Grand Circle Foundation in Cuba
On our own in Florida keys
Trip highlights
included
-bicycle cab ride in Camaguey March 23
- saw 3 ballet rehearsals
- visited King cattle ranch (March 24) outside and employee village Camaguey- drought
- Burial place and monument of Che Guevara
- visit cigar factory-Camajuami (March 26)
-visit Matanzas baseball stadium (March 28)
-1 night stay (March 28) at Varadero beach resort – Chuck
snorkeled
-visit Spanish built big fort at mouth of river in Havana
-good weather whole trip – when really hot was in air
conditioned bus or under a shade
Tree. 1 hour of rain on April 1 in Old Havana.
-1958 Plymouth sedan with fins 15 minute
ride in Remedios (Sun March 26th)
-1952 Plymouth convertible car ride inn town and along the
water front in Havana, last
night in Havana
-4 nights in Key Largo, Fl where Chuck snorkeled
-1 day trip to Key West – Truman’s summer White House and
Hemingway’s house
Day by Day
Tue March 21 - LAX
to Miami
Up at 5am; cab at 5:40am to LAX. Light traffic to
airport. Checked bags; went through TSA
– not much line. Plane departed 8am PT. had ½ sandwich on the plane. Arrived
Miami 4pm ET. Took ½ hour to get bags.
Took shuttle on our own to Sheraton airport Hotel. No one from Grand Circle was expected to meet
us at the airport and they didn’t. Checked
in resort-got room 703 overlooking the golf course, not the airport.
Had an hour outside at the pool reading. Hot in the sunshine, but very pleasant in the
shade-mid 70s. Read book. Dinner at hotel – onion soup + calamari. Spotted another Grand Circle Foundation
traveler in our group. Joyce Kay from West LA shared our table for dinner. Back
to room at 8:20pm.
Wed March 22-
Miami to Camaguey, Cuba
Up at Sheraton Miami airport. Had breakfast at hotel - $20 for full buffet
for Chuck and $15 for no bacon or eggs continental breakfast for Marilyn.
Morning briefing at 10 am for an hour at hotel with Grand
Circle rep named Nicki. She was very
informative. To lobby at 11:15am. Depart for airport at 11:30am. Lunch on our own. Got to gate at 1:45pm. 2:40pm announced
departure; didn’t depart until 3:10pm.
Fuel gauge not registering. Full
plane.
Arrived 5pm. Went through customs and immigration – passport
stamped. Tour director Aniel Villasante
(cell 53-52543328) was at the airport. 20 minutes in air conditioned bus to
hotel. ½ hour welcome briefing with OJ + rum on 4th floor dining
area of hotel Encanto Santa Maria in Camaguey. About 340,000 people live in
Camaguey, 3rd largest city in Cuba and 700,000 live in the area. Our
room on 4th floor. 1 elevator goes only to floors 2 + 4; a separate
elevator in another part of hotel goes to 3rd floor.
Camaguey was originally a port town founded in 1514. Within
14 years, city was moved inland to stay away from marauding pirates (notorious
privateer Sir Henry Morgan once sacked Camaguey.)
City has labyrinthine streets and narrow squares originally
meant to confuse the pirates. City has a lovely mix of colonial homes and
plazas in its well preserved historical center which is a UNESCO World Heritage
site.
Brief walk to dinner in small family-run restaurants.
Our hotel Encanto Santa Maria was in the central part of the
city. Old hotel – guessing may have been built in the 1920s. Very high
ceilings. Our room was on the 4th floor. Comfortable. Easy to change US dollars into Cuban money at
front desk. Set exchange
Rate in the whole country less 13.3% exchange fee.
Thur. March 23 –
Camaguey
Up at 6:45am; Chuck had a headache probably from the 2
glasses of wine he had for dinner last night. Breakfast at 7am. so-so breakfast
mango + papaya fruit, cereal, mango juice – no bananas. Depart 8:30am
Took local bicycle rickshaw taxi to navigate the twisting
lanes of Camaguey from 8:30am to noon with many stops.Cobblestone streets. Went
to shops of several artists –
(1)
bronze studio-statues of gossiping women in square
(2)
wood working music boxes
(3)
leather sculpted works-masks+faces of artist known as
Pepe
(4)
Plaza San Juan de Dios
(5)
Workshop of 2 painters – Magdiel Eduardo Rosales – paint
on canvas - pop, Elvis, Elton John, Spanish, European, and Africana. Hugh
gallery room of front room of house; wood ceiling
(6)
Visited workman square
(7)
Visited Camaguey theater built in 1926
(8)
Visited studio of Joel Jover and his wife Ileana
Sanchez, 2 of Cuba’s most prodigious contemporary painters. Wife had her neck in a soft brace located
right off the square a short walk from our hotel.
Lunch – so-so cheese soup, ham and
cheese sandwich, flan for dessert + lemonade
Back to hotel ½ hour break. Left at 2:15pm for
Camaguey Arts School – teach ballet, drama and painting. Principal gave us a
tour. We saw a rehearsal of ballet
students ages 9-16. 206 students in the school of which 92 board M-Friday.
Back at the hotel at 4pm. Do
laundry.
Met at 6:30pm. Short drive to
Restaurante Rocola Club – located in a private home in a suburb of Camaguey
between the historic city center and the airport.
Friday March 24 –
Camaguey + King Ranch excursion
Up at 7am. Shower – no hot water. Breakfast 7:45am. Depart
9am. Short walk to En Dedans dance company to view a rehearsal. Dancers ages 17
to 40 with 3 age 30 and above. This company had traveled to Fire Island in
Brooklyn and given performances.
Then short ride to Casanova Pottery studio that makes
“tinajones”, the famous large red pots found outside homes. Father (early
70s) and son (mid -40s) demonstrated how
to make a small clay pot using 2
different potter’s wheels – one manual where you use your foot to turn the
wheel and the other wheel was run by a small motor. They had a kiln to
fire the pots with colors. And of course the obligatory gift
shop to buy their pots.
Then drove 1 ¼ hours in bus to King ranch – originally owned
and run by the Texas King Ranch family.
Gov’t confiscated the ranch when Fidel came to power. Area has had a bad
drought the past 3 or 4 years. Only have
4-6000 head of cattle on the ranch, down from 20,000 due to drought and less
efficient gov’t management of the ranch.
Had lunch at the ranch – pork and rice and beans with rice
pudding. 3 musicians - drums, flute and
guitar played soft music while we ate.
Went outside to corral and had short demonstration by Cuban
cowboy of calf roping and bull riding – 1 rider on 1 bull; and 1 rider roping 1
calf. Then took horse drawn carts a ways
down the road to a village where the ranch employees live. 200 people live there now, down from 400 a
few years earlier before the drought.
Visited one village home – primitive wood structure; kitchen
area had ice box and stove. Didn’t see bathroom, so maybe they have an outhouse. Older woman lived there. She did tap into
electricity. She said she needed a new roof.
She had snacks and some kind of drink (mango?) in her back
yard for us. 1 or 2 big shade trees
which was welcome as the afternoon had grown a little warm.
1 ¼ hour bus ride back to town. Not much to see. Land very
dry. Few cars on the highway. Arrive back at the hotel at 5:20pm.
In lobby at 6:20pm.
We walked a few blocks down narrow streets to an Italian
restaurant. Lots of bicycle cabs in the
narrow streets.
We shared a pizza and shared a salad and chuck had a beer
all for $8.55 including tip. Several
other members of our group ate at the same restaurant and had too much food as
the plates are very large. One person
(Christine Stockton) thought she ordered pepperoni and she got red peppers on
her pizza. So sent it back for to add pepperoni.
Sat March 25 –
Camaguey to Remedios
Up at 6:45am, breakfast. Took bags down. 8:15am in lobby.
Depart 8:30am from eastern Cuba to more central Cuba for town of Remedios. Drive to 1pm with 1 20 minute rest stop.
Dozed on bus. Drove by small houses in
small downs. Horses pulling cards and people.
Very few cars. Gas was $4/liter which is expensive for Cubans.
Landscape changed from very dry and flat to crops growing
and green and tall Royal Palm trees.
Upon arrival had lunch in ground floor restaurant of Hotel Camino
Del Principe right on the main town square. For lunch had tuna, cucumber,
mango, ham and cheese.
Remedios was founded in 1513 and is one of Cuba’s oldest
settlements. Central compact square is Plaza Marti. On the square is a late 18th
century church, Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, whose interior features a baroque
altar clad in gold and a clearly pregnant Madonna statue that is said to be the
only sculpture of its kind in Cuba.
Remedios is known for hosting Las Parrandas, a lively street
festival of parties and religious carnivals that take place throughout the
holiday season. Went to the studio of a
parrandas designer (like a Rose Bowl float designer). Saw his designs for
floats from prior years.
Then went to a large warehouse where the floats are actually
built and stored when not in use. Since it’s off season, the men there were
playing dominos. The floats are mainly
built of wood, styro-foam and lights and can cost up to $40,000 each. Each float has 4 trades – carpenters,
electricians, decoration and painters. No flowers on the floats and they try
and reuse parts of the floats from year to year to hold down costs.
The town has 2 rival teams that make floats. Half of the
city lives in the “rooster” section of town and the other half is the “hawk”
section. The floats are kept secret
until finally unveiled. Then the whole
town votes on which is the better float. It sounded like there was fireworks
and lots of partying during parrandas.
Back at hotel at 4pm. Checked in. sat for 30 minutes under a
shade tree in the plaza across the street and watched the people go by. Got cleaned up.
At 7pm walked 2 blocks on cobblestone streets to a private
residence which had a restaurant on the ground floor including a pool in the
middle of the back yard. Beautiful food
layout including a roast pig, salad, yucca, rice (always), beans and chocolate
eclairs for dessert. 3 person musical group – lady singer, and 2 guitars
performed for us while we ate.
Our hotel room was directly over the main hotel entrance. It
was Sat. night. There was loud live music playing from 9:15pm to 10:20pm right
below us.
Up at 6:50pm. Shower. Breakfast. Had good crispy bacon.
Depart 8:45am. Drove to town of Santa Clara, capitol of the province. Visited
railroad track where Ernesto “Che” Guevara and the gurerrals stopped a train of
President Batista’s that led to Fidel and Che liberating the city of Santa
Clara in December 1958. over throwing the Batista regime. It led to Batista
fleeing the country.
Sunny day all day.
Drove a short way to the mausoleum and museum for Che. Che’s
remains were recovered from Bolivia and reburied in a mausoleum here in 1997
along with 23 of his men that were killed at the same time. Che’s remains are buried in a small square of
the wall. He was killed in an ambush in Bolivia.
Lunch was at a local paladar (private residence) we had too
much food – fish and pork and chicken and birthday cake – noon-2pm in an
upstairs restaurant. Had 2 sangrias at
lunch. Short walk to Santa Clara large
main square. Former Hilton hotel on the square.
Sat in plaza for ½ an hour and watched the people go by.
Drive back to Remedios. Quick visit to inside the church on
the square. Church built in 1544.
Back to hotel. Walked 2 blocks to Driver’s Bar where drivers
of 1950s old cars hang out and swap stories, parts and know-how. Had a mojito. Got 10 minute ride in 1958
grey Plymouth with tail fins. Driver was named Armando. Chuck went for a second ride in a different
red car. Tipped each driver $5 for gas money.
Back to hotel. Got cleaned up.7pm met and walked 3 blocks in
a different direction for dinner – upstairs in someone’s home. Small dining
room. I had fish; Chuck had fajitas. And ice cream and flan for dessert.
Monday March 27 –
Remedios, explore Camajuani + Caibarien
Up at 6:45am. Breakfast. Depart 8:45am for nearby town of
Camajuani about ½ hour away. Visited the Tabacuba tobacco factory where hand
rolled Cuban cigars are made. Watched some of the workers make the cigars. Very manual process. 60% of workers are women. A good worker can
do 120-150 cigars/day depending on size of cigar. Hand rolled cigars provide a
more even smooth smoke. You don’t inhale
cigar smoke. Saw 2 different quality control stations – outside cigar appearance
and inside cigar moisture content. Tobacco leaves grown locally. Because of the constant manual labor to roll
the cigar, workers often get carpal tunnel in their hands. No cigars sold at the factory. Have to go to
a retail store.
Then drove back toward Remedios and boarded a train for the
tourists to go from Remedios 15 minutes to the next town where a former sugar
mill had been turned into a museum called Museo de Agroindustria Azucarero. The museum focuses on the histories of slave
culture, the sugar industry and pre-diesel locomotives that once transported
sugar cane to local factories. The mill had opened in the 1890s with American
Equipment and closed in 1999. At the
turn of the century there were 156 sugar mills; now there are 56. Local guide at the museum had worked at the
sugar mill as an engineer until it closed.
Then drove to a seaside town of Caibarien, a small coastal
town noted for its fishing fleet, fresh crabs and sandy beaches. Had lunch of fish and chicken and rice and
beans and plantains and salad. Drove
along the seashore. Sunny day. Could see
a bridge between two islands.
Back to the hotel around 3pm. Free time 3pm-5pm. Read in room. Put feet up.
Had 1 hour salsa lesson from 5:15pm -6:10pm. For $14 Cuban
money for the 2 of us. Learned 4 steps –
(side to side, front to back, back to front and spin.
Around 6:10pm, walked over to a building on the main square
where there was a performance of Cuban music and dance in the Santeria fashion
– a Cuban religion about saints. Very strange dance movements and
singing/chanting. At one point one of the dancers took the purse of one of our
tour members and gave it to me. This is all part of their religion. Bright colored costumes; good strong African
drum beat. We left after ½ hour.
Walked a block to the same restaurant we went to on Sat.
night – Restaurante La Estancia. Lobster dinner. Food was good.
Back to hotel. Found
ants on the bathroom floor that had a trail past the closet with the safe out
to the outdoor balcony. Didn’t call the
front desk. Just cleaned the ants up and went to bed.
Tuesday March 28 –
Remedios to Matanzas
Up at 6:30am. Shower; bags out at 7am. Departed at
8:15am. Had to turn back after 20
minutes – one of tour members (Henry + Jean) their luggage didn’t make it on
the bus. They neglected to point to their bags to have the porters load
them.
Drove 3 hours to the west to town of Jovellans, a town in
Matanzas province. Visited the Finca Luna farm. Had 20 minute tour of farm –
cashew trees, mangos, guava, coffee plants and some small local animals. Seemed
well managed and thriving.
They had a nice buffet outdoors lunch area. Lots of variety
– chicken, pork, fish, rice, beans, yuccas and mojitos.
Then took bus another 1 ½ hours to town of Matanzas. Stopped
to see the oldest continuously utilized baseball diamond in the Western
Hemisphere – Palmeras de Junco. One former Cuban baseball player from the
1960s, named Rodriguez Gia talked to us for 10 minutes about the park and Cuban
players. About 6-8 young men were
working out on the field taking batting practice. Cuban players include current
Dodger Ysiel Puig.
Chuck got a turn at bat - hit 3 balls - as did Glen Weber
(the vet) and Bill Streitz.
Kept driving another hour to the north coast to a resort area
named Varadero. It is on a small peninsula. Beautiful white beach with umbrellas and shade
for the hot sun. It’s a resort town so
many many hotels in the area.
With tour directors help, we changed rooms from 1st
floor to 4th floor to get a room with a view of the golf course
rather that our first room that looked at most of a wall and a tiny peak of
ocean. View of sand was blocked by hotel wall.
Walked down to beach area.
Watched 2 wind surfers – one was very good and the other one seemed to
be learning and fell a lot. Sunny warm
day. Blue sky. Had welcome drink.
People staying at resort on vacation – shorts, flip flops,
sun glasses and beach towels.
Walked back toward hotel, had drink with 6-8 of our tour
group. Changed into shorts and nicer shirt.
Went downstairs for dinner – very extensive buffet, 5 or 6 serving stations
– whole section of salads, fresh grilled beef, pork, chicken or fish, pizza,
pasta, veggies, sushi, fruit, cheese and chocolate cake and 4 flavors of ice
cream. Really good. Sat with 2 other couples – Christine and Bill
from Roseburg, Ore, and Henry and Ginny from Wisconsin.
Back to the room at 8:45pm. Read.
Wed. March 29 –
Matanzas to Havana
Chuck was up 6:30am and swam in Melia Las Americas hotel
pool for 45 min. Back to room and we
went to breakfast. Sunny day. Low 80s temperature. We were at the beach by 9am.
Marilyn sat in a comfy chair and read a book and looked at the beautiful beach
– white sand, blue sky, aquamarine water color, no waves.
Chuck went for a 1 hour snorkel ride on a catamaran ($20
cost) with Micki from Concord, CA and Sarah (Rockport, MA.). Chuck said there were lots of fish. Boatman
gave them food for the fish who clustered nearby. Chuck deed a circle route under water and the
fish followed.
Back to the room by 11am. Showered. Cold water again. Put
bags out by noon. Had lunch at 12:30pm
when restaurant opened.
Boarded bus 1:30pm. Drove 45 minutes to “Anne’s “house a
practioner of the African-rooted religion better known as Santeria. Matanzas is the birthplace of Regla de Ocha,
the religion known as Santeria. The religion believes in saints and no Gods.
Lots of saints from the early former African slaves. Santeria is the 2nd
most popular religion in Cuba after Catholicism. Large house. First room had several chairs and
cabinet. Next room was her shrine to
Santeria – religious figures, misc. ribbons, fabric, photos, and flower vases -
all in 2 or 3 unorganized piles. We were
there 45 minutes and I thought it was a waste of time.
Drove 2 more hours or 170 miles to Havana. Staying at Hotel
Nacional de Cuba, built in the 1920s. All the former Presidents and movie stars
stayed at this hotel in the 1950s. We were in room 859. Breakfast and the place
where you change money was on 6th floor. Tour groups eat on the 6th
floor.
Met in lobby at 6:50pm. Walked 2 blocks for orientation walk
for 2 blocks. Tour Director pointed out street grid – letters of the alphabet
and street numbers. We were near 21st
St and M (I think).
Drove to within 2 blocks of restaurant/photo studio. Photographer Raul Baptiste Castro has a
studio that is also a restaurant. Good dinner – shrimp, chicken, mixed meat,
rice, banana chips and guava apple sauce dessert. After dinner we were a captive audience for a
45 minute talk and slide show by the photographer. Some nice photos including one of a hugh wave
coming into the Havana harbor and breaking higher than the light house.
Returned to the hotel by 9:45am.
Thur. Mar. 30 –
Havana
Up at 7am. Breakfast area was crowded with another Grand
Circle Foundation group. Changed $20 US into 17.45 Cuban cucs. Heard a 1 hour talk by the founder of Malpaso
dance company, a private dance company.
He said there are many dance companies in Cuba. There are 3 kinds of
dances – religious, social and artistic. His dance company is artistic.
Sunny day. Warm.
Left hotel to go see a dance rehearsal and on the way
stopped at Revolution Square for 15 minutes. Largest square in Havana. All major political speeches given there.
Fidel spoke there many times. One building on the square has an outline of Che
Guevara’s face. Very distinctive outline.
At the square were at least 20 vintage 1950s American cars –
many with pastel colors – red, pink, yellow. We took lots of photos of the
cars. Didn’t ride in the cars as no time and had already ridden in one in
Remedios.
Continued on our way Jewish Center which has an auditorium
with a stage that the ballet company uses to rehearse. Our speaker from 9am today, the ballet
director was there for commentary. Saw a 45 minute rehearsal. 8 dancers were
ages 17-32. Danced in 2, 3s, 4 and
6. When their dance careers are over,
most hope to teach. They dance as long
as their body holds up.
Then drove to a wealthy suburb of Havana for lunch in the
backyard of a private home. Before lunch
had a brief talk about dominos and how you play. Good lunch – fish tacos or chicken, rice and
beans and ice cream.
Then paired up – 3 of us and 1 real domino player named
Carlos, age 73. So 4 of us played 3
hands of dominos. Lots of fun. The one
real player taught us the rules as we went along. Goal is to get rid of your
tiles.
Back to the hotel.
Sat out by the outdoor pool for an hour. Very pleasant outside. Got
cleaned up.
6pm met group. Heard 45 minute jazz concert in one of the
hotel meeting rooms. 3 musicians were 2 men on keyboard and trumpeter and a
lady on drums named I*ssy who was unbelievable.
She is age 29. Her father was a
drummer for Santana. I’ve never seen
anyone play drums with such a fast technique and pace. Very good at improvising.
She had a CD.
7pm left for dinner – lobster, pork and lamb, rice and
beans, guava apple sauce. Got a cake for Glen + Ginny as it was their 43rd
wedding anniversary.
Friday March 31 –
Havana
Up at 7am. Breakfast. 9am meet in hotel lobby. Went to
conference room in hotel. Had 1 hour talk by Univ. of Havana Music Professor,
Alberto Faya about Cuban music.
Fancinating. Mixture of Spanish
and African beats. When the slaves were brought over by the Spanish, the only
thing the slaves brought with them was
their music. The professor is also an accomplished singer with a good
voice. Very interesting lecturer.
The drove La Cabana, an 18th century hilltop
fortress built by the Spanish forts at the entrance to the Bay of Havana harbor.
Biggest fort built by the Spanish in North America – almost a mile long. Had 20
minutes free time to look at the view across the harbor of the city – you could
see our hotel and also the American Embassy.
One cruise ship anchored across the bay.
Then drove by capitol building and Batista’s former house,
now a museum for the Revolutionaries.
The building looked more modern with lots of glass windows.
The drove to Arte Corte project on the other side of the
port in an older section of town.
Art Corte helped transform the neighborhood. One individual
called Papito opened a barber shop over 15 years ago and the project continues
to grow to benefit the people in the neighborhood.
We were supposed to go visit a local school in Bar Alley,
but just inside the door they were washing the floor with a wet mop so they
didn’t want us to track dirt on their clean floor. So no school visit. We did visit a pocket park built by the Arte
Corte project for the neighborhood kids.
Several kids and their moms playing in the park.
Then walked down the street on Barbers Alley to The Arte
Corte hairdressing school – up 52 steep steps to second floor barber
school. Several 1950s barber chairs and
old metal hair dryers that covered your whole head. School is very popular with training barbers
and hairdressers. There is also a bar
tending school in the area that we didn’t see.
We had lunch in a
paladar (private residence) located in the Alley of the Barbers. Lunch was upstairs and it was nice and cool
compared to being warm outside. I had pumpkin soup, grilled white fish, rice
and ice cream. It was Barbara
Malterer’s birthday so we had cake.
Back to the hotel.
Sat 3pm. Sat out by pool 3:30pm
to 5:30pm. Sunny warm day but not hot.
Showered.
7pm to dinner on our own.
We sent 2 blocks from the hotel to a restaurant named 21. Ate with Jean
and Henry and Ginny and Glen. Back to
room by 8:45pm.
Up at 7am. Breakfast in 6th floor small dining
area for tour groups. Had real American bacon this am and bananas and fruit and
cereal.
9am met downstairs and then went to conference room. 1 ¼
hour talk by Jorge Mario, a Cuban economist who lives in Havana and teaches at
Univ. of Havana. US Embargo – often conflicting rules for Cuba trade. Cubans
had to learn to be innovators and entrepreneurs since didn’t have parts to keep
things running.
Left hotel at 10:30am; drove to old Havana arrived at
11:15am. It was raining. Walked around
for 45 minutes with tour guide Aniel. Narrow cobblestone streets. Old Havana is
a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Went to 3 squares. The first one had oldest church in Havana
so we stayed inside the church while it rained. Walked a few blocks to San
Francisco square – it stopped raining.
Walked by hotel painted pink where Ernest Hemingway lived from 1933-39
while writing For Whom the Bells Tolled.
Lots of people in the streets.
One corner had 6 or 7 people in colorful costumes dancing and playing
carnival music and asking for donations for their performance.
Tour guide turned us loose in Old Havana around noon. Went
to 2nd floor restaurant on the last square for lunch that wasn’t
very good – ham and cheese sandwich.
Walked around Old Havana for about an hour. Lots of people.
Many buildings off the main squares looked in need of exterior paint and/or
repairs. Streets too narrow for cars. People on bicycles and walking.
Restaurants with lots of people on the squares.
Took a taxi back to hotel for 10 cucs (US $10). Sat outside in the hotel patio and garden on
the ground floor under a covered patio and had a free mojito. From the patio
you could see the busy street next to the hotel and the ocean wall and the
ocean itself. Grey colored water due to rain clouds. On sunny days, lots of locals sit and talk on
the ocean wall.Rain really started to come down but we were ok under the
covered patio. People next to us from
Atlanta and Charlottesville, NC.
Back to room. 4:15pm. Showered and packed.
Met downstairs in lobby at 6pm. Heard 45 minute performance by Choro Vocal
Luna, the only all-female choir in Cuba.
They sang 3 or 4 songs and answered questions. Had 13 singers including
the leader. They sang in tune, in time and enunciated their words. Good performance. Difficult to find women singers with low
voices. The 4 women singers with the
deeper voices were all dark skinned – i.e. African ancestors.
Drove by bus to Starbien, a paladar in a restored colonial
mansion in the residential neighborhood of Vedado. I had filet mingnon. Chuck had lamb curry.
Chocolate pie for Chuck and chocolate ice cream (for Marilyn).
Surprise ride back to hotel was in a 1952 Pontiac
convertible with tail fins with Jorge as the driver. Jorge had a big Cuban
cigar (not lit) that he posed for photos in. We gave him a $5 US tip for a 30
minute ride back to hotel. He took our
picture.
Back to hotel at 9:30pm. Gave Aniel his tip. Finished
packing. Watched Oregon-UNC semifinal NCAA basketball game that UNC won to go
to the finals vs. Gonzaga who earlier beat South Carolina.
Sun. April 2
Havana to Miami, FL
Up at 4:50am. Finish packing. Check out of room at 5:15 am.
Luggage out.
Awful breakfast in downstairs cafeteria – cold processed ham
and rubber cheese sandwich coffee and pineapple juice.
Left hotel 6:15am. Half hour drive to airport. Half our line
to check in and get boarding pass. Said
goodbye to Tour Leader, Alein.
Pictures and videos to follow. double click on pictures to enlarge and have computer speakers on to view a video. Videos have an arrow in image:.
March 23, 2017 Fly to and visit Camaguey
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| Plaza San Juan de Dios |
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| Bicycle rickshaw taxi ride through city |
Camaguey Video Briefing:
o
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| Camaguey Theater built in 1926 |
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| Art Studio |
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| Lecture on Saturia |
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Restaurante Rocola Club located in a private home
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March 24, 2017
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Casanova Pottery studio
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| Mickie takes to the pottery wheel |
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| Tinajones of Camaguey |
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| King Ranch and Video: |
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| Actual egg laying hen during visit to King Ranch |
March 25, 2017
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| Pina Colada rest stop on drive to Remedios |
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| Cut coconut skins |
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| Plaza Marti in Remedios, founded in 1513 |
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| Introduction of Roa, Las Parrandas Float Designer |
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| Roa's Warehouse |
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| Dominoe Players in front of restaurant Las Estancias |
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| Private home and pool now Restaurant Las Estancias |
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| Excellent slab of Pork |
March 26, 2017
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| Lunch in town square |
| Site where Che Guevara stopped President Bautista's train and soldiers, liberating Santa Clara |
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| Panoramic Shot |
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| Mausoleum and museum for Che Guevvara |
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| Lunch in another private home converted to a restaurant |
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| Remedios Town Square |
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| Drivers Bar for Mojitos and later ride in 1958 Plymouth |
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| And don't forget the Mujitos' |
Video of drive in 1949 Dodge:
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Lobster dinner at Restaurant La Estancia- second dinner
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March 27, 2017
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Illicit picture taken outside Tabacuba cigar factory in Camajuani
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| 15 minute steam train ride to Museo de Agroindustria Azucarero former sugar can factory |
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| The only old style print shop |
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| Seaside town of Caibarien |
Cuban music and dance in the Santeria dances:
March 28, 2017
Drive from Remedios to Matanza
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| Finca Luna Farm |
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| Palmeras de Junco, oldest continuous baseball field in the Western Hemisphere |
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| Mantanzas Baseball Club Manager- a leftie presented with my old right handed mitt |
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| Chuck with Rodriquez Gia |
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| Chuck tries his hand at bat |
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| Varadero Resort Town and Beach Strip |
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| View from our room at Varadero hotel |
March 29, 2017 early morning to snorkel
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| Lunch time |
March 29 late afternoon drive to Havana
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| Smoggy Havana, home to 2 million |
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| Hotel Nacional de Cuba |
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| National Hotel |
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| Dilapidated homes down the street from hotel |
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| Sangria cocktail |
March 30, 2017
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| Founder of Malpaso Dance Company |
45 minute jazz concert in hotel. Drummer's father was a drummer for Santana:
March 31, 2017
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History of Cuban music by Alberto Faya
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Old Havana
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| Arte Corte hairdressing school and gallery |
April 1, 2017
Performance in hotel by Choro Vocal Luna, the only all-female choir in Cuba:
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| Seafarer Lodge Key Largo |
Day trip to Key West:
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| Hemmingway's studio where he wrote A Farewell to Arms, etc. |
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| Foot print of 6-toe cats still in residence |
Drive back to Miami with stop at Alligator Farm in Everglades National Park:
