Page 104 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

102  HA V ANA AREA B Y AREA

1 A Walk through Vedado

This walk takes in the broad avenues which are typical of
Vedado, providing a taste of the district’s odd architectural
mix of 1950s high-rises and crumbling Neo-Classical
mansions. There is only one museum on this route (Vedado
has few conventional attractions), leaving you free to
simply stroll and look around. Calle 23, modern Havana’s
most well-known street, is the main reference point for
the walk. The most famous section is the first few blocks, The Hotel Habana Libre, with the mosaic
known as La Rampa. La Fruta Cubana (1957)
C A L L E L I N E A L Í N E A
C A L L E 1 3 C A L L E 1 3
C A L L E 1 1 L Í N E A
C A L L E 1 5

C A L L E 1 7 C A L L E 1 7 I J K M A L E C O N
C A L L E 1 5 C A L L E L C A L L E N
C A L L E 1 9
F
E
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P A S E O
H
B
A
C A L L E 1 9 C C A L L E 2 1
The Hotel Nacional viewed from the Focsa tower C A L L E 2 3 ( R A M P A )
A V E N I D A D E L O S P R E S I D E N T E S ( G )
Key C A L L E 2 1 C A L L E 2 1
Suggested route C A L L E 1 0 C A L L E 8 C A L L E 6 C A L L E 4 C A L L E 2 C A L L E 2 3
0 metres 300 CALLE 12
0 yards 300
Coppelia is the most popular
Malecón the “futuristic” Pabellón Cuba, ice-cream parlour in the city
The stretch of the Malecón which hosts exhibitions. This (hence the queues).
where this walk begins is part of the walk is accompanied On the other side of Calle 23
dominated by the headland by the unmistakable profile of is the impressive Tryp Habana
occupied by the Hotel Nacional the Edificio Focsa 2, a sky- Libre (see p257), with a tiled
1. This gem of Art Deco scraper built in the 1950s. mural by renowned Cuban
architecture opened in 1930 This route also takes you by a artist Amelia Peláez. The hotel
(see p257). Many famous guests small open-air crafts market and first opened in 1958, and a year
have stayed here including the Centro de Prensa Inter- later was requisitioned from the
Winston Churchill, Fred Astaire, nacional, which caters Americans and became Fidel
Buster Keaton and Walt Disney. to foreign journalists. Castro’s headquarters. Inside are
The hotel park offers lovely two mosaics by Portocarrero
views across the bay. Calle 23 and Sosabravo (see pp30–31).
In the middle of the park At the intersection
La Rampa at the corner with Calle J is the Parque
Head briefly south to reach La of Calle 23 El Quijote 4, a tree-
Rampa (the first rising stretch of and L is the filled area with
Calle 23 between the seafront Coppelia ice-cream a modern statue of
and Calle N). Modern and lively, parlour 3, a large glass a nude Don Quixote
lined with offices, restaurants and metal building on horseback by
and bars with old-fashioned (1966). This classic Sergio Martínez. Further
neon signs, La Rampa would location in Havana was along Calle 23 the
pass for a typical 1950s street made famous by Tomás buildings lessen
were it not for the façade of the Gutiérrez Alea’s in height and
Ministry of Sugar (or AZCUBA) film Strawberry and The statue of Don Quixote by are more varied
with its revolutionary mural and Chocolate (see p33). Sergio Martínez (1980) in style.
For hotels and restaurants in this area see pp257–8 and pp271–2

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