Page 115 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

FUR THER AFIELD  113

which is now a centre The Seafront
devoted to architecture. Avenida 1 (“primera”)
The house and garden are lacks the liveliness
open for guided visits and fascination of
during the week. Further the Malecón, but the
down the Avenida, at the water is clear and there
corner of Calle 26, is the are peaceful spots for
modern Iglesia de Santa sunbathing, such as Playita
Rita 4, with three 16 (at the end of Calle 16).
distinctive tall arches on its At the corner of Calle 60
façade. Pop in to see the is the unmistak able pale
statue of St Rita by Cuban blue building housing the
sculptress Rita Longa, to Acuario Nacional 5, the
the left of the entrance. city aquarium. Here,
Walk up Calle 28 to Statue by Rita Longa, large saltwater tanks The early 20th-century Fountain of the
Avenida 3 (“tercera”). Church of Santa Rita reproduce an assort- Muses at the Tropicana
Turn left to continue ment of Caribbean
the walk along Avenida 3, and ocean habitats. About 2 Tropicana
taking in the stylish architecture, 3,500 specimens represent 350 Calle 72 e/ 41 y 45, Marianao.
and then turn right to walk one different species of sea fauna. Tel 7267 0110.
block up to Avenida 1. The most spectacular section
is the tank of Tursiops The most famous nightclub
truncatus dolphins, in Cuba, America and perhaps
more commonly the world is located in the
known as bottle- outskirts of Havana, in the
nosed dolphins. Marianao district. Many
Dolphin shows are legendary figures of the 20th
also performed here century have performed here,
at regular intervals. including Josephine Baker,
The aquarium complex Bola de Nieve, Rita Montaner
is open from 10am and Nat King Cole.
Emerald green Casa de la Tejas Verdes, designed by to 6pm every day The Tropicana was originally
architect José Luis Echarte in the 1920s except Monday. a farm estate belonging to
Mina Pérez Chaumont, the
A V E N I D A 1 widow of a wealthy man named
Regino Truffin. In the 1930s she
R i o A l me ndares transformed her property into a
2 8
C A L L E
vast nightspot with a restaurant
A V E N I D A 3 C A L L E 6 and casino featuring extravagant
C A L L E 2 6
C A L L E 3 0
floor shows with lavish cos-
C A L L E 2
A V E N I D A 5 L Í N E A tumes. The nightclub opened
C A L L E 1 0
on 31 December 1939.
C A L L E 1 6
C
C A L L E 4 2
C A L L E 3 8
C A L L E 2 0
Perhaps surprisingly, given
A
A V E N I D A 7 A V E N I D A 3 1 kicking. Fortunately, the trees
C A L L E 2 4
L
L
E
A V E N I D A 5 C A L L E 1 1 the change of regime, the

C A L L E 3 6
Tropicana is still alive and

6
0
Río Almendares in the original estate were left
intact, so that today the
The Almendares river is no Tropicana stands in the middle
A V E N I D A 7 longer crystal-clear, but it of an extraordinary tropical
must have been cleaner forest. At night, floodlights
in the past, because in the illuminate the palm trees, partly
17th century a Spanish hidden by clouds of artificial
bishop called Almendáriz smoke. A reminder of the
came to Havana in bad Tropicana’s golden age is the
health and fully recovered enormous “Bajo las Estrellas”
after a stay along its ballroom. With its capacity of
banks. The river’s name 1,000 it is one of the largest of
was changed from Thick vegetation in the Parque Almendares, its kind.
Casiguaguas to Havana’s “forest” At the main entrance is the
Almendares in the Fountain of the Muses (1952).
bishop’s honour. Along its west bank, by the Calle 23 bridge
from Vedado, is the Parque Almendares, an area filled with The garden’s statue of a ballet
tropical plants and vegetation. dancer, by Rita Longa (1952),
is now the symbol of the club.
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