Inside Havana

Havana, Cuba. October 2017 (21 photos)

This is part 15 (and the final part) of my Cuba 2017 photo series.

Well, it’s time to finish off my photo series of my trip last year to Cuba and North America. Deliberately, I’ve focussed the series on Cuba. So let’s end with a few final photos you may find interesting, taken inside Havana.

Looking through one of the many open windows in Habana Vieja, I discovered a workshop. Here, women using old sewing machines, including a couple of “vintage” Singer machines. I think they were making curtains or tablecloths.

Looking through this open window I count at least 15 children in this photo. No doubt there were more in the room.

It’s pot luck what you see inside open windows in Havana.

A line of broken benches.

Washing lines and washing everywhere…

…even directly on the street outside this house.

I met with Roberto Salas inside his private home/studio in Havana. Roberto was one of Fidel Castro’s personal photographers and he showed me many of his iconic photos taken during the Revolution. In the photo above is his famous photo which was published in Life Magazine of the Cuban Revolutionary Flag being unfurled from the Statue of Liberty in 1957. Roberto has documented the Cuban Revolution from the Sierra Maestra to the Bay of Pigs, as well as the only known meeting between Castro and Ernest Hemingway. He subsequently served as a U.N. correspondent and war correspondent in South East Asia.

Look carefully at the “passengers” inside the bus – they’re on motorcycles. That’s Havana for you.

On the inside, trying to break free – random street art.

Inside the rundown facade of what was originally known as La Mansión Camagüey, is a magnificent marble staircase adorned with a now headless female figure. On the wall is etched Fidel Castro’s famous explanation of why he said “Patria o Muerte” (country or death). Rest assured, I spent 15 minutes photographing this from every angle I could imagine.

Two flights up is Havana’s most famous Paladar (private restaurant), La Guarida. Diners here have included Queen Sofia of Spain, Prince Albert of Monaco, Jack Nicholson, Oliver Stone, Steven Spielberg, Naomi Campbell, Ralph Fiennes, Lignum Draco and Sting.

Some of the human lines around Coppelia. Coppelia is a state-run ice cream parlour in Cuba. It employs more than 400 workers and serves 4,250 US gallons (16,100 l) of ice cream to 35,000 customers each day. Coppelia was originally built in a project led by Fidel Castro himself to introduce his love of ice cream to the Cuban masses. The original aim was to produce more ice cream flavours than the big American brands and it had 26 flavours. Fidel’s longtime secretary, Celia Sánchez, named Coppelia after her favorite ballet. It occupies almost an entire block and queues form on all sides. Those still on the street stay there until summoned by staff to join the lines inside the complex. I had the vanilla chocolate chip.

How to cool off, if you don’t want to wait in the Coppelia line.

A glimpse inside Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón.

Inside the home of José Fuster. He started by decorating his own home in a homage to Picasso and Gaudi. He then got permission to decorate many of his neighbourhood’s houses. The area is now known as Fusterlandia.

I couldn’t finish off my posts about Cuba without including another photo of a Cuban standing inside a doorway.

So that’s the end of this series about Cuba and North America for now. Perhaps I’ll return to it later.

In the meantime, I have a plane to catch next week and packing/preparation/work to be done. If I get a chance, I’ll do one more post next week before leaving. If not, I’ll be back in a few weeks with a new photographic series. Assuming I get some interesting photos.

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This is part 15 of my Cuba 2017 photo series.

This is part 22 of my photo series of my 2017 trip to the USA, Mexico, Cuba, and Canada.