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.
Why we have to impose sanctions and restrict travel there is beyond me.The Cuban people seemed only too glad to have us there.
I have to qualify all remarks by saying I saw only a tiny slice of Havana -- the old town--
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.
