Reflections on Cuba

Hard to believe that five weeks have passed since we arrived back home!

For many of us, this was our first visit and we had some apprehensions! Some had previously visited the  tourist areas at the various beaches – Varadero, Holguin, etc. but had not made it to Havana, Cienfuegos or Trinidad.

Reflecting on our trip, there are many wonderful memories – most of all, the great group of intrepid travellers. To travel with Sergio is always an adventure for us! We never know exactly where he will lead us….but  we always have confidence in his decisions on our behalf.

Arriving in Havana late in the afternoon meant we didn’t see much that first night riding into the city on our bus. When we arrived at Hotel Plaza, we were tired, thirsty and hungry! Thanks to Sergio and Ken Johnston, we gathered up enough Cuban Convertible Dollars (CUCs) to get  drinks in the bar…will that be Cristal or Bucanero senor?

Day Two started out with breakfast on the rooftop terrace – our first view of Havana in daylight. Excitement built as we boarded the bus EVERY morning. Who cannot forget that bank line while we waited to exchange our Mexican pesos?

For me personally, the architecture was engrossing, with many buildings restored to their previous glory and many near collapse. The old cars were fascinating to see and I am slowly editing those photos to show them in black and white…truly a time warp.

My personal highlights included that first lunch at La Bodeguita del Medio (where Hemingway whiled away his afternoons with mojitos), our day trip to Vinales where we saw the incredible mogotes and the beautiful countryside. The highways were amazingly modern. Hemingway’s home at La Finca Vigia was inspiring to me as a pseudo writer, especially after reading Hemingway’s Cuba. Our stop at Cienfuegos on the way to Trinidad was memorable. Trinidad itself was memorable for that wonderful lunch at Paladar La Marinera (lobster anyone?) and the evening show that first night at our hotel. History came alive at Che Mausoleum (that sounds rather strange doesn’t it?). Finally amongst my Top Ten (who is counting)…the cavalcade of vintage cars we travelled in along the Malecon to reach Hotel Nacional for that not so memorable floor show at La Parisien.

Saving the very best for last – Cafe Taberna and the performance by some of the original members of Buena Vista Social Club! Heck, the performances by some members of our group were memorable too!!! Thanks again to Sergio for ‘snagging’ those last minute tickets for us.

Again, thanks to all of you for making and sharing the memories…and thanks to all of those Cubans we met along the way….

Hasta luego!

 

 

And now the time has come…..

Click here first…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS98Ln4bJpo

 

We did it our way! When we finally returned to Havana we were relocated to yet another hotel, the famous Ambos Mundo, which had been the home for several years of Ernest Hemingway. Imagine our surprise when we realized that we were on the same floor as he had occupied!

It seemed fitting since we had visited Finca Vigia earlier.

I snuck in later that night when you were all asleep, to check out Ernie’s room –

We only had time to get settled in, grab a dinner on their rooftop terrace and then we were off to Hotel Nacional to see the renowned floor show at La Parisien. Another surprise was that we had rented classic cars to take the whole group to the theatre!! Sergio out did himself with this one…

Can we ride in this all the way back to Veradaro?

Sadly, the floor show was less than spectacular for many of us. We were crammed together in the theatre…perish the thought of a fire! The costumes were elaborate but somewhat tired. The music was repetitious except for the tango dancers.

It was an experience nevertheless. At the end of the evening we returned to our classic cars for the ride to the Hotel, along the Malecon. A short walk found us at Ambos Mundo again where most of us headed straight to bed.

The next afternoon, the Merida group were off to the airport to spend our last CUCs and board our plane…

From Larry, Sergio and I, a big THANK YOU for joining us on this journey. Who knows where we will be heading next winter?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSKomfySUls

Where did Sergio go after he left us at the airport?

Finca Vigia – Ernest Hemingway in Cuba

Before leaving Havana for our trip to Cienfuegos and Trinidad, we made a detour to Finca Vigia, the home of Ernest Hemingway. He lived there in the periods between his foreign trips, for almost 20 years. The villa was built in 1887 and bought by Hemingway in 1940. It was made a public museum in 1962 when news of Hemingway’s suicide in the US reached Cuba. Visitors are not allowed inside by order of the Cuban government. We were able to view the rooms from the terrace as the windows were opened.

From the entrance gates we could see the Cuban flag waving in the breeze. Actually, the house is at the end of a long laneway and Osmel obliged by driving our bus directly to the house.

Everything is in the same meticulous order as it was when Hemingway lived there. There are his 9000 books, various hunting trophies, personal possessions, such as his weapons and typewriter and valuable artworks, including a ceramic plate by Picasso.

Touring the grounds, we were able to climb the tower where Hemingway sometimes wrote.The second floor was for his various cats.

In Hemingway’s studio on the upper floor are various other artifacts of his time spent there – I wonder which, if any, novels he wrote using this typewriter?

Novels

• (1940) For Whom the Bell Tolls
• (1950) Across the River and into the Trees
• (1952) The Old Man and the Sea
• (1970) Islands in the Stream
• (1986) The Garden of Eden
• (1999) True at First Light

Obviously, some of his works were published posthumously…

For more info on Finca Vigia here is a Wikipedia link –

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finca_Vig%C3%ADa

Here are a few photos we were able to take of the premises – Thru the looking glass, views of some of the 9000 books and his hunting trophies!

He was at Finca Vigia in 1954 when he found out that he had received the Nobel Prize for Literature. The Nobel Prize in Literature 1954 was awarded  “for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style”.

Of course, his famous fishing boat, Pilar, has also been relocated to the grounds  from nearby Cojimar. The Pilar was made of American black oak, and Hemingway loved ploughing through the waves on fishing expeditions. During World War II he used it to patrol the sea north of Cuba on the lookout for Nazi submarines!

Upon his death, the fishermen in the village had this bronze cast in his memory. It is on display on the boat.

After requisite souvenir shopping, we were off to Cienfuegos…

On the road again in Havana

This was Day 3 in Havana and as usual we were up at 7 a.m. and had the meagre breakfast on the upper terrace at Hotel Plaza. (At least that was MY opinion).

We boarded the bus with our guia Angel and headed for Plaza Revolucion. Much like Red Square in Moscow, this is where the official May Day Parade is held. It is a pretty awesome plaza as one looks around and sees the various heroes of the Revolution – ‘Che’ Guevara, Jose Marti, and Camilio Cienfuegos. Where is Fidel? (There are none or very few images of Fidel anywhere to be seen in Havana outside of the Museo de Revolucion). There are billboards showing Raul though….

Unfortunately this day the elevator was not functioning! On the buildings behind us were the wire sculptures of Che and Cienfuegos –

Camilo Cienfuegos (bottom), along with Che (top photo) and Fidel were the leading figures in the Revolution. Che was killed in Bolivia after the Revolution.

During his stay in Mexico, Camilo met Fidel Castro, who was organizing a revolutionary expedition that would return to Cuba to fight Batista. Thereafter Cienfuegos was one of the 82 revolutionaries who set sail aboard the boat Granma in November 1956. Allegedly, he was the last one to board the boat and was only allowed to join because of his thinness.

On October 28, 1959, Cienfuegos’s Cessna 310 (‘FAR-53’) disappeared over the ocean during a night flight from Camagüey to Havana. An immediate search was called which lasted several days, but no plane could be found.

By November the search was called off and Cienfuegos was presumed lost. He quickly became a new hero for the Cuban revolution.

Leaving Plaza Revolucion, we boarded our bus for a drive along Havana’s famous malecón…stopping for more information from our guia, Angel. These three babes followed us wherever we went…LOL

They were being followed by a not so discreet security guard  wearing sunglasses –

The plaques on the wall behind were interesting – they contained the name of some very famous Americans, like Thomas Alva Edison, Ernest Hemingway, Benjamin Spock, Helen Keller, Frank Lloyd Wright, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow etc. Curious?

With information overload starting to kick in, we headed for a rum store…..free samples!!! The rest of our day will be detailed in the next post…. I’m off to make myself a mojito…..

Buenos dias amigos!

With a 9 a.m. departure time for our first walking/bus tour we were all up early for breakfast on the rooftop terrace. Setting out on time, we were forced to stop at the first bank we could find to exchange those pesky Mexican pesos into Cuban Convertible Pesos. FYI…a CUC just happens to be the equivalent of $1 USD! With almost everyone having to exchange money we were in line for quite some time…

Having accomplished this gargantuan task we boarded our bus and set up for a tour through Havana, stopping first at the Museo de Revolucion – former home of Fulgencio Batista. For more info on Batista, check the following link –

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgencio_Batista

Here’s a short tour of the Museo from YouTube –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjFSWLrLvOQ

We continued by bus to Real Fortza Castle on the bay…visiting a cigar store which boasts the longest cigar ever made and listed in Guinness Book of Records…

The longest cigar measured 81.80 m (268 ft 4 in) and was made by Jose Castelar Cueto (Cuba) at the La Triada shop at Parque Morro-Cabaña in Havanna, Cuba, on 3 May 2011.

Cueto started to make the cigar on 25 April 2011, but only finished in the evening of 2 May. The cigar was officially measured on the following day.

By this time we were burned out after that long stop at the bank and headed to Plaza Catedral, which just happened to be located near the famous La Bodeguita del Medio….you know, the place where Hemingway drank mojitos!!!

Following lunch and some wonderful Cuban music, we began our walk back to our hotel…..very slowly! More about the various plazas in the next blog post…. anyone for another mojito?

The Real Cuba

Apparently the last video I sent out was marked “Private” so I erased it. I am attaching a more recent video from Anthony Bourdain from YouTube which I hope you can view. Sit back with that hot chocolate, mojito or daiquiri and take in the sights…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQcpRQwihRk

Trust me…take the time to watch it all…… you will definitely be enriched…

Hasta luego amigos!

Ernest Hemingway

Can’t believe how quickly the time is approaching, so I better speed up these blogs…

Cuba and the Nobel Prize

Hemingway said he “was out of business as a writer” from 1942 to 1945. In 1946 he married Mary, who had an ectopic pregnancy five months later. The Hemingway family suffered a series of accidents and health problems in the years following the war: in a 1945 car accident he “smashed his knee” and sustained another “deep wound on his forehead”; Mary broke first her right ankle and then her left in successive skiing accidents. A 1947 car accident left Patrick with a head wound and severely ill. Hemingway sank into depression as his literary friends began to die: in 1939 Yeats and Ford Madox Ford; in 1940 Scott Fitzgerald; in 1941 Sherwood Anderson and James Joyce; in 1946 Gertrude Stein; and the following year in 1947, Max Perkins, Hemingway’s long-time Scribner’s editor and friend. During this period, he suffered from severe headaches, high blood pressure, weight problems, and eventually diabetes—much of which was the result of previous accidents and many years of heavy drinking. Nonetheless, in January 1946 he began work on The Garden of Eden, finishing 800 pages by June. During the post–war years he also began work on a trilogy tentatively titled “The Land”, “The Sea” and “The Air”, which he wanted to combine in one novel titled The Sea Book. However, both projects stalled, and Mellow says that Hemingway’s inability to continue was “a symptom of his troubles” during these years.

In 1948, Hemingway and Mary traveled to Europe, staying in Venice for several months. While there, Hemingway fell in love with the then 19-year-old Adriana Ivancich. The platonic love affair inspired the novel Across the River and Into the Trees, written in Cuba during a time of strife with Mary, and published in 1950 to negative reviews. The following year, furious at the critical reception of Across the River and Into the Trees, he wrote the draft of The Old Man and the Sea in eight weeks, saying that it was “the best I can write ever for all of my life”. The Old Man and the Sea became a book-of-the-month selection, made Hemingway an international celebrity, and won the Pulitzer Prize in May 1952, a month before he left for his second trip to Africa.

In 1954, while in Africa, Hemingway was almost fatally injured in two successive plane crashes. He chartered a sightseeing flight over the Belgian Congo as a Christmas present to Mary. On their way to photograph Murchison Falls from the air, the plane struck an abandoned utility pole and “crash landed in heavy brush.” Hemingway’s injuries included a head wound, while Mary broke two ribs. The next day, attempting to reach medical care in Entebbe, they boarded a second plane that exploded at take-off, with Hemingway suffering burns and another concussion, this one serious enough to cause leaking of cerebral fluid. They eventually arrived in Entebbe to find reporters covering the story of Hemingway’s death. He briefed the reporters and spent the next few weeks recuperating and reading his erroneous obituaries. Despite his injuries, Hemingway accompanied Patrick and his wife on a planned fishing expedition in February, but pain caused him to be irascible and difficult to get along with.When a bushfire broke out, he was again injured, sustaining second degree burns on his legs, front torso, lips, left hand and right forearm. Months later in Venice, Mary reported to friends the full extent of Hemingway’s injuries: two cracked discs, a kidney and liver rupture, a dislocated shoulder and a broken skull. The accidents may have precipitated the physical deterioration that was to follow. After the plane crashes, Hemingway, who had been “a thinly controlled alcoholic throughout much of his life, drank more heavily than usual to combat the pain of his injuries.”

In October 1954 Hemingway received the Nobel Prize in Literature. He modestly told the press that Carl Sandburg, Isak Dinesen and Bernard Berenson deserved the prize, but the prize money would be welcome. Mellow claims Hemingway “had coveted the Nobel Prize”, but when he won it, months after his plane accidents and the ensuing world-wide press coverage, “there must have been a lingering suspicion in Hemingway’s mind that his obituary notices had played a part in the academy’s decision.”Because he was suffering pain from the African accidents, he decided against traveling to Stockholm. Instead he sent a speech to be read, defining the writer’s life: “Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the writer’s loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writing. He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day.”

From the end of the year in 1955 to early 1956, Hemingway was bedridden.He was told to stop drinking to mitigate liver damage, advice he initially followed but then disregarded. In October 1956 he returned to Europe and met Basque writer Pio Baroja, who was seriously ill and died weeks later. During the trip Hemingway became sick again and was treated for “high blood pressure, liver disease, and arteriosclerosis”.

In November, while in Paris, he was reminded of trunks he had stored in the Ritz Hotel in 1928 and never retrieved. The trunks were filled with notebooks and writing from his Paris years. Excited about the discovery, when he returned to Cuba in 1957 he began to shape the recovered work into his memoir A Moveable Feast. By 1959 he ended a period of intense activity: he finished A Moveable Feast (scheduled to be released the following year); brought True at First Light to 200,000 words; added chapters to The Garden of Eden; and worked on Islands in the Stream. The last three were stored in a safe deposit box in Havana, as he focused on the finishing touches for A Moveable Feast. Reynolds claims it was during this period that Hemingway slid into depression, from which he was unable to recover.

The Finca Vigia became crowded with guests and tourists, as Hemingway, beginning to become unhappy with life there, considered a permanent move to Idaho. In 1959 he bought a home overlooking the Big Wood River, outside Ketchum, and left Cuba—although he apparently remained on easy terms with the Castro government, telling The New York Times he was “delighted” with Castro’s overthrow of Batista. He was in Cuba in November 1959, between returning from Pamplona and traveling west to Idaho, and the following year for his birthday; however, that year he and Mary decided to leave after hearing the news that Castro wanted to nationalize property owned by Americans and other foreign nationals. In July 1960 the Hemingways left Cuba for the last time, leaving art and manuscripts in a bank vault in Havana. After the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Finca Vigia was expropriated by the Cuban government, complete with Hemingway’s collection of “four to six thousand books”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdE0uqSE2WU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW_1eE88MrU

My mojito in La Bodeguita, My daiquiri in El Floridita. (Ernest Hemingway)

Pre-trip planning can be a little tedious. The following therapeutic drinks should be taken on a regular basis a few weeks before departure…LOL…Para su buena salud!!

Daiquiri

The name daiquiri is also the name of a beach near Santiago, Cuba, and an iron mine in that area, and it is a word of Taino origin. The Daiquirí was supposedly invented by an American mining engineer, named Jennings Cox, who was in Cuba at the time of the Spanish-American War. It is also possible that William A. Chanler, a US congressman who purchased the Santiago Iron Mines in 1902, introduced the Daiquirí to clubs in New York in that year.

Originally the drink was served in a tall glass packed with cracked ice. A teaspoon of sugar was poured over the ice and the juice of one or two limes was squeezed over the sugar. Two or three ounces of white rum completed the mixture. The glass was then frosted by stirring with a long-handled spoon. Later the Daiquirí evolved to be mixed in a shaker with the same ingredients but with shaved ice. After a thorough shaking, it was poured into a chilled flute glass.

Consumption of the drink remained localized until 1909, when Admiral Lucius W. Johnson, a U.S.medical officer, tried Cox’s drink. Johnson subsequently introduced it to the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C. and drinkers of the Daiquirí increased over the space of a few decades. The Daiquirí was one of the favorite drinks of writer Ernest Hemingway and president John F. Kennedy.

The drink became popular in the 1940s.Wartime rationing made whiskey, vodka, etc., hard to come by, yet because of Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy(which opened up trade and travel relations with Latin America, Cuba and the Caribbean), rum was easily obtainable. The Good Neighbor Policy (also known as ‘The Pan-American program’), helped make Latin America seem fashionable. Consequently, rum-based drinks (once frowned upon as being the domain of sailors and down-and-outs), also became fashionable, and the Daiquirí saw a tremendous rise in popularity in the US.

The basic recipe for a Daiquirí is also similar to the grog British sailors drank aboard ship from the 1740s onwards. By 1795 the Royal Navy daily grog ration contained rum, water, ¾ ounce of lemon or lime juice, and 2 ounces of sugar. This was a common drink across the Caribbean, and as soon as ice became available this was included instead of the water.

Variations

• Daiquirí Floridita – with maraschino liqueur, created by Constantino Ribalaigua Vert at El Floridita.
  
• Hemingway Daiquirí – or Papa Doble – two and a half jiggers of white rum, juice of two limes and half a grapefruit, six drops of maraschino liqueur, without sugar, served frozen.
  
• Banana Daiquiri – regular Daiquirí with a half a banana.
• Strawberry Daiquirí – regular with strawberry added.

Frozen daiquiri

A wide variety of alcoholic mixed drinks made with finely pulverized ice are often called frozen daiquirí. These drinks can also be combined and poured from a blender eliminating the need for manual pulverization. Such drinks are often commercially made in machines which produce a texture similar to a smoothie, and come in a wide variety of flavors made with various alcohol or liquors. Another way to create a frozen Daiquirí (mostly fruit-flavored variants) is by using frozen limeade, providing the required texture, sweetness and sourness all at once.
Variations on the frozen Daiquirí.

• The Old Rose Daiquirí, which features strawberry syrup and rum along with two teaspoons of sugar and lime juice.
• The Daiquirí Mulata featuring rum and coffee liqueur.

http://www.floridita-cuba.com/

Mojitos

Traditionally, a mojito is a cocktail that consists of five ingredients: Rasna, sugar (traditionally sugar cane juice), lime juice, sparkling water, and mint. The original Cuban recipe uses spearmint or yerba buena, a mint variety very popular on the island.Its combination of sweetness, refreshing citrus, and mint flavors is intended to complement the potent kick of the rum, and have made this clear highball a popular summer drink. The cocktail has a relatively low alcohol content (about 10 percent alcohol by volume).

When preparing a mojito, lime juice is added to sugar (or syrup) and mint leaves. The mixture is then gently mashed with a muddler. The mint leaves should only be bruised to release the essential oils and should not be shredded. Then rum is added and the mixture is briefly stirred to dissolve the sugar and to lift the mint leaves up from the bottom for better presentation. Finally, the drink is topped with whole ice cubes and sparkling soda water. Mint leaves and lime wedges are used to garnish the glass.

The mojito is one of the most famous rum-based highballs. There are several versions of the mojito.

Cuba is the birthplace of the Mojito, although the exact origin of this classic cocktail is the subject of debate. One story traces the Mojito to a similar 19th century drink known as “El Draque”, after Francis Drake^. In 1586, after his successful raid at Cartagena de Indias Drake’s ships sailed towards Havana but there was an epidemic of dysentery and scurvy on board. It was known that the local South American Indians had remedies for various tropical illnesses; so a small boarding party went ashore on Cuba and came back with ingredients for a medicine which was effective. The ingredients were aguardiente de caña (a crude form of rum, translates as fire water from sugar cane) added with local tropical ingredients; lime, sugarcane juice and mint. Drinking lime juice in itself would have been a great help in staving off scurvy and dysentery. Tafia/Rum was used as soon as it became widely available to the British (ca. 1650). Mint, lime and sugar were also helpful in hiding the harsh taste of this spirit. While this drink was not called a Mojito at this time, it was still the original combination of these ingredients.

Some historians contend that African slaves who worked in the Cuban sugar cane fields during the 19th century were instrumental in the cocktail’s origin. Guarapo, the sugar cane juice often used in Mojitos, was a popular drink amongst the slaves who helped coin the name of the sweet nectar.

There are several theories behind the origin of the name Mojito; one such theory holds that name relates to mojo, a Cuban seasoning made from lime and used to flavour dishes. Another theory is that the name Mojito is simply a derivative of mojadito (Spanish for “a little wet”) or simply the diminutive of mojado (“wet”). Due to the vast influence of immigration from the Canary Islands, the term probably came from the mojo creole marinades adapted in Cuba using citrus vs traditional Isleno types.

The Mojito was a favorite drink of author Ernest Hemingway. Ernest Hemingway made the bar called La Bodeguita del Medio famous as he became one of its regulars and he wrote “My mojito in La Bodeguita, My daiquiri in El Floridita. ” This expression in English can still be read on the wall of the bar today, in his handwriting.

Trip Tips for Cuba 2014

Today begins the first of many postings about our upcoming trip to Cuba in March. Below are some gleanings from various tour books which I think are useful to know.

Suggested Books to enhance your trip are:

• DR Eyewitness Travel : Top 10 Cuba (more or less a pocket guide to walk around with)
• Cuba (Lonely Planet guide)
• DR Eyewitness Travel : Cuba (more comprehensive)
• Hemingway in Cuba by Hilary Hemingway

You might want to take the time to watch this YouTube video on Havana  to get you in the mood. Maybe a Cuba Libre to drink?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9385ntlhEZ8&list=PLrx9OXmXdHxkp6Nm2ijusoekE5beLmCMf

Cuba offers travelers a myriad of artistic, social, and sensual pleasures.  The art, music, and architecture are unparalleled in the Western Hemisphere, the tropical waters are sparkling blue, and the people are as warm as a Caribbean breeze.  Though Cubans are proud of their island and their historical accomplishments, they have been living through many hardships in the past several decades.  Western tourists were all but absent during the Soviet years and only began to return in earnest in 1997.  As a result, Cubans are very interested in us.  Many speak English and will want to talk to you.  Their curiosities will range from what you think about Cuba, to opinions on our country and world events.  Few, if any, will be even remotely unpleasant, let alone hostile.  Cuba is a safe country with little petty crime.  Many Cubans are entrepreneurs of one sort or another who hope that being helpful might earn them a few dollars.  Much of the Cuban economy is bolstered by black market activities.  Hustling is benign and not intended to be threatening in the slightest. If anything, Cubans will try to sell you good cigars and a good “paladar” (family-run restaurant), the two most easily hustled items.

Room Safes are available in  every room for your cash, passport, and other travel documents. Sometimes a small fee is charged to use it– ask at the front desk of the hotel.  You do not need to carry your passport on you while in Cuba.  Leave passports, airline tickets and cash in the safe. Make several copies of your passport before traveling.  You will want to carry one on your daily excursions and keep the original in your room safe.

Bathrooms:  If you need to go, simply ask:  “Donde está el baño (pronounced “banyo”)?”  Bathrooms in Cuba are not as neat or clean as what we are used to.  The bathrooms in restaurants, museums, etc. are the best of the lot and they usually have attendants who are tipped in exchange for toilet paper and cleanliness.  $0.25 cents is adequate.  It’s always a good idea to carry a pack of tissues anyway.

Clothing:  If traveling in spring or fall, the weather is warm, so pack for the tropics.  Much of the joy of Cuba is walking its streets, and many of those streets are cobbled so bring good walking sandals and shoes.  It is a good idea to bring clothes that you won’t mind leaving behind, as they are very much appreciated by hotel housekeepers and other people you meet.  Shorts and T-shirts are fine for the day; skirts, nice shorts, slacks and shirts are good for evening.  You might want to bring a special outfit for a gala evening.  Some places are air-conditioned, so you might want to bring a ligh,t long-sleeved jacket or sweater.  Hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen are essential.   Check the weather report and consider the wind chill caused by the island breezes.  Please leave good jewelry at home. If you bring costume jewelry and the occasion arises, it can make a great gift for someone special you may meet. You might want one swimsuit…just in case.

Electricity:  Electricity is erratic and both U.S. and European systems are used in hotels.  The Hotel Parque Central, for example, uses the European system, while the Nacional uses the American system.  You might want to bring an adapter for shavers.  Hotels have hair dryers so there’s no need to pack one.  (Keep in mind that the airlines charge a hefty $2.00 per pound for excess baggage and the total weight allowed for normal baggage is 44 lbs.)

Food:  The Cuban cuisine is Caribbean, but not Mexican. Food is not spicy though it is flavorful.  Cubans do not use chili peppers or tortillas.  Expect a choice of fish or lobster and chicken, pork, or lamb for the main course accompanied by rice, beans, plantains, yucca, or other root vegetables.  Salads are small when we get them.  Desserts of flan (custard) or ice cream are the standard.  The hotel serves a breakfast buffet every morning with lots of choices.  Most restaurants are run by the State but, in recent years, “paladars” (private restaurants run in people’s homes) have sprung up throughout the city.  Paladars have many government imposed restrictions.  For example; beef, shrimp, and lobster are highly controlled by the government and paladar owners are not supposed to serve them but they do anyway. One must always be prepared to accept that when going out to a paladar which may be known for its great lobster, it may not be available because the goverment inspector is due to arrive that day.  Going to a paladar is a great way to see a Cuban home and people who are bridging the gap between a collective and private economy.

Special Food Needs: The Cuban diet is heavy on rice, beans, and animal protein.  We can arrange vegetarian plates at dinner with advance notice. However, if you have special dietary needs, we will need to know in advance.  Low-carb diets are difficult to maintain in Cuba; however, the breakfast buffets at most hotels are amply stocked with cheese, hardboiled eggs, fruits, and vegetables.

Snacks: Snacks are not easily obtained in Cuba.  We will be eating hearty meals, and breakfast is a large buffet.  However, if you want to have something to take along on the bus or on a walking tour, we recommend bringing granola bars, nuts, trail mix, and such.  Vegetarians in particular may want to bring along something to supplement their diet. 

 Water:  Though you will see Cubans drinking the water and it is generally fine, it is prudent to stick to bottled water.  You can brush your teeth with the hotel tap water. Bottled water is easily available throughout Havana. Drink plenty, especially if you are not used to the tropical heat.  Make sure your bottle is properly sealed when purchasing.

Money:  Cuban currency issues are so bizarre they are almost comical.  At present, 4 currencies circulate in Cuba: The Euro, the Dollar, the Cuban Peso, and a new currency which is the one that is most used of all:  the Convertible Peso, or “CUC.”  The CUC is a currency that only circulates in Cuba’s tourist sector.  It is essentially a bill that is worthless outside of Cuba and is comprised of a tariff on the US Dollar of 20%.  One CUC is equal to $1.20.  It is not illegal to have Dollars or Euros in Cuba; however, you are restricted from spending those Dollars in government stores. To buy at Cuban stores, restaurants, taxis, and other services, you have to convert your dollars to the CUC.  This can be done at the airport or at the hotel, and there is no additional charge for exchange in either locale.  At the end of the trip, you will be able to convert any unused Cuban currency back into Dollars without any additional charge. There are ATM machines in several locations in Havana. You could find an ATM in almost every bank and hotel in the downtown area of Havana. There are also ATMs in selected “Casas de Cambio” (Houses of Change -CADECA-).  If you are interested in buying works of art, most artists and local galleries will allow you to leave a small deposit for work and then wire transfer money to them at a bank in either Spain, Canada, or Mexico.   Some travelers  will bring most of the money home; others will be borrowing, for example, to pay for the Cuban airport tax of $25.00.

 Medicines:  Bring anything you might need with you.  There are no pharmacies or CVS stores in Cuba and medicines are hard to obtain.  Cuban medical care is good in general but medicines are hard to come by.  Cubans will therefore also need anything you can bring in the way of medicines:  Vitamin C, aspirin, Ibuprofen, cough and cold medicines, asthma inhalers, antibiotics, and any over-the-counter medicine will be much appreciated.  

Airport taxes:   To leave Havana, the airport tax is $25.00 CUC cash (remember that this is equivalent to $30.00 U.S. Dollars.) and this tax is not included in the price.  Please keep the $25.00 CUC with your passport to be used when you depart Cuba.

Taxis:  For extra transportation, there are regular taxis throughout Havana. Just flag one down and it will stop. The tariffs on different taxis vary, but most are quite reasonable. When you get into the car, ask if the meter is running.  Some cars or taxis, however, will charge a flat fee.  There are also “bicitaxis” which are man-powered tricycle taxis that you can hail at any time. You might also see “Coco taxis” available. These are essentially a scooter with a fiberglass shell but good for travel in warm weather. Also, Havana is a walking town…walk as much as possible. 

Gifts for Cubans: Cubans are a proud people, but they are happy to receive gifts.  For women the best gifts are small necessities; such as, perfume, costume jewelry, make-up, nail polish and hair accessories. For men, colognes, disposable razors, baseball caps, and t-shirts (especially with American sports logos) are always appreciated. And, of course, anything for children–toys, books, chewing gum, and backpacks with logos are well received.  Other helpful items to consider leaving behind or bringing along to give include: toothbrushes, sunglasses, deodorant, tampons, AA batteries, aspirin, ibuprofen, cold and flu medicine, and vitamins.  For musicians some great presents are: guitar strings, reeds for woodwind instruments, and drumsticks; as well as jazz, R&B and hip hop music on CDs. 

OPTIONS FOR FREE TIME

Souvenirs and Gifts

Cuban stores are thin on items for sale; however, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Artisans Markets (open Wed. – Sun.) have nice items to take back.  The best gifts from Cuba are handmade crochet and wooden items, as well as musical instruments and CDs of Cuban music.  

The Artists’ Market has quality paintings, jewelry, and a wide variety of crafts.

Music Venues:  If anything defines Cuba, it is its exceptional music.  The country is noted for being the origin of the Mambo, cha-cha-cha, rumba, danzón, Cuban bolero, Latin jazz, and the son, which is the precursor of salsa.  Modern rhythms that are not well known in the United States include timba.  Havana has a great music scene, though, like much else, it is sometimes hard to find out what’s going on in town.  We will always make recommendations, but ask the hotel concierge as well.  

 

The Proposed Itinerary for Cuba!

Finally we have the long awaited proposed itinerary. For those who have travelled with us before, you know that we sometimes make last minute changes if we come across something that attracts us. This is not written in stone (maybe sand…script since it is blowing here today). We are open to reasonable suggestions…don’t even think about skipping the rum and cigar factories and don’t miss those famous daiquiris and mojitos!!!!

CUBAN ADVENTURE MARCH 2 – 9, 2014

Please note that due to unforeseen circumstances plans may need to be changed. In that event you will be notified…

Sunday, March 2 – Depart Merida, arriving in Havana around 530 pm. Transfer to Hotel Inglaterra, check in – FREE EVENING.

Monday, March 3 – City tour visiting Real Fuerza Castle, El Morro, Museo Bellas Artes, Plaza de Armas, Plaza San Francisco de Asis, Plaza Vieja, and Plaza Catedral. LUNCH (included) at La Bodeguita del Medio (a Hemingway haunt) FREE EVENING.

Tuesday, March 4 – Havana touring continued – Plaza Revolucion, El Capitolio. The Malecon, rum and tobacco factories, Cemetery Colon, Harris and Bros. Store. LUNCH (included) at La Mina. FREE TIME and FREE EVENING. Visit to La Flordita Bar (another Hemingway haunt).

Wednesday, March 5 – Travel to Pinar del Rio (Vinales) and visit a tobacco factory, La Cueva del Indio, Mirador los Jazmines and the ‘prehistoric’ mural.

Thursday, March 6 – Leave Havana and travel to Trinidad City. On the way we will visit Cienfuegos City and the Thomas Terry Theatre, Centro, Del Valle Palace. Arrive in Trinidad, check in at Hostal La Ronda and have dinner at Paladar La Marinera (included)

Friday, March 7 – City Tour of Trinidad, visiting Plaza Mayor, Torre Manaca Iznaga and Canchanchara Bar. FREE EVENING.

Saturday, March 8 – Leave Trinidad and return to Havana. On the way we will visit Santa Clara and the Mausoleum of Che Guevara and El Tren Blindado. Check in at the hotel again and relax before the evening show at Hotel Nacional – La Parisien (included)

Sunday, March 9 – After breakfast, fly back to Merida (or transfer to Veredero for those travelling to Canada).

NB…Breakfasts are included EVERY day! Other surprises await…

As noted in the previous posts, I will start posting the serious info about the places we will be visiting which appear in bold print above fyi…), what you need to bring, what things are good to bring for non-cash tips etc. If you have any specific questions send them to us and we will post both the questions and the answers starting after Christmas.

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