It was still dark out when I woke up early Monday morning. In my ususal bad habit, I sat up in bed and read the news.  I was in shock to discover that only hours before a severe tornado had ravished Havana, Cuba. We just got back from eight days in Cuba.  I still had one foot in our door and the other foot in the city I just left behind.

We spent our days in Havana exploring the narrow, cobble stoned streets of Habana Vieja (Old Havana).  Also, the lovely majestic homes in the Vedado district where we stayed. Havana is a centuries old city that seems fragile. While there I worried for them that it would only take a huff and a puff to blow their homes down. Sunday, January 27, that puff came in the form of a tornado.  Pictures from social media show streets torn apart. Coverage tells you that the tornado did damage in East Havana, a suburb of the center. I keep searching for more photographs, trying to understand the extent of damage. I can’t help but think about all the people I met there who were so open and generous with us.

So how does Havana do it?  In spite of imperfection and disrepair, maybe even because of it, Havana still manages to be so amazingly beautiful!  A major part of the beauty, as I said. is its people. This might be the only city I have been in where the whole population seemed to be happy with their lives.  It also has fame for being a safe city. I can say I felt like it was the safest city I have ever been in.
For the moment, I just want to imagine that I could walk again the same streets and still see amazing Havana and its people just as I left them.

I am posting photographs of streets I walked through and the people I saw a short time ago.  In my next post, SO WHY HAVANA?, I’ll list all the sites that will help you plan your trip, places to go, things to do.

For the moment, I just want to imagine that I could walk again the same streets and still see amazing Havana and its people just as I left them.