Page 178 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2020 South Africa

and Studebakers, even a grey Chevy Bel-Air simi-
lar to one my father once owned in the late 1950s.
“Public transportation is not reliable. Besides, a
free ride is cheaper!” said the former lawyer.
Safety is not an issue, he assured us. This 700-mile
long island a mere 90 miles off Florida bills itself
as one of the safest countries in the world.
We drove into town under threatening skies.
Our hosts, Carlos and Oralia were waiting for us at
their casa particular (b and b) of Casa Carlos y
Oralia, in Vedado. The heavy wooden door creaked
open at our knocks, allowing us to step into a tiled
patio lined with flowerpots encircling a gurgling
wall fountain. Our room, one of a five tucked in-

side the narrow two-story building, faced this mini-
jungle alive with chirping birds. We shed our winter mindedly puffing on a cigar while keeping an eye on
coats for lighter wear, thankful for the air condi- their charges. Many ruined buildings had found
tioning and the whirling fan, and for the refrigera- new life: here a bicycle repair shop; there, a
tor stocked with bottles of water. Carlos had makeshift garage holding half a dozen classic cars
already advised us not to drink local tap water in varying stages of repair; in another, customers
Our guide picked us up at the appointed time for waited for their turn in the antique barber’s chair.
our afternoon tour of Habana Vieja. The historic “Cubans always have a few extra pesos to spend on
district brought to mind images of my hometown of flowers,” said Carlos, as we stepped into what must
Casablanca (Morocco), with its magnificent and di- have been the ground floor of an apartment build-
lapidated old buildings scalloped in artistic wrought ing. The space was now the neighborhood flower
iron balconies. In such close-knit quarters, daily ac- market. “Nos Une el El Barrio” (the barrio unites us)
tivities unfold in the streets, much as they do in proclaimed the hand-painted slogan on a wall. Each
Mediterranean neighborhoods. Young Habaneros block held a walk-in clinic, attesting to the fact that
playing soccer blocked intersections; grandmothers the country has one of the highest doctor-to-pa-
in sleeveless blouses chatted in doorways, absent- tient ratios in the world.

178 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020