The Yellow Submarine in Havana

By Kamil Kenders

HAVANA TIMES – Saturday night, after an intense week of work, I feel like I need and deserve to go out for a while, listen to nice music, and why not, have a beer or a drink to get into the mood. I’m not much of a night owl, but if I do go out, I prefer a quiet place to share with my partner or even with friends.

The options are few, almost nil, or well, I clarify that, actually, on every corner we can find bars, cafes, restaurants where you can sit down and have a pleasant time, but… for ordinary Cubans, enjoying these trendy and expensive places is practically impossible. So, I remembered a famous old place, nice and where miraculously the prices haven’t risen so abusively. It’s called The Yellow Submarine.

Named after the famous song by The Beatles, people of different ages, lovers of rock from that era, gather here to have a good time. Very talented bands also perform, playing songs by renowned artists such as The Beatles themselves, The Rolling Stones, Queen, and even more contemporary ones like Pink.

Every time I go (which is not very often), I always have a great time and it makes me feel nostalgic, besides making me wonder: why aren’t there other places like this? Relatively inexpensive and where music from years ago is rescued. It gives me pleasure to see how even many young people prefer to enjoy such a healthy environment like this one at The Yellow Submarine.

It is said that the idea of the Yellow Submarine manifested itself in Paul McCartney’s mind while he was resting in his bed, during a state of trance, which is that state between wakefulness and sleep, to later become part of the album “Revolver”. In my case, The Yellow Submarine, in Havana, has turned out to be a cozy place, the right one to escape for a while on Saturday night and “disconnect” from the overwhelming daytime routine.

Read more from the diary of Kamil Kenders here on Havana Times.