On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Morning, TaMara here again. Couple more days of helping Alain out, happily.
This spring, I checked off another travel wish: Cuba.
And what a trip is it was…again partly for novel research…but honestly, I had really always wanted to experience it. I came away, like many, finding it a lovely experience, and interesting as it was, it was really all about the people. Incredibly kind, funny, engaging, proud, accomplished, and so willing to share their island with us.
This is our neighborhood. We stayed with a lovely family in their Casa particular – basically a bed and breakfast. And by the time we left, we felt like family.
Havana is bustling with new construction, repairing years of economic downturn and the recent hurricane damage. Restoring buildings and neighborhoods to their former glory. But there is beauty in even the abandoned buildings.
We walked everywhere around Old Havana, took the city bus to other neighborhoods and to the beach. There are also bicycle taxis and of course the old cars for hire.
We had to spend one day at Santa Maria Beach Playa del Este for a beautiful beach day.
Just some sites as we walked the city.
Art and music saturate the streets. It’s a vibrant city. And the food was pretty good, too.
Some of my favorite art:
This guy was everywhere.
This lady was hidden behind some construction barriers, but we snuck a peek anyway.
And finally, garden spaces dotted Old Havana. Places to sit and cool off.
I’m up again tomorrow with a little New Mexico retreat. Until then…open thread.
Ruckus
Had a similar experience on a different island. New Zealand. Different than Cuba for sure but the one thing not different, the best part of the trip was the people. Sister picked me up at LAX and asked what I liked best. Started naming sites, events, then stopped and simply said, “The best part, hands down, was the people.” That was 16 yrs ago, and nothing has changed my view. And yes I’ve been to Cuba, OK a part that the citizens never get to see, Gitmo. Havana looks a lot better.
waratah
Beautiful photos. I do not have a favorite but I really love the artistry of the iron works.
debbie
Beautiful!
satby
I’ve always wanted to go to Cuba too, looks lovely. And I love Cuban food, since it’s available both in Chicago and in Tampa near my mom’s old condo. I think the Trump admin reinstated the restrictions on travel there again, so not sure if U.S. citizens can still go except under limited circumstances. Beautiful pics, TaMara!
Sloane Ranger
This definitely wets my appetite and increases my determination to go there.
Are there lots of US tourists visiting Cuba these days?
I ask because I remember being warned that if I had a stamp from Cuba in my passport I might be denied entry into the US.
Also, Ruckus, if you read this, how long is the flight time between LA and New Zealand? I want to go but all the British tour companies I’ve looked at have a stopover in Singapore for a few days before flying on to NZ and vaping is not only illegal there but so is possession of the paraphernalia and I don’t want to risk going back to real cigarettes even temporarily so I was looking at flying to NZ independently via LAX and joining the tour in NZ itself.
Also
arrieve
Another place on my list. Thanks for sharing the lovely glimpses of Havana!
Dorothy A. Winsor
Because my son enjoys tormenting me, we watched the final Fast and Furious movie yesterday. That opens in Havana. What a beautiful place!
A.Pimpinella
What a dump! It is very easy for tourists to paint it like a flower but the money you paid goes to the dictatorship and foreign interests, not the people who are suffering with lack of fuel and food.
Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)
Cuba is on the list of countries I’d love to visit, but probably never will.
Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing TaMara,
TaMara (HFG)
@A.Pimpinella: Listen Troll, you know nothing. Every place we ate and/or slept was privately owned. Do some research.
Cuba has opened up, knowing that tourism is the key to a new and healthy economy and that only works if they allow private enterprise – and bed and breakfasts and restaurants are where they began.
@satby: Like much of what Trump does, it didn’t change anything much. Flights are easy to get from Boston, NY and Florida. Do some research on your visa and talk with a travel agent (we actually used a woman who is Cuban-American and it was very helpful).
Mike in NC
Was at Gitmo back in ’83. Once we get rid of Fat Bastard we can proceed to have normal relations again with Cuba.
TaMara (HFG)
@Sloane Ranger: We have stamps. No issues with customs. Again, things changed during the Obama years and any of Trump’s executive orders haven’t changed much of that. Again, check with a travel agent who knows Cuba, it’s all about where you stay (with families, not hotels) and how you fill out your visa.
Or go with a tour group. They are all allowed and know the no-nos
TaMara (HFG)
@Mike in NC: We really missed an opportunity when the Soviet Union fell and abandoned Cuba. If we’d opened up, stepped in to help, I believe, even with Castro’s dictatorship. the United States could have won the hearts and minds with financial aid – or at the very least, trade. Think how 30 years later, democracy might have flourished after Castro’s death.
TaMara (HFG)
Finally, before I head off to work, if you are concerned about supporting a dictatorship, you can do what we did – we put a lot of cash into the hands of the people who helped us, by way of tips. Things are so inexpensive, it is easy to tip upwards of 50% and still keep the trip affordable.
My cousin left her entire suitcase of travel clothes for our hosts to take to the poorer areas of Cuba (after talking with them about what was needed). She also brought earrings as gifts for our hostess (she thinks of everything!).
Also, we bought a dozen tennis balls that looked liked baseballs to give out to kids. Our travel agent recommended it. It was so much fun to share them with the kids.
Frank
You remind me of those who visited Germany while their burned Jews. What a shame to put pictures of food that the Cuban did not eat for 60 years! You are an accomplice of the dictatorship my People lives for 60 years. shame on you
texasdoc
Cuba is indeed a beautiful country with lovely people. We lived there for three years when I was a kid (AC–antes de Castro), in a suburb of Havana along the coast, Marianao. I used to laugh, years later, when planes were hijacked to Cuba and reports said the planes were forced to land at Varadero airport rather than in Havana. They made it sound like that was a terrible thing, but Varadero beach has to be one of the most beautiful in the world, with white sand sloping out gently to the sea, going on for miles. We had a chance to see some other parts of the country too, including Pinar del Rio, where they have “bread loaf” shaped mountains and hot springs. I’ve always wanted to go back, but may have put it off too long (though if we get rid of the Tango Menace…).
Ruckus
@Sloane Ranger:
Flew non stop LAX to Aukland – 13 hrs and a day change – you fly over the international date line. I had enough frequent flyer credits to do round trip for free but would have had to fly to Santiago or Tokyo then on to Aukland. Only added 12 hrs to the flights. I paid direct. Flight wasn’t bad, they served 2 main meals and I used to sleep easily on planes. And it was worth it.
ETA may be it was Singapore.
@satby:
You probably can go the same way people used to go, through Canada. Cuba would not stamp your US passport, so you were never there.
Ruckus
@TaMara (HFG):
Thank you for your reply to an idiot.
There is a much bigger world out there than just the US. Some of it is not worth the effort, but far, far more of it is massively more than worth it. And every place I’ve been, the people make the place. Even in Naples, Italy. Of course some of those places give the people a run for your attention. And of course you have to act like the actual visitor that you are, not the pompous asses that I’ve seen Americans work at being. Stories for another day.
ETA I see we have another idiot in our midst. Can’t see for the stupidity and spite that’s right in front of them.
Matt Smith
Great photos, @Ruckus. And like you, I love Cuba for the people. Complicated country – simultaneously inspiring and disturbing, rich in some ways and poor in others.
@satby: I’m a Cuba travel pro. If you want to hear about the current state of restrictions on travel to Cuba, I’m your guy. I know the regulations inside out, used to have a license back when licenses were more of a thing. Happy to explain your options – whether or not you’re interested in the kind of services I provide. (Travel consulting/planning, custom small group tours.)
@A.Pimpinella: As a traveler in Cuba, you can easily direct the bulk of your spending to private businesses rather than government ones. Much of the population depends on tourism dollars for whatever financial independence they can possibly attain. If we never traveled to Cuba, we’d just make everyone more dependent on the government system. If Cuba has any chance of reforming that system, it’ll be with our money – not without it.
J R in WV
@Frank:
Just shows that Cubano trolls are just as stupid as Russian trolls. What a maroon.
ETA to spel ‘as’ correktly.
rikyrah
Great pictures:)
TaMara (HFG)
@Frank: I just want to point out to anyone who comes to this thread late, I have no idea who this person is, but he seems to appear to want to speak for Cuban people everywhere, this was not the experience I had in Cuba.
They were so excited to show us not only the beauty of their island, but openly discuss the poverty in areas, the struggles faced with the embargoes, the politics of Cuba and the world – they universally disliked Trump. Loved my Obama button.
Almost everyone we met had a high school education and so many had gone on to college. They are politically savvy, accomplished in art, music, medicine, farming and business.
There is no doubt, just like in the United States, there is hunger in areas, there is poverty in areas, there is inequity in economics. But much of the new economy comes from tourist dollars and I don’t want anyone to let an unknown anonymous commenter discourage you if you’d like to travel there.
The entire world does not look like main street Des Moines.
Ruckus
@TaMara (HFG):
The entire US does not look like main street Des Moines.
We have a large variety of geography, of cultures, we used to even have a number of different dialects. TV and travel have softened those dialects a bit but they are still there. But when states that have fewer people than the county that I live in tell me that I’m not a true american, it pisses me off. I pay my taxes, hell I help pay some of their burden because they can’t seem to manage it. And they think that they get the raw end of the deal.
Fuck’em.
TaMara (HFG)
@Ruckus: and you know I just picked that because I’m annoyed that they’ve been anointed to decide who I get to vote for, for reasons I’ll never understand.
Seeing Cuba from both sides
@A.Pimpinella: they stayed in a casa particular NOT a government hotel.
If you eat in PRIVATE restaurants You are giving money to locals and again not to government.
Anyway. The regime is allowing all sorts of self employment as government is bankrupt.
I have seen both (all?) Sides to the dilemma…
The regime is not more corrupt than any other .. I know officials who live simply and are certainly not rich…