Coppelia is Cuba's most famous ice cream parlour — a futuristic circular pavilion designed by architect Mario Girona and built in 1966 in the Vedado neighbourhood, covering a full city block and designed to serve the masses of a socialist state unlimited access to high-quality ice cream as a revolutionary right.
The experience of visiting Coppelia is unlike any other ice cream parlour in the world. There are separate queues for Cubans paying in pesos (long, slow, cheap) and for tourists paying in convertible currency (shorter, more expensive, same ice cream). The recommendation is to join the Cuban queue if you have time — the sociological experience of waiting with Havana residents for scoops of chocolate and vanilla in the shade of the revolutionary-era architecture is worth more than the ice cream itself, which is good rather than extraordinary. The building's exterior — a flying-saucer canopy on pillar supports — is worth seeing regardless of whether you queue.