While football may be on the ascendency, baseball remains the passion that ignites, unites and divides Cubans. The season runs from November to June and tickets can be purchased at the box office at game time. Havana’s team is the Industriale, who people love – and love to hate. They play at the country’s biggest stadium, the Estadio Latinoamericano (tel: +53 7 870 6526; www.baseballdecuba.com), which has a capacity of 55,000 people.
Things to do in Havana
Catch a game of Cuba’s national sport.
Brave a game of bike polo
A little bit dangerous and a whole lot fast, this international sport is taking Havana by storm since it was introduced in 2012. The city’s bike polo club (tel: +53 7 833 4011; www.leagueofbikepolo.com/club/havana-bike-polo) meets every Sunday on the court at the corner of Calles 23 and 2 in Vedado from 1700 until dark. Visitors are always welcome, and there are loaner bikes on hand for those who want in on the action.
Put on those dancing boots
Cuba is fairly synonymous with salsa dancing, and it’s the rare Cuban who doesn’t know at least the basics. World famous salsa bands regularly play Havana’s two Casas de la Música, while the bolder among you will favour the crowded, rough-and-tumble atmosphere of the Salon Rosado at La Tropical. Check out La Habana for the skinny on Habana’s nightlife (www.lahabana.com).
Tour a cigar factory
Whether you’re a smoker or not, a tour of a cigar factory offers insight into one of Cuba’s most internationally recognised industries. The Partagas tour is the most famous, and you’ll get a peek behind the wizard’s sleeve and see 400 workers rolling boxfuls of Montecristos and Cohibas.
Stroll through one of the world’s most beautiful cemeteries
Cemeteries might strike most people as morbid places, but a tour round the Christopher Columbus Cemetery (or the Cemetario de Colon as it’s locally known) would make anyone reevaluate this conjecture. With its rows of flowers, perfectly preserved marble statues and a gorgeous pastel-yellow church at its heart, it’s more a celebration of life than a mourning of death.
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