Cuba – Part 1

Cuba Blog Post #1

Thinking of visiting Cuba for the first time? Intimidated by the planning? Don’t worry we have you covered in our multi-part Cuba experience post.

Cuba has a history of refugees, dictators, architecture and beautiful music. It is a country just 90 miles from Key West Florida but has been off limits to the United States due to a variety of political reasons. So any have looked at to visit for years; because of curiosity; searching for family history and the mystery that is Cuba.

We have had the pleasure of traveling to Cuba twice since the travel ban was lifted for American residents.  During these visits I was able to travel once with my husband, going a bit more off the beaten path; and the second time we were able to bring our three year old son and my in-laws.

The first visit to Cuba was very much a learning curve due to the novelty of the trip and honestly still lack of information of the policies, procedures and availability. When doing travel preparation most of the research was from Canadian and European sources. Since this was such a unique situation we decided to have a much more freeform approach. With my husband I was able to explore down the secluded streets, walking past beautiful hotel lobbies that looked like time stayed still, and experience beautiful moments of cuban life.. The building and streets we explored have been preserved and never changed (as best as they could be). Walking down the streets we saw local artists working on the street creating their artwork, others were at the entrance of their homes. They made beautifully crafted wooden cars, animals and architectural replicas. My husband  snagged one of the cars for our son who loves all types of vehicles. We were also able to acquire a beautiful canvas painting of the Malecon, complete with the cars. These artist are very no frills and like many other destinations are open to bartering.

The vintage cars are the first things you notice when you step foot into Cuba and the most iconic. You may see a few up to date cars imported from china, but most of them are from the 1950’s. My favorite thing to do in Cuba hands down was hiring a car for the day with a driver and translator. We did this both with just my husband, and with our son and my in-laws. More on that to come in our blog on our Havana Car Tours.

During both of our visits one of the most memorable experience happened after the sun went down and the lights turned on in Havana. On our first trip, I have to be honest, I was a bit intimidated due to the language barrier and lack of information three years ago. Now there is a lot more information. During this first visit I was struck by the friendliness of the nightlife. It is some of the best in the world. You will be met by a low key and unique music filled experience.

On our second visit armed with more information from our first visit, my in-laws were gracious enough to watch our son and my husband and I went out do dive deeper into Havana. Cuba as a whole comes alive at night and should not be missed!. There is always music being played at a cafe’ or restaurant and from what we could tell, not a  bad musician in sight. We stopped at the Cafe’ Paris first where they had a band that was similar to the Mexican Mariachi style band playing. They were festive and definitely got the crowd going. Next we walked down the Malecon and went to La Cubana. This small restaurant was family run by an Aunt and Niece and couldn’t have been a nicer place to put up our feet and have some of the famed Pina Colada drinks. We met a few people from our cruise ship there and struck up some conversation. The Niece joined in the conversation and spoke of how she longed to be in America where the rest of her family was already residing This family was so proud of their establishment they asked us to stay later then they are normally open so they could share their experience with us more.

Cuba is full of friendly people, amazing food, delicious beverages and culture. It is often a place that many shy away from for travel because of the tumultuous history surrounding it, but I am here to tell you, being one of those people who was nervous, I would go again tomorrow if I could.