Breakfast was at El Café, an unexpectedly lovely place hidden in the side streets of Old Havana. It occupies an old building and makes its own bread; the pancakes alone made it worth finding.
We spent our final day walking Havana’s streets, visiting galleries and the National Museum of Fine Arts, and buying souvenirs. From the rooftop terrace of Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski we sat facing the Capitol and enjoyed the city one last time.
Dinner was at La Guarida, set inside a magnificent building dating from 1903. The structure seems to declare, “I am still standing.” The restaurant and the building are beautiful in their own right.
Our notes for a first visit to Cuba: bring plenty of one- and five-dollar notes. Carry essentials such as toilet paper, toiletries, medicines and sunscreen. Unused soap, shampoo and cosmetics from home can be given away or exchanged with people who need them. Choose privately run restaurants whenever possible, and consider travelling with an agency because it makes the complicated parts of the journey much easier. Take a classic-car tour, learn a few words of Spanish, expect very limited internet access and try to buy a local SIM card on the first day. Bargain when appropriate. Havana’s streets may look unsafe at first, but we felt secure; the more difficult realities were the sewage and rubbish smells.