It is one of the world`s most successful stage shows - running now for decades, evening after evening, at the same venue, but each day with different actors and dialogues: Sunset on the Malecon. The moment the promenade between the city and the Atlantic becomes immersed in a golden light, the kissing, dancing, drinking and celebrating starts along the quay wall. As if the life of the city were being presented in concentrated form -for a couple of hours at least, the Malecon becomes Havana`s heart and soul. And like no other place in Cuba, Havana satisfies that craving. With streets, bars, squares in which life simply throbs - and with apartments which are not so much places of private retreat as public meeting points. In their homes in Havana people gather together their favourite people and their favourite things - whether they match one another or not. Chests of drawers from the colonial era stand next to sideboards from the 1950s, ancient rocking chairs loll beside wobbly plastic chairs, and faded pictures of saints hang alongside the face of Che Guevara. Fascinating in its morbidly vital mix of penury and superfluity, shabbiness and beauty, each room tells it own story, Preserving Havana`s historical architecture is no easy task. Although art nouveau villas, art deco buildings or Miami-style palaces in districts like Vedado or Miramar still radiate great splendour and glamour, there is a shortage of funds for large areas of the city, above all, for the colonial La Habana Vieja. Admittedly, many architects have been harsh in their criticism of the old-new houses, fearing the birth of a Cuban Disneyland - but as long as the style of home furnishings shown in this book still exists, and as long as that stage show continues to run every evening on the Malecon, Havana will always be what it is: Cuba`s most beautiful city - and not just at sunset.