Cuba - a journey across the island of revolution

Welcome

We invite you to travel with us through Cuba as you read these pages. In February 2009 we visited the communist island state of Cuba in the Caribbean. A journey of 2,600 km from Havana to Pinar del Rio and all the way down to Santiago de Cuba. I hope to give you many of my impressions on this page. You can see some of the 4,200 photos taken. Some of the six hours of video footage are also posted here.

Each of the six pages has its own photo gallery with a few pictures of the towns and locations described. There are also several video clips to watch and panoramas to discover. If you give yourself a little time, you just might catch the ‘Cuban virus’. We hope that you will enjoy these pages and the guestbook is always open for your comments and feedback.

Wishing you happy wanderlust and lots of rum, rumba and salsa

Yasmin & Ralf

Locations on this page

Photogallery

Gallery of this page

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National Cocktail "Mojito"

The Mojito was discovered between 1910 and 1920 in Cuba,

enjoyed by Ernst Hemingway in both of his two regular bars,
La Bodeguita del Medio and El Floridita (both in Havana).

Ingredients :

6cl white Rum
3cl lime juice
1 to 2 dessert spoons brown sugar
Mintleaves
Soda water

Directions :

Put some mint leaves together with the brown sugar and the lime juice in a long drink glass. Crush the mint leaves with a spoon and add a few ice cubes and the rum. Fill the glass up with soda water.

Havana

The tourist entry card is very important to the customs officials. If you make a mistake on it you have to buy a new one for 22 euros. Everything went smoothly for us and amazingly we got through the airport in Valadero quickly and easily. We exchanged 200 euros for Cuban Pesos and night fell as we drove the two hours to Havana. The motorway was lit almost all the way. Small towns gave us our first impressions of the Caribbean island.

Our destination for the first three days was the Panorama Miramar Hotel. It is an eleven storey building which has seen better days. As our first port of call on the island it seems that this hotel sends us the message that you don’t have to do without anything in Cuba. The journey was long, local time is 9pm, at home it is 3am in the morning. We are tired.
Bad luck, lying in bed we can hear the singer in the lobby who is giving it her best. Sound insulation in the building is not good. The lobby, the eleven floors and the acoustic, every step in the corridors, it can all be heard in the rooms. On Saturdays celebrations go long into the night in Cuba. Great, today is Saturday and we are lying here "sleepless in Havana"...

« "One of the greatest achievements of the our revolution is that even the prostitutes are academics"»

Fidel Castro 2003 (Documentation "Comandante")

This, the fourth largest city in the Caribbean, has a morbid yet magical charm. Many of the beautiful facades in Spanish style have been exposed to storms and sea water for too long. However, you can see that many places have been repaired in an attempt to retain this unique flair.

Even though the city centre is a Unesco world heritage site, hardly any money flows because of the US trade embargo, not nearly as much as would be needed to make progress with renovations. The starting point of a typical tour of Havana is Revolution Square. Fidel Castro gave his speeches to millions of Cubans at the foot of a 140 meter high obelisk. The library, ministry of the interior with its huge metal picture on the wall of Chè Guevara, and the building housing the central committee of Cuba’s communist party (PCC) surround the square. By the way, nearly every town in Cuba has a ‘Revolution Square’.

big panorama of Havanna waterfront

The old town with its baroque facades offers photo opportunities on every corner. We walk across city centre squares, watch street dancers and enjoy lunch at one of the many restaurants.

The picture of the city includes not only horse carriages but also over 56,000 vintage cars from the years 1952-1959. You will see Cheveys being driven all over the city. They are maintained with much imagination and love. Replacement parts have not been available for a long time, which makes the amateur mechanic’s talent for improvisation even more amazing.

The "Tropical-Show" in Havana is famous worldwide and it has taken place here every day since 1939. Yasmin and I also enjoy the two hour revue. At the beginning of the show there is a bottle of "Havana Club" Rum and two cans of Coca Cola on each of the tables for two – that is certainly enough for a nice evening. The programme is very professional and colourful. There is a 5 Peso charge for taking photographs and 15 Pesos for filming (convertible pesos, of course). You can also buy a DVD in the foyer for 15 Pesos. For tourists in Cuba, nothing is for free...except the sun... - we are happy with photos! An eventful day comes to a close at 0:30.