Havana, Cuba

Or Habana as it is locally spelled. 

Why we have to impose sanctions and restrict travel there is beyond me.The Cuban people seemed only too glad to have us there.

How is commerce with the tiny country of Cuba a threat to the U.S.?! The present administration seems more than happy to embrace strong man governments elsewhere around the world, so not sure why Trump has taken this tack. End of political rant.
I have to qualify all remarks by saying I saw only a tiny slice of Havana -- the old town--

and none of the rest of Cuba, so I cannot speak to the city, which is huge and mostly modern,

or to Cuba in general. In our short stay there, we did a walking tour of of the old town and a food tour where we also walked between places to eat or buy food.

We had dinner at Paladar San Cristobal, where the Obamas also dined--it was total luck as we did not know that before arriving.

The city is celebrating its 500th anniversary this year!

So you can imagine what the state of many of the building are when the economy has often not been very not strong and the cost of borrowing money went up due to U.S. sanctions (i.e., Cuba is a "higher risk" and so interest on loans go up).

Much of the old town is falling down--literally. There are a few heavily touristed streets where they have renovated and buildings are painted, plaster is restored, streets are without major holes, trashcans and potted plants make them look tidy and inviting. These are mostly where the big old elegant hotels are and some of the public buildings - museums, etc.

Also some lovely public parks.

And then just the next street over you can see torn plastic for windows, trash piled in the street, only the bottom floor of most buildings are painted and upper stories are crumbling and mildewed, enormous holes in the streets, feral dogs everywhere (including feral dog shit), vacant lots full of rubble and trash.

The vintage cars are colorful and noisy and often held together with tape and wire.

There are some private restaurants, called Paladars, which are generally agreed to  offer the best food, but they can only be in former residences, so their size is VERY limited.

And then there are the state run stores, often still small, for crafts and rum and cigars. There was a huge flea market down on the water front but we did not have time to really see it or do shopping. On the other hand, medical care is free, education up through university is free, and everyone gets a ration card for a weekly allotment of rice, beans, vegetables, etc. so no one goes hungry.

That's more than you can say about the U.S. Also, there is essentially no crime and so the city is very safe-- unless you step in a pothole or a pile of dog shit. It was hot and I don't do hot very well. It was fascinating and full of history and we had some wonderful tasty food on our food tour. I feel like I only scratched the surface.