Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana
Slide Nr 1Seductive, maddening and magnetic, lauba’s capital woos visitors with its music, its architecture, its characters, cocktails, classic cars and complicated history. Following an economic shift six years ago, there are more hotels for staying in style, more top restaurants for indulging, and more venues for drinking and dancing now than in the last 58 years in this communist outpost under the sun.
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Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 29am: Begin The Day At La Reserva – Wake up in one of the stylish seven suites of new luxury boutique casa La Reserva. Opened by a Swiss/Belgian/Spanish trio in Vedado’s artsy district, rooms are treated to Cuban contemporary art, colourful Spanish colonial tiles, Murano glass, fresh flowers and sleek ensuite bathrooms. Head for strong Cuban coffee and breakfast in the alfresco patio garden-cum-bar, where you could flout convention and order a piña colada for breakfast, too! lareservavedado.com
1/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 310am: Tour The City In A Classic Car – Hire Lola, the chrome-buffed, lipstick-red and white Mercury Monterey 1957 convertible, and glide out to the monumental Revolution Plaza to snap images of memorials and sculptures, then drive back through buzzy Vedado where the Mafia built its hotel-casinos in the ‘50s. Cruise along the wind-swept Malecón ocean road with its architectural spread, before swinging up Prado, past the palm-festooned Central Park, and coasting by the dazzling Capitol building in restoration. vintagetour-cuba.com
2/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 411am: Watch Cuban Cigars In The Making – Cuba’s Vuelta Abajo region, southwest of Havana, produces the world’s finest tobacco leaves for the world’s most premium cigars. The artisanal craft of rolling cigars can be seen at the Romeo y Julieta/H Upmann cigar factory in the residential Centro Habana district. A guided tour will take you past workers sorting leaves and torcedores (cigar rollers) rolling pure Cuban stogies. H Upmann/Romeo y Julieta Factory, Calle Belascoaín 852 between calles Peñalver and Desagüe, Centro Havana. Tel +53 7878 5166
3/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 512pm: Admire Cuban Art At The Museo de Bellas Artes – A visit to the Cuban section of the Museum of Fine Arts is an insightful tour through Cuba’s history of art, from the colourful paintings of Zaída del Río to the Santería-infused imagery of Wifredo Lam and Manuel Mendive, and from the powerful canvases of painter Servando Cabrera Moreno to the pop-art pictures of Raúl Martínez. Request outstanding English-speaking guide Danella Irizar Izquierdo in advance. bellasartes.cult.cu
4/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 61pm Tuck Into Sandwiches And Coffee At El Café – Hidden inside a colonial space in Old Havana, new venue El Café is attracting coffee aficionados for its caffeine hits, vegetable juices (pineapple and beetroot, carrot and ginger), sourdough sandwiches (we vote for the pulled pork with yuca, greens and marmalade) and piled-high pancakes with fruit. Nelson Rodríguez Tamayo is a returnee Cuban who has worked in restaurants (Bambou and Prism) and Allpress Espresso Roastery & Café in London. facebook.com/elcafehavana
5/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 72pm: Shop Souvenirs At Clandestina – Designer and artist Idania del Río opened Cuba’s first design store just off Plaza del Cristo in 2015. It’s a showcase of colour, fabric and ideas: recycled food sacks are transformed into bags and purses, t-shirts boldly state 99% diseño Cuba, paper waste is reincarnated as notebooks, and a new line in upcycled clothing — Vintrashe — is proving super popular. It’s the perfect spot for affordable gifts for friends and family. clandestinacuba.com
6/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 83pm: Walk The Squares Of Old Havana – Stroll Calle Brasil down to the handsomely restored Old Plaza, then detour south to see the stunning frescoes of La Merced church, before heading up Calle Mercaderes to the enchanting ‘son et lumière’ at the city’s model museum. Admire the grandeur of the buildings surrounding leafy Plaza de Armas, browse the second-hand book market for literature and curios, then swing west on O’Reilly, pausing for coffee at restored Café O’Reilly before taking in the beautiful Cathedral Square.
7/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 94pm: Museum Of The Revolution – Cuba’s domed former presidential palace houses the Museum of the Revolution. Its 1920 interiors were designed by Tiffany and are a knockout: the Hall of Mirrors, with its frescoed ceiling and dangling chandeliers, resembles that of Versailles. Multiple rooms detail Cuba’s history and 1959 Revolution. Outside sits the Granma yacht, which brought Fidel and his 81 followers to Cuba in 1956 to organise a rebellion in the east. cuba-museums-guide.com [Photo: Tony Hisgett/Flickr]
8/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 105pm: Walk The Oceanside Malecón – The capital’s ‘gran sofa’, as it’s known, draws walkers, runners, lovers, fishermen and trumpet players. As the sun goes down on the buildings that ripple along the strip for some five miles, photographers will want to snap the passing classic American cars. At nightfall, grab a ron planchao (cheap rum in a carton) or a couple of Cristal beers, sit on the wall and hang out with the locals shooting the breeze. [Photo: Andre Deak/Flickr]
9/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 118pm: Otra Manera – A sleek glass and garden oasis in the upscale Havana neighbourhood of Miramar, Otra Manera’s food is as exquisite as its location. Amy Torralbas and Alvaro Díez Fernández, a Spanish-Cuban partnership, along with chef Dayron Avilés Alfonso, are serving up fresh seafood fusion cuisine: think the tenderest tuna tartare with avocado, mango and sesame, and swordfish ceviche with toasted maize and passionfruit. otramaneralahabana.com
10/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 1210pm: La Bombilla Verde – Detectable only by the solitary green bulb hanging outside the door, the Green Light Bulb is an artsy haven hidden in a leafy Vedado district street. By day, snack on burgers and sandwiches as you admire the funky contemporary art, while on Friday and Saturday nights, the green glow invites revellers to hear a cool set of trovadores who are sending up the house: Santa Clara’s Roly Berrío and Cienfuegos’ Ariel Barreiros, plus emerging young trovadores Tobías Alfonso, Frank Mitchell, and Eduardo Burke. facebook.com/lacasadelabombillaverde
11/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 1312am: La Fábrica de Arte Cubano – Rock musician X Alfonso’s cultural space draws hipsters, students, tourists and temba (slang for the over ‘40s!) for its music, dance, photography, cinema, fashion and people-watching ops. The converted peanut oil factory in Vedado is a hive of creative talent and buzzes with crowds on its opening nights. A new restaurant and cinema in converted freight containers shows La Fábrica is still innovating and is already among the top night spots after opening three years ago. fac.cu
12/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 14Watch Before You Go – The Death of A Bureaucrat was released in 1966, just 7 years after the ‘Triumph of the Revolution’. Directed by one of Cuba’s most well-known filmmakers, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, the film tells the story of a worker buried with his union card – without which his widow cannot claim her pension. The story unravels in comical form as the dead man’s nephew battles bureaucracy to exhume the body and retrieve the card. The Kafkaesque bureaucracy which entangles the family is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago.
13/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 15Read Before You Go – LaHabana.com is a monthly digital magazine covering stories on Cuba’s cultural trends, music and dance, nature, hotspots, restaurants and places to stay. It’s written by locals and foreigners in the know, and also includes a monthly What’s On – one of the few places visitors can access a cultural calendar. It also highlights upcoming festivals and helps decipher Cuban cultural mores with regular pieces. Spanish-speaking readers should also check out vistarmagazine.com, which takes the cultural temperature en español.
14/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 16Listen Before You Go – Cuba’s novissima trovador Ray Fernández has been storming the house at the Casa de la Música in Havana’s upscale Miramar district for some years now, after making a leap from playing on Havana’s Malecón. His weekly Thursday matinee in the Club Tun Tun plays to hip habaneros who flock to hear Fernández, a singer who has garnered thousands of fans following his incisive humour and his takes on Cuban reality through albums like Entre la piedra y el sueño, Paciencia, El Conciertsky, and Mamá, ando contento. promociones.egrem.co.cu
15/17
Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
Slide Nr 17Claire Boobbyer is a travel writer and Cuba travel expert. She writes about Cuba for the international press including The Guardian, The Telegraph, Condé Nast Traveller, Skift and National Geographic Traveller. Follow her @claireboobbyer claireboobbyer.com
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Special Cuba Revealed
24 Hours In… Havana.
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