Colonial restoration was especially evident in some of the European style walkways and piazzas. This is near the “Gentleman from Paris” statue, in front of the Basilica. The legend of the statue is that touching the index finger brings prosperity and touching the beard assures returning to Havana.

As we walked the historic streets in Havana, there were old cars from the ‘50s and buses from pre-Castro days, frequently jewels of renovation, complete with Russian motors. While we saw these cars throughout Havana, at the end of our trip, upon our return to Havana from the far end of the island, we were passengers in a trail of these renovated cars, carrying us to our last dinner on the island.

We were brought to schools for ballet and theater and music. In each case we saw remarkably talented young people perform.

Havana was at the beginning and again at end of our trip.

From Havana we traveled to Cienfuegos, once Batista’s favorite resort.

Traveling distances out of the city, there were few cars, little public transit, many people walking long distances. In Cienfuegos, our hotel was sometimes without electricity and shop shelves were empty, but our group was happy dancing on the rooftop.

Historic city buildings were well restored.

We traveled to Trinidad, a well preserved 400-year-old Colonial city. We walked streets where monthly distribution of rice and beans was available and saw people lined up for free food. We visited a small inn, where the owner was a horse trainer and saddler and had a pony he brought into the home to show us; and then we met with an elderly academic historian of the area. Trinidad, once Cuba’s wealthiest city because of sugar, is also Cuba’s oldest city. It seems to be the place where time stood still.

We traveled to a remarkable botanic garden where we saw famous banyan trees and flora none of us had ever seen. We stopped at an elementary school in a remote area. It served children from kindergarten to middle school. We had already seen quite a few busloads of school children in Havana and we could see that each grade or school had uniforms distinctly representing their group. On the school wall, we saw a photo of the “Cuban Five” who were celebrated everywhere in Cuba. They were intelligence officers arrested in Miami in 1998, having infiltrated anti-Cuban groups in Miami, and given long prison sentences, but released in a prisoner exchange in 2014.