Continuing my week of Cuba & Birthday recaps here is our first few days in Havana, Cuba! Tomorrow Paradise Part Uno (Cayo Coco) & the next day Part Dos.

Well you’ve been asking for it, so I’m gonna give it to ya! Cuba. Havana. Cayo Coco. The lot! So the plan was this. We fly to Cayo Coco, Cuba, we stay one night at the beach resort, then fly to Havana, Cuba (about 45 mins) and stay 3 nights, then fly back to Cayo Coco, Cuba and relax for 10 days.

It.Was.Amazing.

Havana is my city, beautiful, bohemian, inspirational and so many other things. I would live there if I could speak the language and make enough money with photographs and such. I don’t think Man would come though which pretty much limits that idea. Cayo Coco is picture postcard paradise. Lets just say it was amazingly beautiful. Plus I fit in the plane seat with no extender belt. Go me. So Today I’ll cover the Havana days and tomorrow the Cayo Coco days.

So a quick history lesson for you. How much do you know about the Cuban Revolution? Did you know it’s easily the most consequential revolution of the 20th Century, it’s shaped the people of Cuba’s lives remarkably. In brief, Cuba has had a long history of occupation, English, Spanish and American. In the 50′s the Americans used Cuba as their playground and the country was under the rule of a dictator called Fulgencio Batista. In 1950, Fidel Castro became so angry with the regime that he and a group of others began to prepare to overthrow the government, in 1953 they stormed the Castillo in Santiago, Cuba and a serious gun fight ensued. Fidel, his brother Raul and others were defeated, captured, tortured and many were executed on the same day. It was pretty brutal. Fidel and his brother were tried, Fidel gave evidence for his own defence, but were imprisoned. Fidel claimed that it didn’t matter because history would absolve him.

While he was imprisoned massive political pressure was put on Batista to release them and eventually they did but Fidel and Raul were exiled to Mexico. He met and started working with Che Guevara (who was argentinian) & other exiles to overthrow Bastista. There were other attempts on Bastista’s life while they were planning all of which were unsuccessful and suicidal in many cases, and America imposed their economic embargo’s on the country withdrawing their ambassador and weakening the government of Cuba considerably. Fidel and Guevara hid in the mountains during this time, planning their attack. Others in the group executed small attacks on garrisons of Batista successfully. Castro became politically popular in the mountains and eventually Batista sent thousands of soldiers to kill him but eventually Castro won the battle.

They continued to fight across Cuba and eventually over threw Batista and created their own government. Che called for other Latin countries to remove the American interest from their countries to in a kind of “if we can you can” way. A lot happened after the revolution, the government were atheist and so nationalised all church held property opening up housing for many poverty stricken families, expelling many religious leaders from the country, the American embargo is still in place today, at the Cuban Government is currently led by Raul Castro after Fidel stood down. There have been thousands of attempts on Fidels life and Che died and is currently at rest in Trinidad.

When you are in Havana, all this stuff is visible all around you, the history, the pride of the people who took back their own country, the graffiti. Things are changing in Cuba. After a huge period of austerity (which apparently makes WWII rationing look like Christmas) they have built a largely self sufficient country, they have 0% illiteracy in the country, something no one else in the world has achieved, they also have one of the best and free healthcare systems in the country with the most doctors per head. They invest in their people and their education and health, they subsidise leisure activities like the cinema, and they have recently started allowing farmers to sell their produce direct through farmers markets allowing some free market movement of individual economics. When I visited Havana over 15 years ago the poverty was apparent, it was during the austerity period, this time the poverty is much less apparent, it’s still there though, in the decaying buildings, mansions taken over by nature abandoned by the Americans in the 50s, eastern block Lada cars ride alongside brand new Japanese and German cars and 1950′s classic Americana. It’s a fascinating place for sure.

So there is Cuba in pictures! If you want to read more about the Cuban revolution, Che Guevara’s part in it and all that jazz wiki has a good section on it and any guide books. It truly is one of the most consequential revolutions of the 20th century. We even saw the Hilton hotel that Che Guevara claimed for Cuba (leading to Cubans being banned from Hiltons worldwide). The city is like no where else in the world, really honestly it is. Friendly, safe, great for children – Charlie got so much attention – they love kids, and above all interesting and beautiful. We walked less than expected, it was very hot (mid 30s C+ !) and not fair on Charlie so we bussed it around a fair bit, but that was ok, we saw so much of the city it was worth it.

If you can go – I know there are legal problems for some of you – then go, you won’t regret it…Tomorrow…Cayo Coco!