Musings of a Wandering Tourist

If you're looking for something to do in Havana, take a walk.  The city is filled with interesting sights—especially the buildings.  Havana, like Miami, has some remarkable art-deco buildings, coming from the 30's, 40's, and 50's.  In these blogs, I've already covered La Casa de las Américas, perhaps one of the most recent art-deco structures.  Some others were discovered on my walks.

One afternoon I decided to walk east from my Vedado hotel.  In a few blocks, I spotted a 12 stories tall, very beautiful art-deco apartment building.  Its intricate architectural details were perfect, its proportions correct, and its condition unkempt and run down.  The outside was dirty, and a few scrubby bushes in the small yard hadn't felt a gardener's touch in a generation or more.  The north (front) façade was beautiful even in its neglected condition.  Several stairs led up to an elaborate entrance and a propped open door leading into the lobby.  I couldn't help myself; I stepped into the lobby, dimly lit by a lone bulb hanging by its wire from the ceiling, in spite of lovely deco metal and glass sconces unlit on the walls.  Still there was plenty of light to see a gorgeous marble floor with a deco radial design of many colors.  I wondered who lived here midst dilapidated beauty.  A feeling I didn't belong here rushed me back outside to the sidewalk.

Later I learned it was built in 1932 for Jose Lopez Rodriquez and known as the López Serrano Building  It towers above most of the other buildings of its part of Vedado, and is reminiscent of the tower at Rockefeller Center or the Empire State Building, not for its height but for the styles of its base and pinnacle.  Since then I've seen the building in other photos of Havana, and every time I see it I imagine the luxury and style experienced by its residents back in the 30's.  I wonder if today's residents entertain such thoughts.

Another memorable building was along a walk to the south from my hotel.  I had only gone two blocks when I noticed a beautiful Italianate mansion sitting on a corner lot and looking out across the broad parkway of Avenida de los Presidentes, Havana's most beautiful street.  In this part of Vedado, within sight of Malecón and the Florida Strait, nearly all the buildings are grand works of architects.  Many were built as embassies of other countries which later moved on, for the most part to suburban Miramar.  Some of these places are surrounded by high wrought iron fences enclosing well-tended gardens.  Such places contain important government functions like the Cuban State Department across the street from my hotel.  If their function is important enough, they are kept in perfect condition.  But the old Italianate mansion that caught my eye wasn't quite so important.  It needed paint and yard work and repairs of cracked and chipped cement.

As I looked at the old building I guessed it had about 8000 or 9000 square feet in 3 floors.  It filled its lot leaving only a small front yard containing a large cement fountain, which hasn't worked in years.  I thought how much fun it would be to be a developer with a large budget to restore this mansion, and perhaps even to live in it.

The Italianate design had all the appropriate bells and whistles—a square tower, arched windows, balustrades, steps, columns, and porches.  In the back, someone had built a large addition of nondescript style.  My developer's mind was already tearing that down.

The desirable properties in this area were all taken over by the government after the Revolution and converted into public purposes.  By asking around I learned this mansion, clearly originally a private home, was now a court for first time offenders.  That explained a gaggle of young people waiting on porches and in the yard one day when I walked by before courts were called to order.

How strange, I thought, to have a court devoted to first time offenders.  In my county, the young, the old, the in-between, all use the same courts for hopefully impartial justice.  In Cuba, perhaps the first time offenders get a slightly more compassionate measure of justice.  At least that's my guess.

A month ago, I spent a day in court for jury duty.  Our bright modern courthouse had modern furniture, comfortable chairs, a PA system and good lighting.  In comparison, I imagine courtrooms in the old mansion in Vedado are dingy, have extension cords running along the floor, and suffer from cracked plaster and poor lighting.  Still it isn't the condition of the courtroom that determines the quality of justice.

 I'll be happy if I never have to be subjected to the court system either here or there.

 

Les Inglis