Since the economic reforms began, with the intention of improving the situation in Cuba, Havana has undergone important changes; New private businesses are opening every day that are generating a visible metamorphosis, especially in Old Havana. Its narrow and irregular streets are the essence of the city, concentrating a large part of the colonial legacy, the importance of which led it to be declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1982.
It houses magnificent spaces, such as the Plaza de San Francisco, where the first public fountain in Havana was installed, the Plaza Vieja, the convent of Santa Clara with a lush tropical garden, or Calle Obispo. The latter is the oldest in the city, and goes from the Capitol area to Plaza de Armas.
Walking through it is the best option to take the pulse of Havana, it is full of shops, ice cream parlors, bookstores, cafes, souvenir shops and restaurants, which make it a kind of main street; where you will pass on multiple occasions when you move from one place of interest to another.
At number 557 is Floridita, right where Hemingway drank his daiquiris. Next to it is one of the few Habanos cellars, owned by the State, that sells rum and cigars. La Bodeguita del Medio, at Empedrado 207, is another famous classic for its mojitos and roast suckling pig. Although what will not leave you indifferent is one of those bars on Calle Obispo that have no name, but that everyone knows, where the mojitos are at reasonable prices and foreigners mingle with locals in an excellent communion.
Currently Old Havana, a space of two km2 inhabited by some 50,000 people, is much more than all its historical charms and its mythical taverns, it is the new Cuba. Everyone points out that it is the spearhead of a great transformation that is coming. More and more private businesses are opening, which are giving a new air to commerce in the area, almost every week a new establishment is inaugurated in this area of ​​the city, and there are many places where there are works to open a new initiative shortly private.
Years ago the government decided that Old Havana should be recovered before it was devoured by the ruin that was stalking it; in the eighties everything fell down due to neglect. Eusebio Leal, is the architect of a masterful management of a job that has lasted decades to restore splendor to more than 200 historic buildings in the area. Now the government is encouraging and supporting private investment to buy buildings and restore them. A new change that seeks to accelerate the improvement of the architectural heritage throughout the city, which is still a shame in many places.
A walk through the historic center is enough to see that there are notes of color, with a certain cool air, which can be more palpable in places like Calle San Ignacio or Plaza Vieja. In the latter, which is perhaps the most beautiful square in Havana, is where the changes are most appreciable; where all businesses were owned by the state, there are interesting private proposals.
Like La Vitrola, a 1950s-inspired restaurant that serves outstanding local cuisine, at reasonable prices for tourists, interesting for the new wealthy classes and unaffordable for the vast majority of the population. Almost door to door is CervecerÃa la FactorÃa, a place specialized in its own beer production, which it produces with Austrian technology.
The merit of being the first to open its doors in the square goes to the Café bohemio, and the best views of it can be enjoyed from Azúcar, an interesting place to have a snack at prices that border on the excessive. Other shops worth noting, due to their originality, which are transforming the economic and social landscape, are: Clandestina, a groundbreaking design store whose motto is “99% Cuban design”, which stands out for its daring T-shirts; and La Marca, a tattoo studio managed by seven young people who exude enthusiasm and desire to conquer the world. Important characters have already started to get tattooed here, such as CJ Ramone, the former bassist of the mythical American band The Ramones.
As a Havanan would say, a few blocks from the historic center is the Malecón, one of the most famous promenades in the world. A gigantic breakwater that is emblematic of the city, where its inhabitants walk by the sea, sheltered from the breeze and the pulverized water that the waves produce when they crash against it. It is a social showcase with great activity along its 8 kilometres, between the Chorrera tower to the west and the Punta castle to the east.
Another great attraction of the most beautiful city in the Caribbean is the joy that floods everything with the setting of the sun. We can take advantage and stay on El Malecón emulating the natives of the place, grabbing ice and a bottle of rum to drink it with friends, contemplating the human spectacle that comes together every night on this promenade, enjoying the coolness provided by the proximity of the sea to alleviate the heat of the Havana night.
During the weekends, young people transform the Malecón area in front of the Hotel Nacional into a large outdoor party, which reaches its maximum intensity after midnight. The nightlife stands out for its wide offer to enjoy shows and local rhythms. The most classic and famous cabaret is Tropicana, which recreates the conception of the show typical of the fifties. Many hotels such as the emblematic Nacional or Capri have a cabaret or nightclub.
To hear the music of troveros and soneros, it is advisable to go to the Casa de la Trova. The area of ​​La Rampa, in Vedado, enjoys great animation throughout the week. Here is La Zorra y El Cuervo, a venue that according to connoisseurs offers the best live Cuban jazz in the capital. In Havana you can listen to music and dance almost anywhere, we are in the city with the freest nights on the planet.
