lahabana magazine TRENDING HAVANA JAN 7 INCLUDING GUIDE TO THE BEST PLACES TO EAT, DRINK, DANCE AND STAY IN HAVANA lahabana. com magazine JAN 2017 2 lahabana. com magazine LA HABANA.COM is an independent platform, which seeks to HAVANA GUIDE showcase the best in Cuba arts & culture, life-style, sport, travel and much more... The ultimate guide to Havana with detailed reviews of where to We seek to explore Cuba through the eyes of the best writers, eat, drink, dance, shop, visit and play. Unique insights to the photographers and filmmakers, both Cuban and international, who place that a gregarious, passionate and proud people call home. live work, travel and play in Cuba. Beautiful pictures, great videos, opinionated reviews, insightful articles and inside tips. HAVANA LISTINGS MAY 2016 3 lahabana. com magazine magazine EDITORIAL It’s 2017 and we’re back with brand new exciting contents and pictures in What’s On La Habana—the definitive cultural and travel guide to Havana. This month we have focused on what’s trending in Havana from restaurants, to people, to nightlife, to places to visit and more. Read all about Javier Sotomayor, who after having received the Prince of Asturias Award became the Prince of Heights to all Cubans. And discover why Cuban meteorologist José Rubiera is not only a great scientist but a great human being as well. Not to miss is the celebration of the Epiphany at Plaza de San Francisco on January 6, 2:30pm. Evoking an old tradition, the Afro- Cuban Council will tour the principal plazas of the Historic Center of Havana, including performances by the Tambores de Bejucal and the traditional comparsa Los Componedores de Batea. Dance-wise, the Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso, whose grand reopening took place exactly one year ago, starts the year off with The Nutcracker (January 1, 8, 15 & 22, 5pm; January 14 & 21, 8:30pm) with the performances, among others, of stars Anette Delgado, Viengsay Valdés, Sadaise Arencibia and Grettel Morejón. If you’re a lover of Cuban folklore dances, then you should not miss the two-week-long-event FolkCuba (January 16-290, which is held with experts who will teach you Cuban dances and music of African and Spanish origin, including mambo, cha-cha-cha, rumba, mozambique, pilón and conga. Meanwhile, the International Workshop on Cuban Modern Dance, Cubadanza (January 2-13), is aimed at professional dancers and students who will learn the Cuban technique of modern dance. The Fine Arts Museum (Edificio de Arte Universal) exhibits throughout the month a retrospective of the work of Michelangelo Pistoletto (considered one of the great representatives of Arte Povera) from the 1960s to the present. The LaHabana.com Team wishes our faithful readers all the best in 2017! Abrazos! JAN 2017 lahabana. com magazine JAN 2017 5 lahabana. com magazine Cuba Travel Network: Definitely Di fferent Come and experience Cuba with a company that’s passionate about the magical island. Our on the ground team in Cuba is the first to know about the country’s developments—from new hotels and tour possibilities to ever-changing travel regulations, and we love to show our beautiful home to the world. With Cuba Travel Network, experience Cuba as a traveler, not a tourist. Why travel with Cuba Travel Network? • CTN is the premier travel service provider for the individual traveler planning trips to Cuba, handling accommodation, all domestic flights and excursions. • On-the-ground assistance from expert concierge representatives throughout the island. • Choose from fully guided, flexible and special interest tours. • Real-time availability and immediate booking confirmation for 220+ hotels and 50+ rental car locations. • Secure online payment; Visa & MasterCard accepted. US - [email protected] | 1 800 282 2468 (Toll Free) Europe - [email protected] | +31 (0)20 794 7962 Asia - [email protected] | 1800 198 150 (Toll Free) Rest of the world - [email protected] | +53 (0)7 214 0090 CubaTravelNetwork.com JAN 2017 6 CONTENTS JAN 2017 lahabana. com magazine Trending Havana issue 10 places to visit in Havana 08 HAVANA LISTINGS 10 famous Cubans 19 VISUAL ARTS PHOTOGRAPHY DANCE Songs inspired by the city 23 MUSIC THEATRE FOR KIDS EVENTS Havana nightlife 33 HAVANA GUIDE Dining out in Havana 37 FEATURES RESTAURANTS BARS & CLUBS Paseo 206 Restaurant 42 LIVE MUSIC HOTELS PRIVATE ACCOMMODATION For the New Year 45 56th Cuban Baseball 47 Series JAN 2017 lahabana. com magazine FUSTER’S HOME AND STUDIO José Antonio Rodríguez Fuster is a world-renowned ceramist, draftsman, painter and printmaker whose TEN PLACES TO home and studio draw a steady stream of tour buses and private visitors coming to marvel at the extravagant ceramic sculptures that adorn his home and the surrounding neighborhood—colloquially called VISIT IN HAVANA ‘Fusterlandia.’ Fuster has made a major contribution during almost two decades of work to enliven the humble fishing village of Jaimanitas, on the western outskirts of Havana. He has decorated over 80 buildings with murals, paintings, sculptures, etc. photos by Mene and Lorena JAN 2017 8 lahabana. com magazine PLAZA DE LA REVOLUCIÓN The Plaza de la Revolución (until 1959, called Plaza Cívica) is Cuba’s political center. The awesome Memorial y Museo a José Martí constructed during the 1950s is the centrepiece of the square. At the top of the tower is a mirador (reached by elevator), which is the highest viewing point in Havana, allowing visitors an unrivalled panorama of the city. Attracting as much attention as Martí’s memorial is the bronze silhouette of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara on the façade of the offices of the Ministry of the Interior on the north-west side of the square. JAN 2017 9 lahabana. com magazine MUSEO NACIONAL DE BELLAS ARTES The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes is a world-class cultural center. Its collections are housed in two separate buildings—one is a very satisfactory modernist edifice (Palacio de Bellas Artes, 1954,) containing Cuban painting and sculpture, whilst the International Collection is housed in the jaw-dropping former Centro Asturiano. With nearly 50,000 pieces, this is Cuba’s most comprehensive art museum. EL CAÑONAZO DE LAS NUEVE AT LA CABAÑA FORTRESS From the late 17th century, cannon blasts were fired “at sunrise and sunset” to announce the opening or closing of the bay and the city gates. In 1898, it was decided to fire only one shot at 9:00 pm. With the restoration of La Cabaña in the late 20th century, the firing of the cannon became a ceremony, albeit somewhat eclectic given that the soldiers are garbed in 18th- century military garb but whose commands belong to the 19th-century Spanish Infantry Regulations. As always, opinion is divided--some people regard the ceremony as a continuity of a longstanding tradition, while others describe it as the apotheosis of kitsch. JAN 2016 10 lahabana. com magazine PLAZA VIEJA The 16th-century Plaza Vieja was the last and the largest of the four main colonial plazas to be laid out. Almost completely restored during the past decade, it is today an absolutely beautiful art-filled space. Many of the restored buildings now house fashion boutiques, small museums, photo galleries, cafés, and even a popular brewpub—Factoria Plaza Vieja, on the southwest corner. This brewpub has been phenomenally successful and is now something of Ground Zero in the search for a comfortable place to sit, eat, and drink in Havana’s busiest square, the gorgeous Plaza Vieja. LA LANCHITA DE REGLA Passengers of the popular lanchita de Regla might be unaware of the fact that sailing and rowboats were being used right from the nineteenth century to connect today’s Avenida del Puerto to Regla and Casablanca. But the lanchita de Regla is no mere pleasure craft. Hundreds of people living in Regla and Casablanca use it on a daily basis to get to work and then to return home. On weekends the ferry has a whole different aspect. Passengers seem to enjoy looking at the waters and the splendid view of Havana receding into the distance as the imposing Christ of Casablanca gets closer. JAN 2016 11 lahabana. com magazine FINCA VIGÍA Finca Vigía was the magical place that the Bronze God of American Literature, Ernest Hemingway, discovered for writing. After his suicide in Idaho, his fourth wife, Mary Welsh, donated the house with most of their belongings to the Cuban Government. Since then, Finca Vigía has been a museum, which houses more than 9,000 books, magazines and booklets, as well as personal items, such as his Underwood typewriter, hunting trophies, the “I never write letters” rubber stamp on his secretary’s desk, or the Glenn Miller record he left on the record player. JAN 2017 12 lahabana. com magazine PLAZA DE LA CATEDRAL The exquisite Cathedral of Havana, which serves as the seat of the Roman Cathloic Archdiocese in Cuba, dominates Plaza de la Catedral, perhaps Cuba’s most intimate square and definitely one of Old Havana’s most beautiful spots. In addition to the cathedral, which gives the square its definitive appearance, the other three sides are taken up by the façades of 18th-century aristocratic baroque mansions, all built within a 40-year period and showing a defining architectural harmony. JAN 2017 13 lahabana. com magazine EL MALECÓN PLAYAS DEL ESTE The Malecón begins in Old Havana. The sea front drive is Barely a 30-minute jaunt by car from Old Havana, the sugary lined with 18th- and 19th-century stately homes, followed white sands and crystalline turquoise waters at Playas del by a row of 20th-century buildings. But beyond the Este more than hold their own against those at the slicked- architectural values of the buildings, its greatest charm lies up resorts elsewhere in Cuba.