Allen & Alison travel to Cuba and see the history, art, gardens, music, and mojitos of this unique country.
Havana
Activities
We traveled to Cuba on a People to People tour organized by a local language institute in Chapel Hill, NC. During our trip, in 2014, travel to Cuba for US citizens required a visa and one must travel with a tour group on a people to people experience. Today travel to Cuba by U.S. based travelers is still subject to certain restrictions of the US Government. Please look into those restrictions before booking travel.
Streets of Havana
Plaza Vieja
In Havana, Cuba’s capital, we walked around the Plaza Vieja, the main walk along the water/seawall, The Malecon. Cuba is known for its colorful historic buildings. There is a beautiful square with pigeons surrounded by many cafes, shops, and museums. This historic city has sections that have been renovated; however, much of the city is in disrepair. Cuba’s economy has suffered and the US tourism dollars will go far to help rebuild the city and country.
Tropicana Nightclub
We hired a classic 1950s cab to take us to a show at the historic Tropicana Nightclub and back. They greeted the women with a rose and the men with a cigar and each table got a bottle of rum! The club opened in 1939 and has an amazing history; they still do nightly cabaret shows. It was a fun night! Definitely recommend seeing this if you travel to Cuba.
Soroa Orchid Garden
We also visited a town, approximately 1 hr from Havana, Las Terrazas, to see the Soroa Orchid Garden. Beautiful orchids! It’s said to be the largest collection of orchids in the world. There are trails through the gardens to see all of the beautiful plants, flowers, trees, waterfalls, and birds.
Fusterlandia
We visited Fuster’s studio/home and the surrounding neighborhood. José Rodriguez Fuster, Cuba’s most celebrated ceramic artist, created an outdoor ceramic and tile mosaic fantasyland “Fusterlandia”. It was oh so very Dr. Seuss like! Whimsical! It was fantastic to see.
Restaurants
La Guardia in Old Havana
Food in Cuba was not to my liking. Most restaurants are government run and, well, far from tasty. Until recently, privately run restaurants were forbidden by law. A few paladars have begun to open up – a small restaurant in one’s home.
We ate at one of the more famous paladars ‘La Guarida‘ in Old Havana. The restaurant was located on the second floor of an absolutely amazing building – used in the Cuban film Fresa y Chocolate. To get to the restaurant, you enter into a dilapidated building and walk up a grand staircase to the second floor, passing by residential living quarters with drying laundry hanging in the stairwells/landings! The food was better than other eateries, however, not memorable, in my opinion.
El Floridita Cocktail bar
Walking distance from our hotel was the historic El Floridita Cocktail Bar. They’re famous for their daiquiris (yes, we had several) and complete with a statue of Ernest Hemingway at the end of the bar. It is said to have been one of Hemingway’s favorite bars in Cuba.
Hotel
Hotel Plaza
We stayed at the Hotel Plaza in the center of Havana. Like the saying ‘when in Rome….’, one must re-set expectations for a ‘nice’ hotel experience when traveling, especially travel to Cuba. This was an old, un-renovated hotel with a beautiful lobby. The rooms were questionable – bedspreads that looked like they were there when Fidel took over Cuba, threadbare towels, and non-reliable elevators. However, there was a fantastic mojito bar in the lobby and they also served great coffee.
Transportation
We were on a tour bus for much of the trip. When in Havana and had ‘free time’, we walked the city. Taxis are available. It’s quite an experience to negotiate the fare and be driven around in a ‘classic’ car. Cuba is of course known for its old cars, and they’re a sight many people travel to Cuba to see. (When Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 he banned car imports, so most all Cuban cars are 1950s models.)
Cienfuegos
Activities
Playa Giron Museum
We stopped at Playa Giron (the Bay of Pigs) museum. Very interesting! The museum had both English and Spanish plaques to read. Reading the Cuban perspective of the Bay of Pigs was quite different from the way I remember being taught in the US about the failed CIA military invasion. Cienfuegos is about a 3.5 hr drive from Havana.
Beautiful buildings in Cienfuegos
Restaurants
No memorable restaurants. We had lots of Bucanero beer, mojitos, and coffee. Cuban food was not my favorite, so I was glad I had packed a lot of granola bars. Keep this in mind and bring snacks when you travel to Cuba.
Hotel
Hotel Jagua
Our hotel in Cienfuegos, Hotel Jagua, was much nicer than the one in Havana. It was right on the water, and I went for a run one morning along the beautiful waterfront.
Day trip: Trinidad
From Cienfuegos we took a day trip to Trinidad. Trinidad was a charming town. Make sure to wear comfortable walking shoes as the cobble stone streets were actual STONES, not small cobbles!
Stone streets of Trinidad
Santander Family Ceramics Factory
Most interesting to me was the visit to the Santander family ceramics factory! It’s a family owned pottery studio dating back to the 1890s. They have beautiful art and it was fun to watch them work.
Workers in Trinidad
Fish carried through the streets of Trinidad
Tips for Travel to Cuba:
Visa – Visas are required for travel to Cuba. We got ours through the tour group. When we went, in 2014, US citizens were required to be on a people to people tour and the tour groups obtained the visas. Check the updated visa requirements for US citizens here.
Weather – We were there in January during which time Havana was experiencing a very cold snap. The US was experiencing record cold temperatures. I believe it’s best to travel to Cuba in the ‘non-rainy’ season – December through May.
Language – Spanish is the predominate language. Some people in Havana spoke some English, but in the country, very little English was spoken.
Health – It was recommended to drink only bottled water. (Or in my case, beer, and mojitos!) I also did not eat salad or some of the other meats served. Several on the tour did experience GI issues which probably were water /food related.
Internet access – At the time we traveled to Cuba, very few locations had internet capability. We were ‘off the grid’ for the entire time. One member of the tour did wait in line at the hotel for internet access – very expensive and took quite a long time to connect.
Currency/ATM access – There are two different currencies in Cuba – one for locals (the Cuban peco), and one for tourists (the CUC). We were told not to bring American dollars to the country as we needed to have Canadian dollars or Euros to bring in and exchange. We had Canadian dollars which we converted to CUCs. Unlike other countries I’ve visited, Cuba does NOT take credit cards and it’s not easy to get money from the banks/tellers. We only had the cash we brought and lived on a budget. There is also an ‘exit’ tax. I do not recall the amount, so make sure to set aside enough money to pay your exit tax!
Pollution – We were both impressed by the lack of trash everywhere. Other island countries we’ve been to have so much garbage all over. Though Havana pollution was tough to handle, and certainly was taking its toll on the buildings (and our lungs).
Other Travel Guides You Might Like:
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Cozumel & Progreso, Mexico – Fun & Food on a Carnival Cruise to Mexico
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA – Beaches and Lobsters: Cape Cod, Massachusetts
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