It is no secret that I have a deep love for John Lennon, so I always enjoy the option of visiting a Lennon-related attraction in any city I travel to (see this post on Prague: Lennon Wall).
This park in Havana is quite small and was not referred to as Parque John Lennon until 2000, when the commemorative statue was unveiled on the 20th anniversary of John’s death.
During the 60s & 70s, Fidel banned The Beatles in Cuba, a highly unpopular move. This statue is an attempt to make up for that.
John’s glasses were iconic and have been stolen from the statue so many times that now there is a little old man whose job it is to sit in the park holding the glasses. When visitors come, he places the glasses on the statue as seen below:
You can see the bronze is worn out on his leg and hand from people (like me) touching him and posing with him. I, of course, had to have an entire photo series with him!
The bench he is seated on is quite ornate.
On the ground in front of the bench is a plaque with the Spanish translation of “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one” from John’s signature song, “Imagine”.
Of course I had to take a pic with my tattoo in it:
The little old man was also very nice to me (it helps to speak Spanish), so he let me try on John’s glasses myself and I took a photo with him as well!
If you would like to go there, Parque Lennon is located in the Vedado area of Havana. Here is the Google map of it. Enjoy!
