ANA COLONIAL - LA HABANA - CUBA - Room for Rent

Callejón de Hamel is a small lane at the other side of Ana's block which can be seen from the dining room window. Local Artist Salvador González has transformed it into a vivid place of consecration to the Santería religion with his mysterious murals, which reach up to the third floor of the buildings.

Santería means "rule of the saints" and is a mixture of Catholic and African belief, shaped by the slaves and their descendants. Common symbols are images of resurrected St. Lazarus, eyes to protects against evil spirits as well as cocks and their blood.

Callejón de Hamel thus becomes a center of spiritual entertainment, where every Sunday at noon the drums begin to speak and African Cubans, unleashed and accompanied by religious chants, dance their rumba.

Callejón de Hamel - within view of Ana's house (Info)

The multi-lane coastal avenue Malecón - officially Avenida Antonio Maceo - is the secret heart of the city. During the day, there is vivid traffic and young people stroll along or try to catch some fish. In the evening, couples in love walk along the shoreside promenade, which then becomes the meeting point of the Habaneros in a cool breeze from the sea. Nobody can escape the morbid charme of the Malecón as long as there is no storm to spray foam of the waves across the protective wall.

The street, begun in 1901 and finished to today’s appearance in 1950, stretches for more than seven kilometers from the small 16th century fortress La Punta near the harbor entrance to the mouth of the Almendares river, where it disappears near the small castle Torreon de la Chorrera (1643) in a tunnel, only to come up again in the green residential area of Miramar as 5ta avenida.

Among the many sights along the Malecón, Torreon de San Lazaro, a 17th century wachtower, and the memorial of General Antonio Maceo are closest to Ana’s house. Also not far away are the Hotel Nacional and the modern high-rise building of the city’s biggest hospital, Hermanos Ameijeiras.

The Malecón - Havana's balcony on the sea (Info)

Museo de la Fundación Havana Club - this is the complete name of the Rum Museum in Old Havana, diagonally across the street from the customs office and cruising ships’ terminal. Whoever has always been curoius about how to make rum from sugarcane must visit this Rum Museum.

It is one of the most recent and modern among the innumerable museums if the city and displays the cultivation of sugarcane, work and life on the plantations and the secrets of rum production form the time of Columbus up to our days. Upon entering the exhibition through a huge barrel, you will be introduced to the show with a short movie in English language. The highlight of the show is a scale model of a 1930 sugar factory. Press a button and the freight trains will steam away, and in the furnace glows an imaginary fire. The tour ends with a sample of Havana Club rum in the historical museum bar.

La Habana Vieja, Avenida del Puerto 162,
between Muralla and Sol streets.
Open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
admission 7 CUC including guide in English.

Rum Museum "Museo del ron Havana Club" (Info)

Ana Miriam Ramirez • Concordia No. 760 • e/ Aramburu y Hospital • Ciudad de La Habana • Cuba
Teléfono: +53 (7) 870-7181 • eMail: anacolonial@yahoo.es