Havana, Cuba 2019 - Day 1 - Paseo de Marti North, Ivan Chef Justo

Havana, the capital and largest city in Cuba, is a fascinating place that is full of history, culture, arts, music, and most of all, vibrant colours.  After landing at the Varadero airport around 12:30pm, going through customs, getting our money exchanged from Canadian dollars to the Cuban CUC, and sitting through a 2 hour taxi ride, we arrived in Havana just after 3pm.  Since our hotel room in the Iberostar Parque Central would not be ready for another hour, we dropped off our bags and set out to explore the nearby attractions.  We decided to do a quick stroll north along the pedestrian promenade Paseo de Marti, heading towards the coast to get a glimpse of the seawall called the Malecon before looping back past several historic squares.  On the way back, we wanted to pass by a restaurant that we had tried several times to make a dinner reservation for while still in Toronto, but received no reply.

As soon as we stepped out of the hotel, we were inundated with the sight of all the brightly coloured old American cars roaming the streets and stationed in the parking areas.  These were shiny, well-maintained vintage vehicles from the 1940s and 50s that are used in the tourist trade, for hire either as taxis or as tour vehicles that could take you on guided tours to the far reaches of Havana’s borders.  We learned to our surprise that many of these vehicles were owned and operated by government workers and other professionals, who do not earn enough in their day jobs and require the tourist trade to supplement their incomes.  There were classic Chevrolets, Fords, Plymouths and other brands, many of them convertibles with their tops down to take advantage of the warm weather.  Having read about this phenomenon during our the planning of our trip, we had pre-booked a tour of Western Havana in one of these cars for the next day.  It was exciting to see all these beautiful vehicles and we hoped ours would be as nice.

Rich took advantage of a special feature on his camera that isolates a single colour in a photo while rendering the rest in black and white.  The colour needs to be fairly bright in order to show up.  A bright red works best but bright blues, greens and yellows also work.  The trick is that you need to pre-select the colour setting before taking the photo and switching between the colours is not that easy.  So we set up a system where I would stand several metres in front of him and as I spotted the oncoming vehicle, I would yell out the colour and he would try to make the switch in time to capture the image.  It was not always successful as he fought to get the proper colour, lighting, composition and focus, all before the car sped away.  Eventually we realized how much easier it would be to just find a nice parked car sitting still in front of an interesting background.  But it was fun trying to snap the cars in motion and he did manage to get a couple of cool shots including a few where he panned the camera to follow the path of the vehicle.

Paseo de Marti, formerly known as Paseo del Prado, is a beautifully landscaped pedestrian promenade that runs north-south in between the central two-lane boulevard which divides Old Havana to the east and Central Havana to the west.  The wide, tree-lined promenade is covered with decorative marble-tiled sidewalks and flanked by stone walls, Victorian-esque lamp posts and marble benches.  Bronze lions mark the entrances to the walkway which starts at Parque de la Fuente de la India to the south and ends just before the Malecon sea-wall to the north.  Artists and souvenir vendors hawk their wares on either side of the promenade throughout the week, and especially on the weekends.

Many of the buildings on both sides of the north and south-bound Paseo de Marti are colourfully painted and/or ornately decorated, but also often run down from disrepair, as is the case throughout Havana.  You can still see the former splendor that once graced this magnificent boulevard.  It was originally designed in 1772 by Don Felipe Fonsdeviela y Ondeano, and modeled after Paris’ Champs Elysées and Barcelona’s La Rambla.  We spent some time on this promenade playing "capture a photo of the cool car".

As we reached the northern end of Paseo de Marti, we could spot the start of the Malecon, an 8km esplanade, roadway and seawall stretching from Old Havana through Central Havana to the neighbourhood of Vedado.  We would actually walk much of the Malecon on a future day, but for now, it was great to get a glimpse of it as we looked upon the long expanse of stone wall hugging the coastline.  We were also by the fortress Castillo San Salvador de la Punta, one of several forts and lookout points built in the 16th century to protect the entrance to the Havana Bay, which was a strategic entranceway into the harbour and the town.  We didn’t have time to go inside, but viewing it from the outside, we could see multiple cannons sitting on the castle walls.

Carrying on east away from the Malecon, we headed towards Parque Martires del 71 (Martyr’s Park), a spherical strip of green space surrounding the massive monument dedicated to General Máximo Gómez, a major figure in Cuba’s 10 Years’ War (1868-78) and War of Independence (1895-98).  Completed in 1935 by Aldo Gama, the monument is topped by a bronze sculpture of the general on his horse, supported from below by white marble bas-relief carvings depicting scenes of struggle and sacrifice for a free homeland.  Several other bronze sculptures include a seated classical figure and a set of spirited Horses of the Sun, representing Cuba’s march towards freedom and prosperity.  A mausoleum and tomb under the monument contains the remains of the warrior.

Continuing south, we reached Plaza 13 Di Marzo (Park March 13), which marks the date in 1957 when the revolutionaries took over the Presidential Palace.  In the middle of the park stands a Cuban flag, and a sculpture of poet and inspirational national hero José Martí, once again depicted on horseback just like General Gomez.  This was the first of many sculptures of Marti that we would see throughout Havana. This aptly named park leads directly to the Museum of the Revolution. Years later, Fidel Castro would make long speeches in this park. Ironically, another infamous event happened on a tugboat also named “13 de Marzo”.  On July 13, 1994, forty-one Cubans attempted to leave Cuba on the hijacked tugboat and most drowned when it was allegedly sunk by the Cuban coast guards who then refused to rescue the passengers.  Beside Plaza 13 Di Marzo, the top of a government building is adorned with wire outlines of the profiles of 3 prominent figures.  Not up on our Cuban history, we were only able to recognize Che Guevera, the prominent Argentinian revolutionary who fought for Cuban independence, and who’s bereted image has become as universally known as Elvis or Marilyn.  It was a bit more difficult to learn who the other two were, but with some persistence, I got the answers.  The figure in the centre with the “cowboy hat” was Carmilo Cienfuegos, another revolutionary hero who was one of Castro’s guerilla commanders.  The last figure on the far left was Julio Mella, co-founder of the Communist party.  It is interesting that each of theses heroes died an unnatural death that may or may not have been politically motivated.

When researching where to dine in Havana, we were introduced to the concept of paladars.  Named after the Spanish term for “palate”, these are privately owned, family-run businesses which serve more authentic Cuban cuisine, in contrast to the touristy state-run restaurants that try to cater to foreigners.  Reading reviews online, we came across multiple sites that recommended the paladar Ivan Chef Justo as one of the best in Havana but were warned that reservations were required as it was difficult to get a table last minute.  I went on the restaurant’s website and used their online form to make a reservation but got no response.  Next I tried emailing directly to the contact email, but again no response.  So we had decided that we would just stop by on our first night to see if there were any openings at all for any of the evenings that we would be in town.  When we arrived at the restaurant, we told the attendant sitting on a stool on the street in front of the door that we wanted to make a reservation.  Before allowing us to go up the stairs, he hit a gong mounted on the wall to announce our entry.  As we climbed the stairs, we took notice of the eclectic posters and art hung on the walls.  At the top, we spoke to the hostess and asked if there was a slot for dinner that night for ourselves and two of our friends who happened to be in Havana at the same time.  To our delight, she said that there was room and went to write our names in the book.  But guess what?  My original reservation was already entered there.  They just didn’t bother to inform me!  Had we not dropped by, we would have missed out on the reservation that we didn’t know we already had.  That would have been a shame, since we found out later that Chef Ivan Justo (not sure why his restaurant is called Ivan Chef Justo??) was one of Fidel Castro’s former private chefs.  If its good enough for Fidel, its good enough for us!

Completing our quick initial tour of the northern part of Old Havana (we saw a lot in an hour, didn’t we?), we returned to our hotel, checked into our room and freshened up.  Already we were appreciative of how centrally located our accommodations were.  We returned to the hotel lobby to meet up with our friends Peter and Suzie who had arrived in Havana a few days before us.  Together we would take another jaunt through the heart of Old Havana before heading for our dinner reservations at Ivan Chef Justo.  We would check out the shops and restaurants on O’Reilly and Obispo streets and then visit some of Havana’s major squares, which we would learn more about on a historic walking tour scheduled for our third day.  This blog is getting long so I will describe the squares when I write about the walking tour.

Our first stop was at Ojo del Ciclon (Eye of the Cyclone), a gallery of weird, funky, avant-garde art created by Cuban visual artist Leo D'Lázaro, who incorporates pieces of repurposed junk and found materials into his works.  As you enter the space, you are met by a giant sculpture featuring a ceramic head of John Lennon and a skeletal body made of miscellaneous metal components.  Lennon seems to be a revered figure in Cuba these days, due to a change of heart by Castro who initially equated him and the Beatles with Western decadence.  In December 2000, on the 20th anniversary of Lennon’s death, Castro unveiled a bronze sculpture of the singer in the John Lennon Park named in his honour, as Lennon has been reimaged as a political dissident hounded by the U.S. Government.  It’s too bad that we did not have time to go visit this park in person, as it was too far away.  Other art installations include giant eyes and hand sculptures made from various materials, painted suitcases, crushed cars and psychedelic paintings.  The eclectic works were strewn all over multiple rooms including tiny little nooks and one space that looked like a grotto.

One of the most fascinating pieces was a fooze-ball machine made from rusted old spare metal parts with wires wound everywhere, mangled metal men that looked like aliens and mismatching handles to spin the rods that move the men.  There were several works that the artist created by carving into large blocks of concrete, forming abstract humanoid shapes.  It was interesting to see that the restaurant across from the gallery had commissioned such a piece for its front pillar.   If you like oddities and curiosities, this gallery is worth checking out.

Our second walk through the centre of Old Havana was all about capturing the vibe of the city.  Once again, we marveled at the colourfully painted buildings with ornate cornice moldings around the windows and roof tops, the intricate metalwork in their balconies, and the occasional stained glass window.  The designs of various buildings in Havana were influenced by Moorish-inspired Spanish Colonial, French neo-classical and Italian Baroque architectural styles (seen in the Grand Theatre which we would visit on a future day).

Other than being harassed by taxi drivers, cigar sellers and the odd beggar, we felt quite safe walking along the streets, even at night.  The streets were intermixed with both tourists and locals, as we learned that unlike other cities such as Venice, many residents of Havana still live in the Old Town.  Only the wealthy could afford to move out to the more affluent suburbs.  Some of the smaller streets were in rough shape with huge pot holes, but I guess that’s not much different than some Toronto roads after a cold, icy winter.  As dusk approached and the weather finally cooled to a comfortable temperature, it made for perfect conditions for strolling.  We had some nice views of the sunset with the art deco styled Bacardi Building and the Capitol Building in the distance.

There did not seem to be much in terms of “grocery stores” in Havana.  We saw some fruit and vegetable stands on the street, selling bananas, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce and possibly papayas or mangos.  The onion vendor that we spotted had a traveling cart that he pushed along the streets.  The closest thing that resembled a grocery store was a rundown old warehouse space that didn’t seem to have much to sell from what I could see.  We were told on our various tours that the Cuban population receives ration cards or supplies booklets that allows them to buy a limited amount of rice, sugar, oil and matches, although in general, the rations allocated are not sufficient to feed a family.  Fresh potable water seems to be an issue in Havana (we were warned not to consume the tap water).  On several occasions, we noticed locals filling up large jugs of water from stationary water tankards.  One day when we tried to order cold, frosty drinks at a coffee joint/bar, we were told that they could only serve hot drinks since they did not receive their supply of water.  As we walked around, we saw dogs wandering around or lying asleep in the sun.  To our surprise, we were told by our tour guide that most of these were not strays, but actually had homes which they would return to at night to be fed.

Wandering along Calle O’Reilly and Calle Obispo, we encountered various shops and art galleries.  There was a flea market where different vendors sold knick knacks and souvenirs.  We were a bit taken aback by the caricaturish “Aunt Jemima-esque” black-faced dolls that would probably be considered racist had they been offered for sale by a white vendor.  There were also some “homages” to Andy Warhol soup cans and a naked Trump doll (not meant to be flattering).  In several of the art galleries, we watched as the artists worked on their paintings.  One particularly interesting gallery contained elaborately detailed sculptures of animals and plants (a frog, turtle, snail, mushroom, flowers), all made from stacking together and shaping pieces of card board boxes.  Of course, there were revolutionary posters everywhere.  There were the odd graffiti pieces on the walls, including one that was a stenciled advertisement for the Havana Biennial.  This is a bi-annual art festival that exhibits and promotes contemporary works by artists from developing countries, giving priority to Latin American and Caribbean artists.  We would have a chance to visit some of these Biennial shows towards the end of our trip.

Everywhere we went, the sound of music emanated from the streets, restaurants and bars, played by bands that featured guitars, drums, keyboards and maracas.  Some groups traveled from one establishment after another, performed few songs and then busked for donations.  We saw a surprising number of all or mostly female groups.  The entire time that I was there, I wanted to bust into song, singing Camila Cabello’s “Havana ooh-na-na”.

As the time of our dinner reservation approached, we wandered back towards Ivan Chef Justo and once again, the gong was rung to announce our arrival.   The walls of rest of the restaurant was as fully covered with eclectic prints, posters, paintings and photographs as was the stairwell leading up to the place.  The main dining area was full so we were given the choice of either climbing a steep spiral staircase to a dining area that seemed rather cramped up on the top level or a cosy, private table in an alcove on the middle level next to the kitchen.  It was a no-brainer for us to choose the single table and we had the extra pleasure of watching some of the food being prepared and plated.

We started our meal with the most delicious mango daiquiris, which we enjoyed while perusing two large whiteboards listing starters/appetizers and main courses.  Rich and I were starving because we had not eaten a full meal since our breakfast at the Toronto airport.  Accordingly we ordered appetizers to share.  We selected the fish ceviche and fish croquettes, and they both looked and tasted great.  For our mains, Rich ordered the much recommended suckling pig which had nicely crispy skin and moist meat underneath, while I chose the octopus.  I intended for us to share but didn’t realize that Rich was not that fond of octopus (although he loves calamari!), so I didn’t get as much suckling pig as I had hoped for.  Peter ordered the seafood casserole which came in a large pot and contained fish, mussels, clams and vegetables, while Suzie chose the grilled fish over chickpeas.  We all thoroughly enjoyed our meals as well as the cool ambience and intimate setting.

For dessert, Rich ordered a four layer “milk cake” which didn’t really interest me (where was the chocolate option?).  It was the least memorable part of the meal and I became convinced that Havana was not the place to find desserts that met my taste anyways.  The bill came in a fancy little box that seems to be the standard for the higher end restaurants in Havana since we saw similar boxes at other places.  The cost came to 75CUC (equivalent to 75 US dollars) per couple, which is on the higher end of what you can spend dining in Havana, but not very expensive at all when compared to meals in other cities in Europe and North America.   When I visited the washrooms at the end of the meal, it was interesting to note that once again, John Lennon was featured on the door, this time in his infamous pose in a naked embrace with Yoko Ono.  It was also interesting to note that the sign actually said “Washroom”, since we were used to terms like “Rest Room”, “Toilet”, “Lavatory” or “Water Closet/WC” when we travel.  This made us Canadians feel right at home!  Rich and I enjoyed our experience here so much that on our last day (Sunday), we tried to walk up and make another reservation for that evening.  No such luck, as there were no available tables left.  We were very lucky to get our initial reservation after all!