Strolling through Havana's Vedado area

I am fascinated by the houses of Vedado, a residential neighbourhood in Havana. Cuba.

However, this area, before being filled with houses, was an immense estate, of very irregular terrain, where small hills and rocks were predominant, with a sea lapping at its edges and a river so crystalline and fresh, that the manigua (vegetation) always made it go over it with force.

In my adolescence, I read a small book that testifies to this and is entitled Memoirs of a Cuban girl who was born with the century. Its author is Reneé Mendez Capote (Havana, November 12, 1901 - Havana, May 14, 1989).

"The Vedado of my childhood was a sea rock over which the seagulls flew confidently and in whose weeds grew wild and abundant the Caleta grape. The only streets worthy of the name, uninterrupted by the furnias, were Línea and 17 and part of Calzada. All the others were open trails through the brush, derriscaderos (cliffs) and dogtooth. On the hill there were few houses. And in the lower part, in addition to some fifth house, I only remember the Hotel Trotcha, the big house of boards of the Owners' Association and some two-story house very close to the sea".

Renée Méndez-Capote y Chaple was a Cuban writer, essayist, journalist, translator, suffragist and feminist activist. She wrote children's literature, short stories, essays and autobiographical works. Wikipedia

The creation of this neighborhood dates back to the beginning of 1858. A large number of architects participated in its design over time, so the area offers a wide selection of modernist, art deco and neo-colonial buildings.

The picturesqueness of Vedado is worth admiring. I think that in fact all of Havana is like that, and walking through its streets is too entertaining, because while you admire the old and scruffy beauty of its houses and buildings, you witness the spectacle of life in a city that resists time and the constant limitations.

You find houses like this one that have a touch of mystery.

And you are surprised to see that over the years, with hardly any repairs, this stained glass window has remained intact.

At noon, a ray of sunlight surprised the old woman in her armchair, where lunch was resting.

A few years ago it was forbidden to sell property, not anymore. Here they sell this piece of heaven with a balcony.

Some owners have exquisitely repaired their mansions in order to rent them to tourists.

Landscape with town crier selling saltine crackers.

These guys here fix mattresses. It was the funniest thing because before they appeared, I was walking with parsimony observing everything to take pictures and suddenly, without expecting it, I saw a mattress being thrown out of a window, about two or three stories high.

At the moment one of these guys arrived and then another one and then the car with the carriage, the springs and the wadding.

He sells shelves to place groceries and he does it whistling. In Spanish, he whistles and shouts: "El viandero, lleva tu viandero bueno y barato" (The viandero, take your good and cheap viandero).

I don't know if he will make them himself, but they are made from boxes and pieces of plastic pipe.

In this house they sell handmade wines. There is too much silence at that door.

The Ceiba is a sacred tree. It gives shade, and the believers of the Yoruba religion leave offerings near its trunk and roots; but these people take advantage of its freshness and it seems to me that they are too entertained with their cell phones, because there is a Wifi in this area.

Dulce María Loynaz, winner of the 1992 Cervantes Prize and considered one of the main figures of Cuban and universal literature, lived most of her life in this house.

This is a poem by Dulce María Loynaz that I like very much. I give it to you before I say goodbye, wishing you a wonderful and fruitful day.

Love me Whole

If you love me, love me whole,
not by zones of light or shadow…
If you love me, love me black
and white. And gray, and green, and blond,
and mixed…
Love me day,
love me night…
and in the morning with the open window!

If you love me, don’t break me in pieces:
love me all… Or don't love me at all!

(From https://lyricstranslate.com)