Review: Pocket Precincts: Havana By Claire Boobbyer, 2020
Claire Boobbyer is a professional travel writer with more than sixteen years’ experience of travelling to and writing about Cuba, and her knowledge and love of the country and its people shines through in this pocket guide.
In the introduction she implores readers to cast away any preconceptions that Havana is a “city frozen” in time, instructing us to “park that narrative when you land.”
Top tips for buildings, views, places to eat and drink, see art, listen to music and shop are listed in the opening pages, which then explore the highlights of each Havana district (or ‘precinct’ for the Australian publishers). There are no sections on the history or politics of the island, and only a brief section on travel tips: this guide aims to show you how to immerse yourself in the culture and creative spirit of the city.
As someone who has visited Cuba more than twenty times in the last twenty years, it was fascinating to discover new facts and information about places I had overlooked in the past: for example, I never knew that there was a shipwreck museum within the Castillo de Real Fuerza, or that the University of Havana housed a natural history museum and public café.
Where the book really excels is in its coverage of the more recent surprises Havana has to offer, especially the new community and creative spaces springing up across the city. In the 1990s the Office of the Historian for the City of Havana (OHCH) worked with UNESCO on the restoration of Havana Vieja. Today the OHCH has given over many previously derelict buildings to Cubans with the means to renovate them into galleries, music venues, bars and restaurants. The book encourages you to visit these recently transformed barrios, such as the San Isidro Districto de Arte. Under the community-focussed eye of the OHCH, the influx of investment to these areas has led neither to ‘gentrification’ nor the exodus of existing communities.
Boobbyer’s knowledge of the city and its people is impressive. Her restaurant tips provide tempting descriptions of the food on offer, often alongside an introduction to the characters behind the venture, where chefs have trained or worked before, and who the regular barflies are. I now know where to go to enjoy a takeaway naan bread roll made by a chef from Delhi (Buena Vista Curry Club), or fill up on dumplings made with ingredients sourced from China (Awesome Dumplings).
Havana is full of craft markets, but for those who want something more unusual, this guide tells you where to find recycled gifts made by design graduates or screen prints direct from the factory. And for those who really want to get involved, there’s information on taking a cigar class or where to get a tattoo!
The book is a perfect size and weight to carry around, and the district maps clearly mark all of the recommended hotspots. Each double-page spread features just one or two entries, accompanied by a collage of photos that give you a flavour of the place and help bring it to life.
Havana Pocket Precinct is not your usual guide to Havana: it doesn’t cover places to stay, or list all the museums or sites of historical significance, so if it’s your first trip you might want another guide book to accompany it. But when you’re ready to relax and flow with the city it’s perfect to point you in the right direction. For those lucky enough to have visited before, it will encourage you to look at familiar places with new eyes, and venture into parts of the city you’ve not yet explored.
“Havana’s magic is infectious. The city will make you want to return,” says Boobbyer. And I definitely want to return with this guide in my pocket.
By Natasha Hickman for CubaSi Summer 2020 magazine.
