If you had asked me a few years ago what I knew about Havana, I would have told you not very much, something about Fidel Castro, Havana Club, turquoise waters and colorful cars;
if you had asked me when I would visit Cuba, I would have told you not very soon, that it is not a priority in my list of must see places;
if you asked me now what I think about Havana, I would tell you that it is one of the most interesting destinations I have been to and that I had the most intense experience so far, one that fascinated and intrigued me at the same time.
Havana is unique, different, colorful…sensational!
Now, despite the fact that a few weeks have passed since we returned, I still feel that I have not digested everything I saw, experienced and heard there, which is why this article is written while it is still hot.
Thinking back on the five days spent in the capital of Cuba, Havana, I can say that I went through all possible states, we were fascinated and shocked at the same time; we were captivated by the rides in the colorful and vintage cars and admired the architecture of the renovated buildings…we saw and did everything that tourists would do.
On the other hand, we also saw the Havana of the locals, the one where the streets are dirty and the houses look like after a bombing, we saw markets where meat stood in the sun all day, we saw old cars in the true sense of the word, empty stores where people get their monthly food rations, we saw poverty and a lot of misery. Basically, we saw two cities living in one: a city of tourists and one of locals.
Havana offered us an experience that we will not soon forget!
UPDATE 2025: All references to the old currency, convertible peso (CUC), are no longer relevant. Currently, Cuba no longer uses CUC, but only peso (100 pesos cubano/CUP = approx. 4 EURO)
First impressions of Havana
Our first contact with Havana was as soon as we set foot in the airport, in an indescribable madness. It may have seemed even more hectic because we were coming after a 10-hour flight with Air France, in which we couldn't sleep and in which we sat with our luggage at our feet, not at all comfortable.
It was the hardest flight so far! Anyway, after those 10 hours, our greatest desire was to get to our airbnb, put our heads on the pillow and sleep.
At the airport, things went pretty quickly, although we had the impression that we had wasted hours there, I think in 30 minutes we were already out of the airport.
The first thing I noticed at the airport was the unfriendly attitude of the employees and the fact that they didn't speak English (we had a whole adventure with the blue form (which I'll tell you about in the next article). Once out of the airport, we changed money and took a taxi to our apartment.
Arriving in Havana Vieja, I had the impression that we were in a movie. Narrow streets, old cars, people standing in front of the house, children running from side to side, music that seemed to be echoing from everywhere, a lamb that someone was putting in the car, everything seemed like a movie scene. From then on, I felt that Havana was going to be wow!
It was also then that we realized that in Havana, evenings are anything but quiet. People listen to music, dance, sing, talk, spend their time outside, because they would have nothing to do inside.
That's how life goes on on their island. So don't expect to experience silence, especially if you choose an apartment in Havana Vieja. Between 3 and 7 in the morning, things quiet down a bit, except for the roosters who give real concerts.
After 7 in the morning, the markets get ready to receive fresh vegetables and meat - freshness that I wouldn't put my hand in the fire for, and the local women start hanging clothes on the balcony, washing the sidewalk in front of their houses or lining up for bread. Real life in Havana starts late, as I think it is on every island, after 10 am when the few shops and restaurants open.
Havana is a city of contrasts in every way. The city's five squares, tourist spots by the way, are beautifully renovated and host cafes and restaurants with wifi - something that for the locals is a luxury.
These are also the restaurants that sell beef - another luxury for the locals because Cubans are forbidden to eat beef - and other portions of food at European prices, lemonade for 3 dollars and mojito for 5-6 dollars, the latter also being a luxury.
At the opposite end there are small restaurants ("restaurant is a bit of an exaggeration") that sell pizza, a dough with cheese, tomato juice and lots of oil, at prices for the locals (in CUP), salami sandwiches and natural juices.
The renovated buildings and the Capitolio with its $6 million gold dome are in contrast to the dilapidated houses that seem on the verge of collapse; the beautifully paved streets in cubic stone are in contrast to the dirt ones, full of potholes and stray dogs, and the cars used for tours and which I believe are somewhat state-owned are the polar opposite of those driven by ordinary locals.
As I said, in Havana you see two cities in one.
We were shocked by how little they have in the stores and by the fact that the things we consider normal do not exist there. The Cubans have cocoa plantations, but they do not have chocolate (you can't imagine how happy our hosts were for the sweets they received from us...happy to the point of tears);
they do not have milk, but only a powdered milk for babies and children;
they do not have fresh fish, and the beef is only for tourists, bolanvi and children;
in their stores - small neighborhood stores - you can find water and local juices;
the Cubans - those in Havana, especially - have serious problems with water due to old pipes, which is why on the blocks of flats and in people's yards you see water barrels that are filled either with rainwater or with water provided by the National Water Resources Institute, an institution that deals with the distribution of Cuba's water reserves.
Cubans are interesting people to say the least. We don't know how it is in the rest of Cuba, but in Havana people are cheerful and somewhat relaxed.
You get the impression that all that matters to them is the present and what they have at that moment;
they are curious about tourists, they talk to them, offer information without asking for anything in return, they shake your hand and sometimes even hug you.
That's how Cubans are...I very rarely heard a Cuban use the term communism, and almost all the locals assured us that Havana is a safe city, that we can walk the streets at night, that there is no violence.
And that's the truth, we didn't feel in danger for even a second. Cubans are smiley, they talk to you in Spanish, even if they see that you don't understand, they watch football matches from Europe (we even had the opportunity to see a match in a small bar full of locals) and they have music and dancing in their blood.
Unfortunately, some Cubans see you as a bag of money, as a wallet that needs to be emptied, and this behavior left us with a bitter taste. They charge you for everything, and you, as a tourist, have a different price from the start, a price that they set on the spot, as they feel the need.
The best example is the pizza in the picture. Such a pizza costs around 0.60 cuc or 15 cup, and as a tourist I paid 1 cuc the first night and 1.5 cuc the second night. When I said that it was too much and that the price was 15 cup, the saleswoman started to get angry...
At the same time, at the juice shop next door, the saleswoman did not try to take advantage of us and offered us the juice at its normal price, for locals. Because I met both nice people and less ok people, I don't want to generalize and put Cubans in one category or another.
Havana is far from perfect, but it could be on the right track. The fact that it is a country open to tourists, that there is a small possibility for Cubans to travel to Europe, will help it a lot.
Of course, for progress in the true sense of the word, a radical change is needed on all levels, a change that will occur at some point. Or at least that's what I hope... Anyway, such an exotic country and with such an interesting history could be a top tourist destination, a true paradise for tourists and locals alike.
We made a promise to ourselves, that in 2030 we will plan a vacation in which we will cross Cuba from one end to the other and in which we will be able to see if major changes have occurred.
Havana offered us a journey through time, without having a time machine. It came as a package full of everything, with emotions and energy, with history lessons and shocks upon shocks.
We were fascinated by everything we saw there and we embraced this city with everything it offers, good and bad. In Havana, time seems to dilate, and for a few moments we forgot what day of the week it was, we stopped keeping track of the time, we enjoyed Latin music and rhythms, concerts at 10 in the morning, we spent less time online and more time in real life.
In the few days spent in Cuba, we got to know another world, one in which time stood still and which seems more like a movie scene than a real-life landscape.
These were the first "hot" impressions of Havana. There would certainly be much more to tell, many more events and experiences, but things still need to settle in my mind.