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Vintage American Cars by the Port in Havana
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Impressions of Havana Cuba
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My first impressions of Havana was that it was much like Russia -- but the Russia back during the Soviet times. As in Soviet Russia, much of the menu may not be available at restaurants.
Weed overgrown "parks." Crumbling concrete benches at bus stops. Road pocked badly. Litter strewn everywhere, with palm cuttings and garbage piled up on sidewalks in some places. Some streets like 3rd, 5th and 7th in Miramar are better kept. Many embassies located on these streets.
similar to soviet russia - old broken-down buildings.
Little commerce or commercial activity in the suburbs.
Internet scarce except at tourist hotels. No SIMS for foreigners. No press stores seen. Bought Granma on the street for less than 1 CUP (4 cents US).
But people are no less happy for their meager surroundings. The Cuban people seem to just love to dance, even the rather elderly and frail-looking. Outside El Paso cafe, whenever the small band started up, people would line the grillwork looking in and often a few of them would start doing slow dance moves. At the rocky beach with a jambox on a large boulder (near 1830.)
There is not a single recognizable store brand (like McDonalds, Starbucks, WalMart, popular hotel chains, etc.) anywhere to be seen in the city. Also no similar-quality, local chains of restaurants or stores were apparant to me. Just unique, private, mostly small, groceries and cafes. Nothing world-class outside of a few hotels oriented toward tourists.