Cuba - Lonely Planet [65]
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Totally off the beaten track for most tourists are Havana’s working-class areas south of Centro Habana, including Cerro, Diez de Octubre and San Miguel del Padrón. Further south still is industrial Boyeros, with the golf course, zoo and international airport, and Arroyo Naranjo with Parque Lenin.
Visitors spend the bulk of their time in Habana Vieja, Centro Habana and Vedado. Important streets here include: Obispo, a pedestrian mall cutting through the center of Habana Vieja; Paseo de Martí (aka Paseo del Prado or just ‘Prado’), an elegant 19th-century promenade in Centro Habana; Av de Italia (aka Galiano), Centro Habana’s main shopping street for Cubans; Malecón (aka Av de Maceo), Havana’s broad coastal boulevard; and Calle 23 (aka La Rampa), the heart of Vedado’s commercial district.
Confusingly, many main avenues around Havana have two names in everyday use – a new name that appears on street signs and in this book, and an old name overwhelmingly preferred by locals. See the boxed text on opposite to sort it all out.
Maps
The best place to head for maps is the official government information service, Infotur, which has a wide variety of city maps, many of them free.
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DOWNTOWN HAVANA
For simplicity’s sake downtown Havana can be split into three main areas: Habana Vieja, Centro Habana and Vedado, which between them contain the bulk of the tourist sights. Centrally located Habana Vieja is the city’s atmospheric historical masterpiece; Centro Habana, to the west, provides an eye-opening look at the real-life Cuba in close-up; while the more majestic Vedado is the once-notorious Mafia-run district replete with hotels, restaurants and a pulsating nightlife.
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INFORMATION
Bookstores
Librería Centenario del Apóstol (Map; 870-7220; Calle 25 No 164, Vedado; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 9am-1pm Sun) Great assortment of used books.
Librería Grijalbo Mondadovi (Map; Palacio del Segundo Cabo, O’Reilly No 4, Plaza de Armas, Habana Vieja; 9am-5pm Mon-Sat) Fantastic mix of magazines, guidebooks, reference, politics and art imprints in English and Spanish.
Librería La Internacional (Map; 861-3283; Obispo No 526, Habana Vieja; 9am-7pm Mon-Sat, 9am-3pm Sun) Good selection of guides, photography books and Cuban literature in English; next door is Librería Cervantes, an antiquarian bookseller.
Librería Luis Rogelio Nogueras (Map; 863-8101; Av de Italia No 467 btwn Barcelona & San Martín, Centro Habana) Literary magazines and Cuban literature in Spanish.
Librería Rayuela (Map; Casa de las Américas, cnr Calles 3 & G, Vedado; 9am-4:30pm Mon-Fri) Great for contemporary literature, compact discs; some guidebooks.
Moderna Poesía (Map; 861-6640; Obispo 525, Habana Vieja; 10am-8pm) Perhaps Havana’s best spot for Spanish-language books.
Plaza de Armas Secondhand Book Market (Map; cnr Obispo & Tacón, Habana Vieja) Old, new and rare books; with plenty of Fidel’s written pontifications.
Cultural Centers
Alliance Française (Map; 833-3370; Calle G No 407 btwn Calles 17 & 19, Vedado) Free French films Monday (11am), Wednesday (3pm) and Friday (5pm); good place to meet Cubans interested in French culture.
Casa de la Cultura Centro Habana (Map; 878-4727; Av Salvador Allende No 720); Vedado (Map; 831-2023; Calzada No 909) High-quality concerts and festivals.
Casa de las Américas (Map; 838-2706; cnr Calles 3 & G, Vedado) Powerhouse of Cuban and Latin American culture, with conferences, exhibitions, a gallery, book launches and concerts. The Casa’s annual literary award is one of the Spanish-speaking world’s most