Havana – Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución and the Cementerio Cristóbal Colón
On the second day a long route through the districts in the west of Havana lay ahead of us. From the old town we headed towards Vedado, through the Chinese quarter Barrio Chino to the well-known Plaza de la Revolución. And for the first time we chugged through Cuba in an old banger. The huge square was completely empty. Two weeks later more than 100,000 people stood here as heads of state from all over the world bade farewell to Fidel – that would have been interesting.
On foot we continued to one of the largest cemeteries in the world, the Cementerio Cristóbal Colón. It is the size of a small town, so no wonder streets run through it on which classic cars regularly drive past. But a four-lane road in a cemetery – that’s going a bit too far. Many famous Cubans lie here, among them Ibrahim Ferrer of the Buena Vista Social Club, whose grave we looked for and found.
Afterwards we headed back towards the Malecón and over to the other side of the harbour entrance to the Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro fortress: a beautiful building with a wonderful view of Havana and the Malecón, especially at sunset.
Three people at the counter of a cafetería with a red awning.A red and a turquoise classic car in Havana's colourful streets.The tail of a yellow classic car in the sun.A guitarist and a man with paintings in front of blue window grilles.An ornate corner façade on the way to Vedado.Riding in an old car for the first time: a convertible ride towards the Capitol.In the pink convertible down a street of arcades.The Gothic spires of the Sagrado Corazón church.A pink classic car on the almost empty square.The José Martí memorial on the Plaza de la Revolución.Che on the façade, a classic car in front – the vast square was completely empty.A blue classic car and a red one being worked on.Bonnet and boot open – everyday life on a residential street.The firefighters' monument with its angel on the Cementerio Cristóbal Colón.A classic car drives past the monument, a tomb portal beside it – roads through the cemetery.A pyramid tomb and an angel statue among palms.A red Plymouth in front of a yellow domed church.A seated tomb statue and a Pietà in the mausoleum.A mausoleum with a patterned dome.Searched for and found: the grave of Ibrahim Ferrer of the Buena Vista Social Club.Avenues of graves and angel statues – the cemetery is the size of a small town.The Cuban flag flying from a tall mast.A barred door with a cross, the paint peeling.A stone cross on a weathered yellow wall.Graves, palms and a dome on the Cementerio Cristóbal Colón.The wide avenue to the cemetery chapel.An old VW bus by the roadside.A turquoise classic car on the Malecón.A man on the front steps and a fruit cart.A red-and-white classic car and a bicycle rickshaw on the colourful street.Camilo Cienfuegos and Fidel Castro in a framed photograph.A bicycle taxi in front of a colonnaded façade.From the Morro across the harbour entrance to Havana and the Malecón.Fortress wall and cannon of the Morro above the sea.A sentry box on the wall, the skyline behind.Over tiled roofs and the bay to the Malecón.The lighthouse of the Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro.At the desk, the lighthouse in the window.Columbus's voyages to the Americas as a map on the stone wall.A painting of the fortress wall by the sea.Sunset over the Havana skyline, seen from the Morro.Long, thin streaks of cloud above the sea.Evening clouds glowing pink and orange.A classic car silhouetted against the lighthouse.Headlights of a red classic car in the dark lane.Old electricity meters and a tangle of cables.Sloppy Joe’s Bar in golden letters.
