Cuba’s a beauty beyond the beach: Havana may not be a resort, but it’s where the nation’s culture li
Cuba’s a beauty beyond the beach: Havana may not be a resort, but it’s where the nation’s culture lies
Ken Donohue, Vancouver Sun 09.14.2015 |
News that the United States recently reopened its embassy in Havana brought back memories of a visit my wife and I made to Cuba a few years ago. Like many visitors to this island nation, we spent the first week of our trip at Varadero. While I have no complaints about sitting next to the warm and inviting Atlantic, Varadero isn’t a true reflection of Cuba. It’s a nice beach that happens to be in Cuba, where dozens of all-inclusive resorts, catering mostly to Canadians, Europeans and the odd embargodefying American, stretch along a sand-fringed peninsula.
Cuba has always been a source of idle curiosity for me, in part because of the visits my grandparents made more than 30 years ago, long before it became a tourist mecca. Apparently, a great-uncle of mine had a farm in Cuba. I’m not sure how my relative, a Canadian of Irish ancestry, ended up in Cuba, but it’s a country that has long been an intoxicating draw. Ernest Hemingway, for one, had a home there, inspiring some of his work.
Since there is much more to Cuba than beautiful beaches, we found ourselves on a bus to Havana, racing along the country’s north coast. As happens in the tropics, the late afternoon sun didn’t linger and the dark of evening quickly settled in. In the distance, the lighthouse at Castillo del Morro signalled the way to Cuba’s capital and largest city. Light poured into our bus, as we entered a tunnel and slipped beneath the Bay of Havana. Less than a minute later, we were in Havana. It was like stepping back in time, where the date was stuck on 1958, the year that Fidel Castro came to power. Old American cars from the 1940s and ’50s ambled along dimly lit roads. Old, stately buildings stood over narrow streets. The dark of evening added to the city’s mystery, and hid the scars from decades of neglect. It is a place that has probably changed little since my grandparents visited more than three decades ago.
Wanting to experience as much Cuban culture as we could, we chose to stay in a casa particular, or private home. The small third-floor apartment was home to a friendly family of three generations. The language barrier was no obstacle in our ability to communicate.
More:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/travel/cuba+beauty+beyond+beach+havana+resort+where+nation+culture+lies/11364974/story.html
