slow internet old cars strong coffee
cheap rum and music drifting down each
alley shaping the city the way the waves
shaped the sand
this is Cuba
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
there are many things that will grab
your attention when you first arrive in
Old Havana from the street art to the
music that it seems to be drifting out
of every cafe in every home to the
colors to the voices to the sounds to
the smells but there's one thing more
than any other that caught my attention
and it's this dog sitting behind me in
the center of San Ignacio Street
he's been there for I want to say all of
the five days I've been in Havana so far
in fact for a while he was wearing that
outfit
I guess that's his shirt someone has
hung it up with a hanger
[Music]
goodnight spooky love pero todos los los
todo lo Diaz on la calle camasta i don't
know if i was filming properly through
that but as I was going up to show the
dog the woman on the side of the street
started telling me you know you need you
need to give a dollar if you want to
take a photo which I mean it was fair
enough but I took the chance to ask how
the dog is doing if the dog has food and
water and they pointed to the house
across the street and they said yes
that's where the dog lives and I said ok
esto de las Diez on la calle y is the
dog all the days in the street and they
said well because the house is very
small and they prefer to be on the
street sometimes but for me it's very
interesting to consider this dog on the
street with his little shirt hung on a
hanger on the side to me it might
indicate that even the most vulnerable
members of society in a place like
Havana have some kind of some kind of
protection or some kind of people around
them who care from the outside it might
not look like the best life just laying
on the street but maybe the dog has food
and water and friends around who will
give them a shirt to wear when it's cold
and hang the shirt on the side or and
it's not too cold or maybe it's just a
random dog and I'm reading too much into
this I don't know but it caught my
attention now let's keep walking
[Music]
in any case Havana is a city of great
contrasts I mean it's kind of a cliche
you can say that about a lot of cities
you know there's new buildings there's
old buildings but Havana has one of the
greatest contrast I've ever seen and the
area I'm staying in over here well it's
it's it's less well off than the area to
the other side of Old Havana this area
it seems like might have been hit by an
earthquake or something in recent years
because you see a lot of buildings like
the one behind me half in ruin I'm not
sure exactly what happened as I
continued to walk I came across this
game of dominoes that was being played
on a table in the middle of the street
[Music]
okay
equal
single mother
[Music]
I've seen those guys playing Domino's
for two days now and I've always wanted
to have the courage to stop and ask for
a photo but I always uh I always just
kept walking but this time I couldn't
resist and next thing you know they were
asking me do I know how to play Domino's
do we have Domino's in Canada and I told
them we have Domino's in Canada but but
in Canada we play in the house not on
the streets he said do you know how to
play Domino's and I said no my grandma
she knows how to play dominoes which is
true she always loved Domino's Cuban
people are really cool man it's hard to
explain but it there's just an energy to
this place that you feel right away and
I think part of it is the fact that the
internet connection in Cuba is almost
non-existent and with that means well
people spend more time like kids spend
more time together playing baseball on
the streets the adults spend more time
outside you know listening to music
drinking together and of course playing
Domino's and you want to be careful not
to romanticize these things too much
because as I've come to realize over the
last few days there is a downside to not
having internet of course like in terms
of education and opportunities there's a
lot that you're that your population
loses when you're not well connected
even new books and stuff are kind of
hard to arrive in Cuba because of the
embargo and the trade situation but all
of that aside like political nonsense
aside it's clear that the spirit of Cuba
is alive and well in the streets of Old
Havana anyway what I'm about to show you
this is Plaza veja the old Plaza
and it's very different than the streets
I just walked through this is the
beginning of the better preserved and
well more elegant side of Old Havana the
colorful buildings that you've probably
seen before in so many pictures
[Music]
some kind of song performance happening
in front of me I've never seen this here
before almost appears to be like half of
a dance and half of a martial arts
routine pretty cool stuff anyway just
look at some of the architecture behind
me here absolutely gorgeous I'm taking
you down and walking Street now that's
gonna end at one of the most famous
pieces of architecture in Havana the
capitol of building actually I don't
know how well you can see it but it's
it's peeking over this alley right now
and it looks pretty incredible
[Music]
when you see pictures of Havana
especially in this Instagram age that we
live in when everyone wants the perfect
backdrop for the pictures you tend to
see more buildings like this like
brightly painted and looking fresh and
there definitely are buildings like that
in Havana but there are just as many
that looked like you know the ones to my
left a little bit in need of a fresh
paint job and a bit of love but that is
Havana you know a city of extremes
now as I make it towards one of the
streets you start to see more of the
classic Cuban cars are not not Cuban
cars but classic cars within Cuba and
that's one of the things that for me
makes Havana so interesting to walk
around as a tourist it's the capital of
one of the most famous communist
countries and yet you're seeing you know
bits of capitalism start to creep into
society I would say anyway enough about
all that because we now have the epoch
capitolio the capital building in front
of us
we won't be running away okay
okay one of those tres one nice thank
you
[Music]
thank you I was about to end my video
and then I got asked by some tourists to
take a picture for them it's funny
people see me with my big camera and
they assume I'm a good photographer
joke's on them I'm a terrible
photographer but as I was about to say
to end this video
this too is Cuba the beautiful buildings
like the Capitol building behind me the
beautiful avenues the lights that light
up at night you know this too is Cuba
everything from the dominoes game with
the locals who are just enjoying their
evening outside inviting me to play from
the street food to the five-star
restaurants to the dog that's wearing a
t-shirt for some reason
to the classic cars from the 50s whoo
honk as they drive by to everything the
lack of internet everything that makes
Cuba what it is the the country that
went against the grain and just did
their own thing some would say for
better some would say for worse I'm not
gonna dare touch that subject in this
video but I will say that Havana remains
a very unique city and a great city to
walk around and explore in my next video
I'm gonna try and share something very
special with you guys because I had the
opportunity to meet up with a local
Cuban and get to see what life is like
far away from Old Havana another side of
Cuba completely different than this it
was an eye-opening experience and it's
what I'm gonna show you in my next video
but until then as I try not to chip over
any cracks in the sidewalk or get hit by
any classic cars I'm gonna leave you
with a few shots of Havana
Around Sundown
as always guys I'm dad for the new
travel I'll see you next time
[Music]