My husband and I just returned from 11 days in Cuba.

[Greybnk48]

We traveled to Havana, Cienfeugos, Trinidad, and my favorite, Santiago. The government cancelled three of our ports of call with no warning or explanation, but even so, it was an amazing experience, and we loved meeting many people and learning about the country. We are not fluent Spanish speakers which would have made it much easier to make friends, but we did ok with our broken Spanish and their broken and some with fluent English.

I wanted to share a few fun or funny experiences that may be of political interest here. Several people we chatted with brought up Trump and across the board they thought he was a buffoon. I don't know what word they would have used but they acted like he was a joke. We agreed whole heartedly.

One restaurant we were taken to in Trinidad, on the southeastern coast had a band playing traditional Cuban music while we ate. The base player was wearing a Barack Obama baseball hat to play for the American tour group! Loved the message! We talked to them and bought their CD. They LOVED Obama and thought lowly of Trump as well. They thought it was funny that I had no qualms about saying what a fool Trump is and that we don't support him. They are very tactful about not saying anything inflammatory, politically. We weren't.

We're still sorting through our pics, but thought I would share this experience and will post pics this week.

[TexasProgresive]

1. Was the word pendejo?

Literally means a single pubic hair but in Mexican use means a fool.

[Greybnk48]

5. They indicated that they thought he was crazy.

I believe they just make the the crazy sign with their hand and laughed. I'm referring right now to two young guys we connected with in the town square in Cienfeugos who right off wanted to talk to us about how we felt about Trump and Obama respectively. We were asked this several times, but they did not expect us to be Republicans. That was clear.

[BannonsLiver]

2. How'd you get there, cruise?

Sounds like I wonderful trip!

[Greybnk48]

7. Pearl Seas cruises.

It was expensive but they pampered the heck out of us and our stateroom was huge. Like a hotel room. Only 180 on board and everyone had a balcony on each side of the ship. The crew was from the Philippines and was cracker-jack. Our only complaint was we would have preferred Cuban food on board ship, but the food was gourmet and delicious.

The group was mostly geriatric (we're 68 and 69, but were among the youngest). Most peeple who work hard for their vacation want to sip a drink and lie on the beach. This was a lot of fun, with a series of People to People educational tours and experiences, including a night at the Tropicana in Havana. But it wasn't the usual caribe vacay.

[Warpy]

3. One of my favorite pics is of a friend sitting next to a statue of John Lennon

in a Havana park. The sculpture is of Lennon occupying half a park bench, so you're invited to sit next to him.

It's one of the places I'd very much like to see, but thanks to the way this country is stepping on people who want to fly, I probably won't.

[Greybnk48]

9. We didn't see that or hear of it.

Now we'll have to go back!

[JEFF9K]

4. Sounds like a cool place ...

Is Che still considered a hero there?

[Greybnk48]

10. Absolutely! Jose Marti, Che and Fidel.

Last edited Mon Apr 17, 2017, 12:21 PM - Edit history (1)

Their images are prominent in the Revolution Squares in every large city. Huge images on the side of the buildings and lit up at night. There are no stores, other than ones who sell rum, cigars, coffee and art work, but we did find some Che t-shirts and bought a couple. He is beloved there.

[JEFF9K]

24. Glad to hear it. I read two biographies about Che ...

A cool guy who "walked the walk."

[madokie]

6. I'd love to go to Cuba

[Greybnk48]

13. My husband was a corpsman in the Navy at Gitmo in the '70's.

Long before it was a prison of any sort. He always regretted not being able to see the country because they were confined to the base, so we jumped on the chance to go. I'm glad we did.

It's a rough around the edges trip in some respects. It's hot as hell, 98 for one of our tours the first week in April so we had to guzzle water and stay hydrated. Problem is there are no bathrooms to speak of! We had a toilet on our bus, and they sent us to restaurants that had been vetted for cleanliness and bathrooms. But they also issued us all something called "vanity packs" with rolls of toilet paper, seat covers, wet wipes and purell in case of emergency! We could have asked people to use their home toilet and offer them money.

[Denis 11]

8. I'm going there in June.

On a cruise ship, I have wanted to go for a long time. All the Cuban people I have ever met were fantastic. I am looking forward to seeing it before it changes too much.

[Greybnk48]

14. The government is restricting where ships can go.

It's quite sudden and no reason given. A British cruise was banned from the same ports we were. I'll be interested to see where you are permitted to go.

Pearl Seas has removed the ports from their offering for now. Their final Cuban cruise of the year returns to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow and then goes to the Great Lakes for the summer.

[opiate69]

11. Did you happen to bring me back any Partagas Serie D's?

[Greybnk48]

15. My husband bought Cohiba's and Romeo and Juliet's.

We're not cigar aficianados, so we filled orders from friends. Those look beautiful.

[opiate69]

31. Ah.. fine choices as well...

Actually, my wife is a tobacconist at a cigar lounge, so we have a few "connections" lol. The Partagas' are indeed a beautiful smoke!

[flamingdem]

12. Just a note regarding stores in Cuba other than cigar shops

There are many stores in Havana, not sure if you meant Havana or elsewhere though.

In fact there are Benettons, upscale clothing shop, pastry shops, music stores, supermarkets, and vegetarian restaurants.

It's not that backwards!

[Greybnk48]

16. Not counting Havana.

Our experience was very controlled though. We took an extensive bus tour of Havana, but did not get to explore very much on foot. They took us to the Hemingway Estate for a couple of hours as well. We went back to the ship and had about two hours to walk back to and area of Old Havana if we wanted to explore and see the really cool stilt-walkers and street performers. But we had to be back to go to the Tropicana for the night getting home at 2 am. It really was a whirl-wind tour and then we took off for our next port.

Another complaint. Our tour could have been more helpful about going out on our own than they were. Maybe a map or something. But our day and a half in Havana was packed.

The people are not backward at all, by anyone's standards. Their literacy rate is in the 90's. But the country is very poor and the incredibly beautiful architecture in Havana is now caked in black mold and falling apart and they have no resources to fix it. That is an issue that they talk about a lot.

Also, people there can no longer make it on their monthly allotment; highest in the country is $40 for an MD, $20 for a teacher. Regular people get much less and it's no longer enough to live. Raul Castro has allowed people to open private businesses to supplement their income since 2014. People are doing things like opening their homes for meals, or lodging. One woman asked me if I wanted to come in and see her "restaurant" which I did. She and her son had put chairs and loveseats around the living room for seating and were serving pizza among other things. The pizza looked awesome.

They use the amazing cars, 50's American beauties (about 80,000 of them many still beautiful) for photo ops, or to drive tourists around. Some who have relatives in the US are funded and doing really well with these new businesses.

[malaise]

26. You forgot Coppelia

my favorite

[flamingdem]

32. fresa o chocolate?

limited flavors but sabroso!

[Lisa0825]

17. I was there 2 years ago this week. Had a lovely time! I am glad you did too!

I would love to go back again!

[Greybnk48]

19. Looking good! n/t

[malaise]

27. Love this photo

You should show American networks where to find modern cars in Cuba because there are way more of them than the one you're in.

[central scrutinizer]

18. Went in February 2016

Went illegally via Cancun, took bicycles, and rode all over Cuba for the whole month. Did a loop in the center: Santa Clara, Remedios, Sancti Spiritu, Trinidad. Then put the bikes on a Viazul bus and went to the eastern part riding through Holguin, Mia, Baracoa (before it was leveled by the hurricane), Santiago. Then took another bus to Vinales in the west and rode back to Havana. Bicycle is the way to get away from touristy experiences. Stayed in casas particulares. Recommend highly. Safest bike touring I've ever done.

[Greybnk48]

20. We saw a large biking group when we were there.

It was too strenuous for us to consider given the heat and our age. What an experience you had though!

[worstexever]

23. Did the same last year

Flew in from Cancun. Took the bus to Cienfuegos and Trinidad. Had a fabulous time. Cuba is not without it's challenges, but is a wonderful place.

[Judi Lynn]

21. Tremendous thread, Greybnk48! Hope you return for another run at Cuba, if Trump doesn't ban travel

again, in his rush to destroy everything President Obama accomplished!

It was great also seeing comments from DU readers to your opening post.

Thank you.

[center]

Street decoration from Santiago de Cuba for one of their annual celebrations. [/center]

[Greybnk48]

22. Thank you Judi Lynn.

As I said, I loved Santiago, and had my best connection with a man and his daughter selling beautiful jewelry at the docks. He was the artist, about my age and really nice and cool. We would be friends if possible.

[smirkymonkey]

25. Thank you for sharing your experience!

I love hearing about other people's travels, especially to places that are off the beaten path such as Cuba.

[get the red out]

28. Sounds wonderful

I bet you had some good food too!

[Greybnk48]

29. We did, but we would have liked more Cuban food.

We had gourmet food on the cruise, and plenty of it, but it was not Cuban fare.

[mitch96]

30. Friends of mine went there last year

They said they had an "ok" time... The tour was very scripted by the government. Like the OP said, stuff cx at a moments notice and not told why.. Places they stayed had no toilet seats or water in the toilet.. You had to pay for toilet paper!!! black market income I guess.. One place they stayed was in the home of a Radiologist. He said that he made more money renting rooms in his house than working in medicine!!! My friends echoed all the comments about the crumbling buildings and the classic cars. Once they have the tourist infrastructure up and running it will be great. I would love to ride my motorcycle across the island. Take some Spanish classes maybe?. Working in Miami since '79 I have heard wonderful things about the island from expats and some horror stories... My aunt went there in the 60's and had to go thru Montreal via a cargo ship. She loved it.
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