Cuba in a month today! Any tips?...

[Deano]

Sounds bloody excellent!

[Robusto]

Guys.

I'll try and make this the last-ish post on my visit.
I did keep a detailed journal for the week. I always do for great holidays.

Big T - My Humidoro seven drawer humi is as rammed as it has ever been and I am happy. I will look at the box labels when I get home some time.

Ryan - I would give an absolute green light to the Parque Central. Have confidence. It's comfortable. It has a good lobby. It has a casa del habano.

The casa was reasonably well stocked and great for singles. Great staff and a fabulous floppers' lounge if you wanted to smoke one off in their premises. I usually smoked in the hotel lobby. The Partagas factory is ten minutes' walk away and is like a sweet shop! Take your pick - but be prepared for cigar street hassle as you approach Partagas. It was quite extraordinary! Vociferous liggers "with Partagas ID papers" on the very steps of the factory! Hassle City!

We avoided the Steak House at the Parque because it seemed VERY pricey and too European. The breakfasts in the deal we had were absolutely fantastic. Very European, I guess - hotel previously German-owned, now Spanish-owned - but I am a FANATIC FOR FRUIT and wanted to eat loads out in Cuba... and I'm pleased to say I ate loads of fruit I had never eaten before and am now as happy as Larry. The breakfasts also kept my meat eater side thrilled as well. Top marks to the hotel.

I didn't try any custom rolled cigars. We could have headed over to Vinales (where I think Craig got some fresh ones in his write-up) and been treated to that, but decided to walk all over Havana off the tourist routes instead. I got two cigars shoved in my pocket (see earlier) but I dumped those close to the Hotel Nacional fearing they might explode.

ACMCC

Food - Well catered for in the hotel. Plenty of restaurants at low prices. Simple menus in the streets invariably accompanied with rice, black beans. Meat usually chicken or pork. Fairly simply cooked. In other words, not top top cuisine choices, really. In our homestay, we had the same essentials listed plus MASSES of fresh fruit (this in Trinidad, btw), plus red snapper (delicious), lobster, prawns. GREAT bread in Cuba, we thought, and in the homestay lots of eggs and omelettes. The freshness of the eggs and bread was quite remarkable. Loads of restaurants in toutisty Havana with very similar menus. In Trinidad, I thought there was a bit more variety, but we mostly ate at home.

FANTASTIC music in both cities. Fantastic quality of musicianship. On squares. In streets. In bars. I recorded several on my phone camera. We have three mounds of pictures. I've put some on Facebook. I'll try and transfer them. SALSA everywhere - and no 'Western' pop music - which was brilliant!

I did indeed feel I might be robbed but will come back to that later. I'm slipping this out from time off at work.

[Deano]

It's funny, I was never hassled at all - one smoking lady wanted some coin for a pic, which I obliged to, and a couple of girls asked me if I liked girls (etc). Maybe I was fortunate!

[MaledettoToscano]

Thanks for sharing Robusto, a pleasure to read!

[Robusto]

Maybe this was because we went in Autumn, Deano?
Or maybe I have a tattoo that says TARGET FOR A SCAM on my forehead?
I really don't know!

I think we did benefit from going at the end of October. The plane flights were rammed, btw. We were often four people with perspiration on our faces in a crowd with no trace of facial beading. I mean we had beautiful artistic droplets. Not barrel-loads above the eyebrows.

I have to say my sense of being unsettled started on the coach ride in from Havana airport to Havana city centre late at night. I am just not used to seeing hundreds of people sitting outside near midnight at home. (My family thought I was over the top about being concerned about this, btw). I stress that I did not let this lead me to the conclusion that I might be mugged. One quick incident over MONEY FOR BABY turned tinily unpleasant, and where most scammers just gave up if ignored, one family kept the heat up a bit, stirring their kids to show 'tude (as my sons sniggered later).

I did tell my boys and wife that they were not to wander off willy-nilly. I don't often put my foot down in any way, but my "just in case" antennae were erect.

I've had Army training (no joke) and I do tend to be on amber or red alert whenever I leave my front door. Fuck - It's not the set of 28 Days Later in Cuba or in the UK. I am simply a very cautious man, and the number of confident approaches by strangers in the street made me jump to Possible Mugging Scenario Mode. And I felt that in Havana and Trinidad on several occasions.

My boys are 6'2" and 6'4". I am 6'.
I saw this as an attraction AND a deterrent.
And all the Cuban folk we spoke to as human beings were extremely friendly and inquisitive. They were particularly inquisitive about my boys' height. Basketball, and all that.

I'll shut up on that in case you think I'm a fascist bigot.
I refer you to my first post where I said this was not a place for the precious - and I really believe that. Shoot me down - but I say Stick Together.

And so, Nic, to the contrasts of city vs country.

The countryside was amazingly lush and green. We walked around Trinidad, and also made the to-and-fro drive by comfortable coaches for each five hour journey.

Road travel was interesting. Motorways were not crowded. People often blocked the first two lanes holding out banknotes to cadge a lift. Women would hold out baskets of fruit towards the passing vehicles. People parked at the side whenever. Our coach driver pulled over to buy a papaya from a guy who walked to the carriageway from a farm. Motorway stop-offs were remarkably good.

Smaller roads had us waiting behind horses, carts, tractors. Very much like south-east Kent in that sense. My journey to work in the morning, really.

We stayed with a nurse and she hit it off with us because that is my wife's profession, too. There was a tendancy to pre-arrange visits for us. (I sniffed friends of friends because I'm a cynic). I made my NO very clear to that from the outset, but still the 'man with the horses' arrived at the front door, and had to be told NO.

Homestay was overwhelmingly positive and friendly. We were well fed and well greeted.

Trinidad was just as hassling to tourists on foot - and I reckon we were a smaller number of targets than in Summer. We went to some great music bars in Trinidad. Just wonderful. If you go, the cobbled streets are very tiring indeed.

As a family, we have started taking tourist trails after years of resisting them. Although I worried about taking an old steam train from Trinidad up into the surrounding hills, it turned out to be a glorious thing to do. An open-sided carriage on a hot day up through all that fresh air (whilst enjoying a Partagas) in beautiful surroundings and then visiting an ex sugar plantation and reflecting on how crap it would have been for the African slaves chucked in there... Extraordinary.

And what beautiful countryside!

The same goes for the beach we visited at the Ancon peninsula where we all melted into the beautifully warm water or lolled around under the palms with coconuts on the beach. Hardly another person there. Just glorious.

So. Without developing this into a ceaseless life-story...

Would I recommend Cuba for a visit?
A thousand times YES.

What REALLY surprised you, Bryan?
The vehicles. The number of brand-new spanking great vehicles in Havana alongside old wrecks of cars, including many old Chevrolets, and so on. Alongside the rickshaws.

What else?
The fact that for a week I was so pleased not to be surrounded by the usual city stuff of Burger King, KFC, Starbucks... The fact there was hardly any advertising in the street,and certainly not for big companies. OK... Havana Club got through the net LOL... The fact that there were no places to buy a British newspaper, and that they weren't put out in the hotels. I realised this as soon as I got back and saw some shit about The Twins on the front of a newspaper... The way the satellite channels seemed really alien with their fixations on Dominos Pizzas, and so on...

I guess this touches on the philosophical differences between 'the West' and Cuba, in a way, though I never spoke to anyone about that. I kept it all up top with my red banded coitus. We all enjoyed the slogans for PATRIA O MUERTE etc on houses and walls, and had some wry observations about them.

Give one more example of what surprised you, Sir.

It has to be the contradictions.

You can sit on the steps of the Capitolo and look at Havana, or out of a hotel bedroom. You can see repaired and maintained buildings wedged in with totally decayed ones. Delapidation. I was surprised that the authorities would not have tried to window-dress their capital city a bit more. Maybe I have missed the point utterly?...

I was astounded at the main square with massive monuments and window-sides with illuminated faces of Che and Castro that there was a metal staircase down to a roadside with about seven metal steps all decayed away so that pedestrians had to jump a massive gap.

Somebody needs to deal with PR there. And around the place generally.

I just want to say - in my defence, chaps - I am an educated man who has travelled around most of Europe as well as the US, particularly New Mexico and Northern Mexico. I speak two other major European languages fluently.

I have no truck with racist generalisations. My observations on Cuba should not be seen in any dodgy way, therefore. Just the thoughts of a man who loved the odd cigar who had his 50th birthday treat pepped up in an amazing way. And went to Cuba partly because of the enthusiasm for all things Cuban gleaned through other folks' posts on this website.

I felt a duty in these rushed posts to reflect both sides of the coin - as I experienced it - to BOTL who might be thinking of visiting.

I'm quite prepared to be flamed, btw. I don't have all the answers!

Above all, do go and visit Cuba!

[Deano]

*sigh* you make this forum great Bry.

[Robusto]

PS This was better than doing the 'real' work on my desk this morning.

[Robusto]

*sigh* you make this forum great Bry.

Mate.

My desire to experience Cuba was brought on greatly by the fact that you created this site. You and other enthusiasts in this series of boxes on our screens got me more interested than I had been before.

If you ever feel like swapping inclinations, getting inventive and trying the red band coitus, just buzz me, buddy.

Harry The Hetero xxxxx

(Note - With no offence to any cigar kittens and ferrets anywhere at all).

[MaledettoToscano]

I have no truck with racist generalisations. My observations on Cuba should not be seen in any dodgy way, therefore. Just the thoughts of a man who loved the odd cigar who had his 50th birthday treat pepped up in an amazing way. And went to Cuba partly because of the enthusiasm for all things Cuban gleaned through other folks' posts on this website.

Robusto, I think you made your point of view very clear, and personally I see no generalisations or in no way does it seem you're trying to put things across in a dodgy way. At the same time I really appreciate that you are not candy coating your experience .

Heck, I would probably say half the things you have written here referring to the place where I spent almost 20 years of my life, Naples (Italy not Florida )... a place where you should always have your antennas turned on !

[Nuno Sa]

I?m devouring this posts as i have the intention of visiting Cuba perhaps in 2010.

Great writing Bryan, i do now what you mean and felt, i visited Morocco for three times now and i now who to deal with the locals who are experts in making a living by any means necessary, life is hard in this country's, but they are so good for a nice holidays.

Socialism such a beauty full utopic ideology trampled by human nature every ware.

[Robusto]

I have to say, guys, that I kept thinking about what Cuba has got - and what Cuba has not got.

I have to say even if North Korea had excellent cigars, I wouldn't pop there.

It has made me examine the fact that I am a massive news-hound and listen constantly to Radio 4 all day long.

This morning I switched the news off. That's unusual for me.

I am left-of-centre in my thinking, btw.
Very nice with it. Not too chain-sawed.

[PoohBore]

I've enjoyed your posts immensely. Perhaps your stetson flagged you as an affluent tourist ? I had one of the guided day trips to havanna and we had the dilapidation pointed out to us but it was followed up with renovation works are slowly starting. Obviously slower in that part of the world..

I can't wait now for April to come round and get on the plane. btw need to see some photos of the cigars

[Robusto]

Next stop some bright red ring snaps.
I'll see if I can do it!

[Ryan]

Great reports Robusto, thanks for all the info.
I'm looking forward to my trip more than ever now. Good to hear you had such a good time.
Last questions, is there anything you didn't have you, that you couldn't get there and that you wish you had brought? Small bottle of Tabasco for example? Or anything you wish you had brought for the people you met?

[peanutpete]

thanks for the posts Robusto, i have enjoyed reading them enormously i love the the way you told it just the way you saw it, the good and the bad