Havana
I hired a private taxi, complete with a charming interpreter/guide named Lucy, to go into charming old Havana and the stunning Columbus Cemetery (Necropolis Cristobal Colon) for the day. My time was short, but it filled the senses. Havana is beautiful and beguiling. It is a city of contradictions; several Spanish colonial buildings have been impressively restored, like in Plaza Vieja (the 1st 3 images), while many others are shells of their former beauty with their faded, crumbling pastel walls. It is fun to see all the charming old vehicles all around Havana. The cemetery is huge; it covers 56 hectares and has more than 500 major mausoleums, chapels, vaults, tombs, galleries embellished with angels, griffins, cherubs etc. It has been described as one of the world's greatest collection of flamboyant funerary architecture.