[:es]Tourists Prefer Havana[:]

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Havana, Aug 19 .-The Cuban capital attracts the interest of the majority of foreign visitors who have arrived in the island in 2018 for its colorfulness and, above all, its people.

 

Spurred by the announcement of the 500th anniversary of Havana on November 16 of next year, many people are spending their holidays on this island interested in cultural and tourist tours.

One of the most outstanding sites is the Jose Marti Memorial, a major monument and square in the Cuban capital.

Dedicated to the Cuban National Hero (1853-1895), this structure has a tower which is the most important viewpoint in Havana.

The monumental complex is made up of the base, the Marti statue and six columns, the tower with a lookout at the top, the platform, fountains and green areas. In its current condition it was opened to the public on January 27, 1996.

Besides, the tower is the city’s highest point, located on a hill 30 meters above sea level and with a height of 109 meters; on bright days the visibility reaches up to 50 kilometers around.

It was formerly called Plaza Civica, located on the Catalan Hill. This square is related to the urbanization process of the city. The building of what is now the Jose Marti Memorial took place between 1953 and 1958.

Bodeguita del Medio is another attractive place, not only because it is a restaurant from the 50’s, but for all its glamour.

This restaurant is the most emblematic of Cuban tourism, with the walls crowded with some two million signatures of its diners from different times, and photographs left there by celebrities.

Among the personalities who have been there are Ernest Hemingway, Mario Benedetti, Pablo Neruda and Errol Flyn.

Next on the visitors’ list is the Ernest Hemingway Museum, located in the outskirts of the city, in San Francisco de Paula, just 15 kilometers from downtown Havana (the writer’s home for more than 20 years).

The cultural trips also include the National Museum of Fine Arts, reopened on July 18, 2001, a very special complex for the senses, with three buildings embedded in the history of Havana and an important cultural and social activity.

Another of the renowned restaurants here is the Floridita, home of daiquiri, a drink made up, in essence, of rum, lemon, sugar and crushed ice; a legend of Cuban cocktails.

This establishment opened its doors in July 1817 on the intersections of Obispo and Monserrate, one of the crowded places in Old Havana.

But the tour guides also mention places such as the Cathedral Plaza, when its name comes from the imposing cathedral originally built as an oratory for the Sons of Saint Ignatius, of the Jesuit order, whose first stone was erected in 1748.

A night at the Cabaret Tropicana (1939), a visit to Havana’s colonial fortress system, or simply – and above all – a chat with the Cubans on the street is a must-do.(Prensa Latina)

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