Cuba part 1 - Havana

May 15, 2023

Cuba part 1 - Havana

As some of you might know, number one on my travel bucket list was for a long time Cuba. I could not say when it started and why(I guess in some strange way it reminds me of my home town which also has lots of crumbling buildings and a feeling like the past was the golden age).

I could try to explain what my first impression of Cuba was, but I think Cuba cannot be explained, you need to go and see for yourself, it’s for sure worth it! I loved it and I‘ll be back to also explore the east of the island.

I spent the first three days of a two week trip in Havana. I guess the first things that I noticed, besides the Oldtimers, was the nice warm weather at 22:00 o‘clock and the lush green vegetation which I would not necessarily expect in a place which is so hot. In all the writings I read about Cuba, everyone mentions the friendly weather and the lush vegetation, and I must totally agree. Being in Europe where it rains since one week sure makes me miss the cuban sun even more.

Also you cannot ignore the fact that time flows in a Caribbean relaxed way and there is no hurry for anything on the island.

The first morning in Havana started with this view from the hotel, which is not the worst way to start a day.

We then had a tour of the old colonial squares of the town.

It‘s as beautiful and colorful as one could imagine.

Hemingway used to live in Cuba and there he wrote „The old man and the sea“. On the right, the hotel where Hemingway used to stay:

And here he used to enjoy Mojitos(lots and lots of them apparently):

Although life for locals seems to be tough, there is music and dance everywhere:

We „learned“ to dance Salsa( at La Casa del Son) and although I am not a good dancer, I had lots of fun! The teachers were really good and everyone got an experienced dance partner(I even got one which is taller then me, very rare thing):

We did a cooking course(at Cafe Solas) which I loved, and I ate some things I did not try before: malanga and fried plantains. Super delicious! We learned to cook some traditional cuban dishes like ropa vieja.

Then we did a tour of the town with old-timers. At this point I need to mention that I really liked the cuban people, the dance teachers, the cooks, the drivers of the cars, all were very friendly and fun and answered our thousand questions we had. Not to mention our tour guide which was with us for a week and did the best job ever!

Afterwards we had a cocktail course so now I know how to prepare mojitos, daiquiris and Cuba libres. Cocktails are plenty and cheap in Cuba.

There are also lots of guavas in Cuba. We had lots of guava everything, like guava smoothies in this picture, but my opinion is firm: guava tastes of nothing but has a pretty color.