WEALTH OF ARTS AND CULTURE.
CRUISING THROUGH OLD HAVANA, THE HISTORICAL CENTER OF CUBA'S CAPITAL ONE OF THE MUST-SEE SPOTS ON THE ISLAND.
THIS IS WHERE BIRDS AND, YES, PEOPLE FLOCK.
A WALK THROUGH THE STREETS REVEALS SLICES OF CUBAN LIFE AND CULTURE.
FROM KIDS PLAYING TO WOMEN SEWING.
THERE'S CHARM, THERE'S GRIT.
A FASCINATING COMBINATION THAT GIVES HAVANA A TRULY AUTHENTIC FEEL.
JUST ASK BODY COMEDIAN GREG MURPHY.
>> BOSTON, IT'S A HIDDEN, I MEAN, OF ALL THE EVENTS I'VE BEEN TO IT'S ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.
I GET OFF THE BOAT, EVERYBODY'S HAPPY, IT'S A GREAT PLACE.
REPORTER: A GREAT PLACE WHERE MUSIC ALWAYS TAKES CENTER STAGE.
FOR TOURISTS AND LOCALS ALIKE.
THEY ARE RENOWNED CUBAN MUSICIANS.
THIS IS THEIR HOME AND THEY TREATED US TO A JAM SESSION.
WHETHER THEY'RE PLAYING TOGETHER OR WITH THEIR BAND, IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC.
>> THE PEOPLE HERE, HAVE A DEEP FEELING FOR CUBAN MUSIC.
I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT CUBAN MUSIC IT'S LIKE A SPARK.
THAT COMES WITH YOU.
YOU CAN HAVE ANY DIFFICULTY, BUT THE TIME OF PLAYING IT'S GONE.
REPORTER: BACK IN OLD HAVANA WE DISCOVERED A TANGO FESTIVAL, BRINGING CUBANS AND VISITORS TOGETHER IN PUBLIC SPACES IN THE RAIN TO DANCE THE TANGO.
TANGO DIDN'T START IN CUBA, BUT THERE ARE PLENTY OF PEOPLE HERE WHO ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT IT.
>> I LOVE TANGO.
>> IT'S IMPORTANT TO US BECAUSE IT'S A WAY OF EXPRESSING OURSELVES.
REPORTER: MOST TOURISTS WHO COME TO CUBA END UP HERE IN OLD HAVANA, BUT THERE ARE MANY OTHER PLACES TO SEE INCLUDING THE HOME OF EARNEST HEMINGWAY.
IT WAS 1928 WHEN AMERICAN AUTHOR HEMINGWAY LEFT PARIS FOR THE UNITED STATES BY BOAT.
BUT ENDED UP IN CUBA INSTEAD.
>> I WAS TRAVELING FROM FRANCE TO KEY WEST, BUT BECAUSE OF THE SHIP GOT BROKEN IN HALF, LANDED HERE FIRST.
REPORTER: HEMINGWAY FELL IN LOVE WITH CUBA, DECIDING TO MOVE HERE A DECADE LATER JUST AS HE MOVED ON FROM HIS SECOND WIFE TO HIS THIRD.
>> SO IN DECEMBER 1940 HE BOUGHT THIS HOUSE HERE, THIS WHOLE PROPERTY.
>> THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR COMING OUT HERE.
REPORTER: HEMINGWAY LIVED HERE FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS BEFORE LEAVING IN 1961, AS TENSION BETWEEN CUBA AND THE U.S.
ESCALATED.
THIS IS WHERE HE WROTE MANY BOOKS INCLUDING THE OLD MAN IN THE SEA, WHICH WON THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE IN 1954.
>> AFTER HE FINISHED WRITING, HE USED TO COME HERE TO THE POOL.
ACCORDING TO HIM, JUST WANTED TO RELAX.
REPORTER: IF RELAXING ISN'T YOUR THING, HIKE INTO THE BEMAMAR CAVES, ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF SOUTH OF HAVANA, 15 MILES LONG AND MORE THAN 100 FEET DOWN IN ITS DEEPEST SPOT, THE CAVES ARE
FILLED WITH CRYSTAL FORMATIONS.
>> THIS IS DRIPPING, IT MEANS THE CAVE IS ALIVE.
REPORTER: A FARMER DISCOVERED THE CAVES IN 1861, BY ACCIDENT.
THE NATIONAL MONUMENT, THE OLDEST TOURISTS ATTRACTION IN CUBA THAT'S STILL ACTIVE.
>> THE CAVE IS ABOUT 300,000 YEARS OLD.
REPORTER: DOWN HERE THE HUMIDITY IS HIGH, BUT THE ACOUSTICS ARE PERFECT.
♪ HALLELUJAH ♪.
[APPLAUSE] NOANS NICELY DONE.
VERY DIFFICULT FOR JOURNALISTS TO GET IN ON THEIR OWN INTO CUBA, BUT YOU WENT WITH NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY AS PART OF YOUR CLASS.
>> WE DID, THAT WAS ONE OF MY STUDENTS SINGING.
THAT'S ONE OF THE WAYS YOU CAN GET IN UNDER EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES.
ANTHONY: EDUCATIONAL, HISTORICAL, CULTURAL.
NOT ALL AMERICANS GO THROUGH PROPER CHANNELS THOUGH.
>> NO, THERE'S AN ESTIMATED 20 TO 50,000 AMERICANS WHO GO INTO CUBA ILLEGALLY BY GOING TO PLACES LIKE CANADA