Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Cuba just got a little bit closer
Maybe because it is considered the forbidden fruit, I’ve always wanted to visit Cuba.
Maybe because it is considered the forbidden fruit or maybe because I’d desired to see a Communist country, either way, I’ve always wanted to visit Cuba.
Si, dreams sometimes become reality!
Since it was hurricane season, cruise prices were dirt cheap and we hopped aboard a ship out of Miami. We visited Havana for one day of the cruise.
There were no restrictions and the cruise line made it easy and prepared a visa for us.
We walked 5 or 6 miles past amazing architecture. Some buildings were crumbling, but most were glorious. The colors were Caribbean and Central American, and the buildings had the feel of European capitals.
We drank in two bars and a hotel where they told us Hemingway had bent an elbow. Is this Cuba’s version of “George Washington slept here?”
Sorta cute that we chased the memory of an American on our trip to Cuba.
Heavy sugar coated and saturated the bottoms of drinks. We sipped from straws so as not to miss much of the sweet stuff.
The embargo started in 1959. Pre-embargo American cars were still all in great shape and mostly dated to the fifties and forties. We rode in a pink ‘51 Chevy convertible. The cabbie opened the hood to show us what he said was the original engine.
Eighty percent of the cars were 60 years old, but we did see a BMW, several Russian cars and many Hyundais. With the vintage cars, it felt like a movie set, but it’s all real.
Water splashed the sidewalk as we traveled along the Malecon by cab. We drove along an esplanade and roadway, while cruising alongside a seawall that stretches along the coast.
The cabbie slowed and weaved while describing points of interest along the way. We experienced one of the world’s classic views.
Almost every car had tricked out horns, which we first heard from high above while we perched on the cruise ship’s bow before we even were secure at the pier. Cubans know how to have fun.
In a weird twist, we learned that there are two separate currencies in Cuba. One is reserved for tourists and the other is mostly used by Cubans. We were short changed twice since the currency was not valued equally. Live and learn.
Si, it’s just the cost of traveling and didn’t stop us from having a good time.
I received a cute little coin the color of a penny but only half the size. And you can’t take Cuban money from the country or exchange American for Cuban before getting off the ship. It’s a bit of a hassle trying to end up at zero Cuban dollars in your pocket, without running out early, when returning to the ship.
We tipped the third cabbie of the day, who dropped us off at the ship, probably more than he’d expected.
We’d read that Cubans everywhere would take Canadian dollars or Euros but quickly learned that the American dollar worked just fine and was often the preferred currency.
We celebrated Cuban art at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana where I found that many Cuban artists favor depicting mouth and teeth in interesting ways.
We ate shrimp and rice for lunch and delicious beef and mashed potatoes on the Old Square for dinner. Although I don’t smoke, I just had to bring home some Cuban cigars.
Si, Cubans like their sugar. We bought heavily sugared wafers from a woman on the street. The goodies tasted a little like fresh frosted flakes on steroids.
We watched kids exercise at recess on a square and it felt like they put on a show just for tourists like us.
Due to the embargo, toilet paper is tough to come by and we carried our own. From inside the men’s room, a female bathroom attendant offered me T.P. and pointed to the sink after squirting soap into my hands. She then handed me paper towels to dry off. Yes, I tipped her well for going above and beyond.
The pocket parks were green and lush — si - this is the Caribbean after all. We couldn’t use our cellphones (which is a nice change) but learned anyway that the temperature was 31 degrees C.
Jeez, it’s another world. I don’t know what that temperature was when converted to Fahrenheit, but it was steamy, and few places were air conditioned.
“Cuba is hot,” our cab driver said, with a smile.
Dogs and cats were everywhere. They even slept peacefully in the streets and we were careful to let sleeping dogs lie.
I made friends with one particular pooch and although I didn’t feed him, he followed me around.
People were warm and friendly. We didn’t talk politics and simply enjoyed the moment. A guidebook had warned us that Cubans could get into big trouble for saying anything negative.
We tried to enter a fort but were turned away; it was actually a police station. We did visit another fort and heard a cannon roar at 9 p.m. At one time, the cannon shot signaled the posting of a chain across the water to prevent bad guys from entering Havana from the sea.
There were no bad dudes on this trip.
Si, I’d go back again. It is so close by. It’s a delight with those wonderful people, cool cars, great art and all that sugar! Why not take two trips of a lifetime? Going there is no longer forbidden.