighter in the world, I was ready to visit the most revolutionary city in Cuba. Santa Clara was taken over by a revolutionary battalion led by Che Guevara in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve 1958.

This was a decisive chapter in the revolution as President Batista escaped Cuba within 12 hours afterwards. Many memorials around the city are dedicated to glorify these historic moments in the revolution of Cuba.

Santa Clara is best known for its massive Che Guevara museum and memorial underneath the statue. Che Guevara was buried in the mausoleum with full military honors in 1997 after his remains were exhumed and returned from Bolivia, where he had been captured and killed in 1967.

The museum of Che Guevara showcases many different aspects of his life, from his revolutionary times in the Sierra Maestra consulting with Fidel Castro and Camilo Cienfuegos, to his political career as a Minister of Industry, performing the usual voluntary work. The memorable last farewell from Fidel Castro, who referred to him with a very special declaration, maybe describes him best: “We want everyone to be like Che.”

Che Guevara is one of the most recognizable and influential revolutionary figures of the twentieth century.

Almost like a rock star, symbol of rebellion, sacrifice and internationalism, close to poor and children. He left a leisure life as one of the leaders in perished socialist revolution and escaped to the mountains of Bolivia, where he started a utopian revolution, which was doomed in advance.

Even in Cuba today it is very obvious that Fidel Castro as a president, who practically destroyed the country and lives of millions of Cubans quickly disappeared from all public areas, while Che and untimely deceased Camilo Cienfuegos are the revolutionary icons who will stay in the Cuban hearts for a long time.

Santa Clara today is a good example of a more typical Cuban city, where everyday life of the locals is more evident and accessible, especially around Parque Vidal, the main plaza and heart of the city. It’s a popular place for locals to meet and hang out with a constant hive of activity from live music to old men playing chess.

The main drag of Santa Clara is still its revolutionary history that is reflected mainly in the following monuments:

• Monumento a la Toma del Tren Blindado – Monument Taking of the Armored Train is dedicated to honor the crash of a train that was carrying government troops and armaments to the beleaguered forces in the East of the country and was derailed here by the small band of rebels. It was a pivotal point in the battle and the eventual victory of the rebels. You can even get inside the carriages!
• Plaza de la Revolucion is the open space overlooked by a huge bronze statue of Che Guevara that sits atop the museum and mausoleum. Together with another statue of Che Guevara Holding a Child, it reminds every local and visitor of Che’s importance here.

Colonial old town, cobblestone streets, historic buildings around Plaza Mayor and strategically located bell tower, positioned Trinidad as UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Founded in the 16^th century under the Spanish as a small port, it is now one of the most well-preserved colonial cities in all of the Caribbean. It is obvious that the government reforms in the past ten years have allowed the number of private entrepreneurs to start their own businesses; accommodation, restaurants, small shops and artists are just some of the services at much higher level than I found in other places around Cuba.

We found accommodation in a lovely homestay where the host also offered us a good, strong breakfast and delicious dinner. Since it was my birthday and I wanted to taste some delicious seafood, we agreed to order a lobster. Being close to the sea, gave me certainty that the lobster would be fresh and our local hosts assured that I would remember delicious lobster feast at incredibly decent price for many years.

We wondered around the city for two days in a relaxed atmosphere and it was for the first time that the number of foreign tourists were notable.

Cienfuegos in a certain way reminded me a lot to Trinidad, though the city itself is much younger and with different architectural style. It is full of classical facades and slender columns that provide an atmosphere reminiscent of 19^th century France.

The city was settled in 1819 by a French emigrant, don Luis D’Clouet and later became a powerful town due to the fertile surrounding fields and its position on the trade route for sugar cane, tobacco and coffee between Jamaica and South America.

The city afterwards transformed into a key industrial center, part of the revolutionary government’s anti-urban planning policy, with tremendous industrial projects: never-completed nuclear power plant, oil refinery and the cement factory. But this is not really the reason why Cienfuegos, named after general capital from 19^th century, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

It is due to the best extant example of 19^th century urban planning principles in Latin America, homogenous architecture and street plan of this seaport, that the city gained its prestigious position.

Tourism is, beside sugarcane and cigar production, probably the only branch of economy that works on market bases, brings foreign currency and is competitive at the international level. To appreciate Cienfuegos, we walked around central Jose Marti Square and inhaled the gracefulness of the historically significant monuments.

Cuba is my favorite destination in the Caribbean and also one of the most unique countries in the whole world. Due to my fluid knowledge of Spanish, I probably enjoyed and understood it even more than an average non-Spanish speaker.

A unique development route that was chosen after the revolution in 1959 has not been successful and actually turned out to be a disaster, after the Soviet Union collapsed and stopped sponsoring Castro family in the early nineties. Fidel Castro, often viewed as controversial and in opposition to the Western world, has been in persistent conflict with the United States. Despite being one of the longest-serving leaders, he is no longer regarded as a hero in Cuba.

The country has been under a lot of pressure by globalization, new technologies and development that would turn around the position of generations, which never really worked hard or compete with each other for survival. Relaxed atmosphere and common revolutionary ideas reinforced with historical paroles, which have been run over by the ravages of time, are still present.

However, the new wave of entrepreneurs, businessmen and generally ambitious people can’t wait to jump out of the current system and move forward.

If Cuban revolution was an experiment, its transition could be even bigger. It will be interesting to follow the decline of Castro family and new forces that will lead the country in the next decades.

Until then, Cuba is still a perfect place to enjoy the unique society intertwined with tradition, delicious food, irrational rules, friendly people willing to receive foreigners, revolutionary history and beautiful beaches.