Havana wasn't really what I had expected. The included area spans only the Habana Vieja quarter and the fortresses. On my first morning in the city, I walked and walked, thinking "where is it going to start?". I finally arrived at the much restored Plaza Vieja. Most of the streets in the core of Habana Vieja have been renovated as well. I had anticipated a bustling atmosphere, but these are just a couple of brushed-up Spanish colonial houses. White, camera-toting tourists I met in abundance.

The full name of the WHS is "Old Havana and its Fortifications", and it was these Fortifications that I came to truly enjoy. The best two are on the other side of the harbour: Morro and Cabana. It's a nice and quiet area to walk in, and the views of the city are spectacular. Morro has an interesting exhibition about the travels of Columbus, and models of other fortifications around Cuba. There even is a good restaurant (12 Apostles). All around the harbour and coast smaller and bigger forts were built during various centuries, and you can still see them.

Inspired by the recent Connection "Equestrian Statues", I was attracted to a huge statue of a man on a horse that can be seen from the fortresses on the other side. This one, of Maximo Gomez (a general during the Ten Years' War and the War of Independence), probably is the most majestic one that I have ever seen. It was sculpted by an Italian, very neoclassical.