Since we last left you, we sampled many different rums at a Ron Legendario outlet in Havana (see the header of this post) and then sailed by Cemetery Colon (and, “No” Columbus was not buried there!) –
and headed for lunch at La Mina Restaurant.
While we were lunching we had mentioned to our new guide that we would like to have dinner at a ‘paladares’ in Havana that night if possible. Paladar (plural: paladares) is a term used in Cuba to refer to restaurants run by self-employers. Mostly family-run businesses, paladares are fundamentally directed to serve as a counterpart to state-run restaurants for tourists seeking a more vivid interaction with Cuban reality, and looking for homemade Cuban food. He knew such a place and while Sergio went off to get us tickets to the Buena Vista Social Club Show at Cafe La Taberna for this evening,l our guide took us by the paladar to check it out. When we saw La Calesa Real, we had no doubt this is where we wanted to have dinner before the show. Walking back to the hotel, we checked out a local grocery store – Harris Brothers -to see where some Cubans shop – a far cry from Safeway or SuperStore in Canada!
Some of us went off to shop, while others headed directly back to our hotel. Our guide came back to get us and we went off for dinner at the paladar we had seen in the afternoon – Can you say “lobster”? The ambiance was further enhanced by the musicians who serenaded us.
Dinner complete, we made our way to Cafe La Taberna for the show. For those unfamiliar with Buena Vista Social Club, here is a Wikipedia link –http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buena_Vista_Social_Club. Sergio had managed to get us seats with a great view of the taberna and the orchestra below. The mojitos were darn good too! Towards the end of the performance we were all up dancing…. guess who?
For a sample of the music check out this link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiDBD-YN6z8
Indeed, this was a highlight of the first few days in Havana!
Cuban Odyssey 