Miramar

If you drive west from Vedado, through the tunnel going under the Almendares River, you exit onto the illustrious two-way boulevard of Quinta Avenida (5th Avenue), with a wide promenade dividing traffic, and well-groomed trees decorating the center. The avenue is in the prestigious, mostly residential Miramar neighborhood, one of the last areas of Havana to be developed. Grandiose mansions, which were owned by the wealthy prior to 1959, are now foreign embassies, diplomatic residences, local and foreign-owned business offices, banks, real estate offices, upscale hotels, and shopping centers, as well as homes for prominent Cuban leaders and wealthy foreigners. The neighborhood has a serene and exclusive atmosphere, with an ocean breeze coming from its northern side and tropical, tree-lined streets, parks, and plush gardens decorating the rest of the area.