• Submitted by: manso
• Travel and Tourism
• 08 / 15 / 2010

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Visiting the painted streets, mosaic walls is visiting a time 50 years gone. Ceramicist Jose Fuster turned his neighborhood, tile piece by tile piece, into a joyous express of Cuban culture.

Aug. 14, 2010. "You need to be here before there's a Starbucks on every corner," says Bill Hendricks, the west coast professor who led our tour of 22 to Cuba. It was his 42nd trip to this small island country, a mere 45-minute flight from Miami, and he wanted us  to experience the "real" Cuba.

In his mind, there are no must-see sights in Havana. The "must" is simply to be there. He knows we'll find the grand architecture, the joyous music, the friendly people - everywhere.

What we also found were constant reminders of the revolution and its enigmatic consequences. Although it happened 50 years ago, it is as present in slogans, signs and daily life as if it were yesterday.

We stayed in Habana Vieja, the old city of Havana, designated as a World Heritage Site in 1982 by the United Nations ducational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The Spanish colonial architecture, much of it restored with UNESCO money, creates the magnificent ambience of old European cities.

We walked its cobbled streets, visited private homes of people - some tangentially political, some artists - and ate in restaurants not listed in Fodor. (Here's a surprise: You can learn to love the delicious beans and rice that accompany every meal.)

Without barrages of TV, Internet and advertising, some say the city is 50 years behind (although in an underground all are present to a small degree). But you can't help but notice that despite these lacks - or maybe because of them - the lifestyle seems less frenzied and more humane.

Still most of the populace is poor, not truly starving but nevertheless needing to scrimp and scrape. Many try to supplement their wages of maybe $30 a month with little enterprises on the side.

An early morning walk turned up an older fella sitting behind a wrought iron security window of his house with a coffee urn.

He was the local Starbucks, selling tiny paper cups of strong delicious coffee, sugar included for one peso (about 4 cents).

To the tourist, the economics and politics are a continual curiosity. Religion is quite free, art too for the most part.

Our group's big dress-up night was to go to the Gran Teatro de La Habana (the Great Theatre) to see the Cuban National Ballet, considered one of the world's leading ballet companies.

From our front row balcony seats, in dim light, we contemplated the faded facades of this once obviously glorious neo-baroque building, seemingly untouched since its completion in 1915, and felt a little skeptical about what was to come. But we were in for another surprise.

The program that night was contemporary, and both the choreography and the dancing were as good as any I had ever seen.

Later in the week we visited a school associated with the ballet. The young performers, mostly girls, were hard working, serious, disciplined and adorable. They seemed to understand the possibilities of their bright futures. Cuban-trained dancers are now marquee names in top ballet companies all over the world.

Painting the town

Among the artists on our itinerary, several have international reputations. Two in particular have - in their Havana neighborhoods - created entire little worlds.

Ceramicist Jose Fuster's fairy-tale land is whimsical, decidedly goofy, joyful. He has filled his own property and his entire street with Picasso-like paintings on the houses and playful ceramic figures of palm trees, roosters, crocodiles, snakes, people and, really, anything you can imagine.

Grateful for his success, he foots the bill to decorate his neighborhood.

His work has been shown in the U.S., although he - like his fellow artists - is not allowed to visit the U.S.

Also exuberant, wild and colorful is the the wacky world of artist Salvador Gonzáles Escalona. A painter, muralist and sculptor in what's called the "Afro-Cuban" style, he's known simply as Salvador.

Twenty years ago his work started oozing into the street where he lives, Callejón de Hamel (near the University of Havana).

Not even the most ubiquitous object was safe from his paintbrush, including the dome-covered public phones. Little by little, his entire street became transformed from a slum area to a lively Afro-Cuban gathering center.

He uses scrap objects like bathtubs, hand pumps, pin wheels, etc. in his sculptures and, for the murals, any available paint will do, including car enamel.

These days on the street there are painting workshops for young Cuban children. Every Sunday there is rumba-music, and every Friday Cuban music.

A 'can't miss'

Even if there are no must-sees in Havana, there is one "can't miss."

The Malecón, the sea wall that edges the city for 4.5 miles, is the "end all" of the land and the "be all" of its citizens an icon of the city, and its soul. At any time of the day you will find musicians practicing, men fishing, school children playing games, strollers taking it all in. At night it becomes a haven for lovers, an escape from crowded living quarters. At sunset, a painters dream.

Is it always this spectacular, we asked a young Cuban photographer, as we watched the sky turn a blazing scarlet over the ity skyline and burn its reflections onto the water?

She answered emphatically.

Oh yes.

Traveling to Cuba

The United States does not have full diplomatic relations with Cuba, making travel from this country to Havana a complex affair with some restrictions.

By EDITH BRIN

Source: www.jsonline.com/