If you like New Orleans, you are going to LOVE Havana. These two vibrant cities share a rich culture formed from the Spanish, African and French people. The lively music and art is on every street corner with the same stunning architecture and wrought-iron balconies that capture and allure. Havana is waiting with smiling faces.
Annie’s Favorite 5 Attractions in Havana:
Walk The Malecón. This is Havana’s 7km-long sea wall and a favorite meeting place for lovers, philosophers, poets, traveling minstrels, and fishers. It is most impressive at sunset but be prepared for the occasional waves that crash over the wall. Lonely Planet says it is the “city’s most soulful and quintessentially Cuban thoroughfares.”
Witness the Cannon Ceremony each night precisely at 9 pm at La Cabaña fortress. The Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña was built around 1774 by the Spaniards to control the access of the Havana Port. The Cannon Ceremony is a historical reconstruction dating back to the colonial era when the cannon fire announced the official end of the day and the time to close the city gates for the night.
Discover the “eye-popping” Fusterlandia. You make the drive down an otherwise normal-looking street, and suddenly you have stumbled upon a truly magical world created by Cuban artist, Jose Fuster. Fuster, who reclaimed his impoverished neighborhood as a dreamy folk art kingdom. art is “naïve,” meaning he uses childlike crude shapes and bright colors in his untrained composition. His work has been compared to that of Picasso, a comparison that followed him in successful gallery tours across Europe.
Enjoy Rooftop Cocktails at the Ingleterra Hotel. This is the place you want to be when having a cocktail at the end of the day. Views are spectacular, space is large enough to find a table and small enough to feel intimate and music, well the music is Cuban at it’s best.
Private visit to local artist’s studio, like my friend Jose Antonio. Here you are either welcomed to his studio, or home to see his paintings, sculptures, and drawings.