A typical cultural collision between Florida style and the tropical Caribbean socialismo, walking around La Habana you can imagine what Miami would have looked like if the USSR had won the Cold War. Definitely exotic.
Report by David Martin Castelnau | Photography by Jean-Claude Figenvald
One of the few wreckages I saw on the street where the buildings are close to being ruined and the cars fixed and well-maintained. Cuba sometimes gives the feeling of a perfect time-warp.
“A poor, not free but always-partying nation” is one of the most erroneous clichés about Cuba. When you live among them, you quickly come to realize that they are fairly unhappy, and fascination for violence is spreading among youngsters. They often describe the future as a Scarface remake. No worries, this one’s just playing.
Amazing cars have long disappeared from America’s roads, but not in Cuba. The streets and highways in La Habana are an impressive outdoor museum. Photo taken from the Miramar bridge.
Hood ornament collectors would go crazy here. At every corner you find genuine antiques that are not even sold on eBay. As a treasure and memory, Cubans pamper their bonitas Americanas.
Since he vanished in September ‘67, Ché is everywhere in Cuba: Public Icon Number One.
Don’t press ‘#’! It’s an office at the Ministry of Trade for when scarcity turns vintage.
Along with The Floridita (where Papa Hemingway used to sip dozens of frozen daiquiris), the Tropicana cabaret is one of the last pre-revolutionary spots tolerated by the regime, who ironically run it!
La Guarida insight: Normally the owner wouldn’t allow photoshooting, fearing that pictures would reveal he’s running more than the legal 12 settings. But we promised that movmnt was not yet on Cuban newsstands. As it is Latino, you would expect Cuba’s favorite sport to be soccer. Wrong. Cubanitos are very proud of their national baseball team, who constantly win over American teams. However, there’s also a national fancy for boxing.
No caption needed here. If you appreciate caricature and old-style pop propaganda, you’ve found your homeland.
This is the La Guarida restaurant/building, a former furnished hotel for wealthy bachelors. It’s the perfect metaphor of Cuba: Beautiful and decaying.
