It is Friday and we are in Cuba, somewhere we had hoped to visit and at the time of the trip it was relatively easy to visit and there were none of the limitations which have subsequently appeared. We flew out the previous day and having reached the hotel we merely wanted to try and get some proper sleep.
Havana is having a grey and wet day – little tropical sunshine here – but that is not our real reason for visiting – it is the architecture and some of the history.
We get to see the old and new side by side, the buildings which are falling apart and awaiting attention as well as those in good order. 2020 marked almost a high point in the Cuban economy and although we are unlikely to return subsequent events have driven the economy near collapse with Trump engineering regime change in Venezuela on which Cuba was dependent for oil supplies – so I doubt if it is as tidy these days. Limited press reports are that there is virtually no fuel for vehicles and power cuts are regularly experienced.
Like many other places public art is respected and there are obviously newish statues as well as older ones around the city.
A slight disclaimer, this has been written about 6 years after the journey concerned so is very much based around the photographs taken on the day.