Daisy Valera

The Fate of Havana’s Neighborhood Cinemas

The Cuban capital once boasted around 130 movie theaters, more than there were in New York or Paris at the time. Many of these cinemas were directly serviced by the major production and distribution companies, such as 20th Century Fox, Columbia and Metro Goldwyin Meyer. (30 photos)

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The Pharmacies of Colonial Havana

Cuban pharmacies were at their most magnificent at the close of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. At the time, people went to these establishments not only to purchase the medicinal products prescribed by their doctors, but also to get together and converse. Today they are museums. (28 photos)

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The Guayabera Museum in Sancti Spiritus

With its large gardens and balconies a stone’s throw from the sea, the Quinta de Santa Elena villa is the most attractive building by the shores of the Yayabo river, in central Cuba’s city of Sancti Spiritus. After many previous uses today it is the Guayabera Museum. (x photos)

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Cuba Book Fair 2013 (First Impressions)

Yesterday morning, Cuba’s 2013 International Book Fair opened its doors to the public. Although this is the twenty-second such event held here since 1959, one can argue that book fairs are a tradition in Havana. Writer Jose Lezama Lima described them in the pages of the Diario de la Marina newspaper as far back as 1949. (37 photos)

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Old Havana on Valentine’s Day 2013

February 14 is a day of transformation for the city. Old Havana is taken by storm with couples and families seeking to relax in the main plazas and side streets. Although the change doesn’t affect the characteristic aspects of the area — with its book sellers, cartoonists or the stall selling oranges in Cathedral Square — this area of the city looks different on Valentine’s Day. (25 photos)

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