The communist Caribbean came to Washington — a parrot wandering along one old man's shoulder, a Che Guevara shirt proudly worn by another.

Neither were Cubans — it did not seem to matter — they were there to show solidarity with this island nation.

From the dozens of supporters of Fidel and Raul a chant went up: "El pueblo unido, hamas sera vencido" — the people united will never be defeated. It drowned out the anti-Castro protestors.

One man splattered blood red paint on himself to protest the communist regime's human rights record before he was carefully dragged away by the Secret Service.

For the most part the day was joyful — Cubans or the children of Cuban immigrants took photos of themselves outside the embassy and its re-installed flag (historical note: the one that had been taken down on January 2, 1961 and according to Cuban officials was protected first by a "family of Liberators" and later a museum now hangs inside the embassy).

There is no sign yet outside the building, but the old one that read Swiss Embassy, Cuban Interest Section is gone.

Pro-Castro and anti-Castro supporters gather outside the Cuban Embassy in Washington DC. ( ABC News: Michael Vincent )

"It's beautiful. We feel it's good. But there's a mix of feelings because there's a lot of stuff we need to do in Cuba," one man said after speaking with his mother via video outside the embassy fence.

"But it's an historical moment and a good point to start," he added.

"I was pretty excited," student Olimar Rivera Noa said. "This is definitely an historic event. When I found out (about) the opening of the embassy I woke up super early and I came here. I still can't believe it."

A pro-Castro supporter and his parrot stand outside the Cuban Embassy in Washington. ( ABC News )

Even those whose links are historical are excited. "I'm Mexican, but my grandmother's Cuban," said Ali Velazquez Carmona. "I'm very very proud. There's definitely an interchange in Cuba and one of the best ways to do that is open relations with the United States."

I asked him about the slow rate of change: Cubans opening up their markets, human rights and politics, Americans lifting the embargo.

"People to people is going to be more important than anything else because there's politics everywhere," he said. "The more the people of the two countries interact that's really going to trigger the change."

All it took to get this revolution in relations started was one American president who decided he didn't want to live in the past.