Once frequented by celebrities, such as the American writer Ernest Hemingway who had made the El Floridita bar – at the start of the street – one of his headquarters, calle Obispo ends in Plaza de Armas (pictured above ) and its palaces. We discover flower sellers and sellers at the auction, "santeras" (women practicing the cult of Afro-Cuban Orishas) overplaying their character of tropical divinator with a big cigar, white scarf on her head, card games and hibiscus red behind the ear, and, just in front of the Ambos Mundos hotel – Hemingway's haunt during his first stays in Havana -, a WiFi connection point, a strong symbol of the opening of the regime. The crowd gathers there to talk on Skype, Whatsapp, to relatives or friends scattered around the world. 2 CUC (less than 2 €) for half an hour of connection, slow and difficult.
The Vedado district, west of Old Havana, is home to an extraordinary park. The most famous of the Beatles sits there contemplating the passing of life. The Havanese – especially young people, who did not know the years when the “rebellious” music of the Beatles was banned – love to take their picture around the author of Imagine whose refrain is engraved on the ground in front of the statue:"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one". We do like them, and we ask the guardian of the statue to give the singer his glasses for the time of the photo.
At the crossroads of streets 17 and 8, Vedado district.
Since its creation in 1966, "the" Coppelia, as the Cubans call it, has been a place for meetings, socializing, happy queues and tasting tropical version ice cream:a little tastier, a a little sweeter, very creamy and served in abundance. The first sequences of the film "Strawberry and Chocolate" were shot here. We go around the building and, behind the less crowded queue, we ask “el ultimo? », ritual question to know who is the last of the queue. Attention, we pay in national currency (not in CUC).
At the crossroads of streets L and 23, Quartier du Vedado.
