Havana: Travel Back in Time Without Marty McFly's DeLorean DMC-12

December 1946:  Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Joseph "Socks" Lanza, and mob delegates from New York City, Chicago, and Miami held a convention at Hotel Nacional de Cuba. Frank Sinatra, Ernest Hemingway, and Mickey Mantle and other privileged Americans used to migrate to Havana in the winter for tropical weather, casinos (no longer), and beautiful women. Then came the revolution in the late 50's, under Fidel's regime, the government nationalized private property and grew close with the Soviet Union. This didn't go over well with the U.S. government; the U.S. trade and travel embargo began in 1960 and essentially placed the country in a time warp. Like a rebellious teenager, I wanted to go there now before the sanction is lifted.

Sure, I can go with an approved travel company and pay approximately USD 2,000 for a similar four-night trip, most tours leave from Miami and that would mean a layover from NYC anyway, I decided to plan the trip on my own. A long weekend trip to the Caribbean may be worth the splurge if I was going for a special occasion; but this was an expedition for me, I yearned for a warm beach, cold drink, and locally made Cuban cigar.

We arrived at HAV (via CUN) and were greeted by Pototo and his driver Leonardo and an immaculately restored '57 Chevy. On the way to the casa, we were sharing the road with other handsome American classic cars from the 50's; we passed by revolutionary square, Chinatown and Paseo del Prado. The casa particular was conveniently located on Aguacate in Habana Vieja. After we unpacked and had our homemade meals at the casa, we decided to go out and check out the neighborhood. I remembered seeing La Floridita from the car earlier on in the evening; we walked in that general direction, and detoured for sights at Parque Barcelona and El Capitolio. La Floridita's famous daiquiris at CUC 6 a piece were the most pricy drinks we had the entire trip. It's a tourist spot, but they were a safe bet on our first night in a new town, and they had live music.

I took French when I was in school; I know very few words in Spanish, definitely not enough to get by. We stayed in the casa for breakfast on the first morning and had our fruits, bread, ham, cheese, and fried eggs. With our bodies refueled we were now ready to spend the day with our guide, Yari, on a private walking tour of the area. Whenever I go somewhere new, I always take a tour to get acquainted with the city see some notable places, and take in some of the culture and history.



Our casa was steps from the museums, the Gran Teatro, Parque Central, Plaza Vieja, Chinatown, and El Malecon. Havana is vibrant and buzzing, streets filled with pedestrians, classic American Chevys, Russian Ladas, coco taxis, and bicycle taxis. We passed by the passionate men in Parque Central who discuss baseball daily and (Yari) asked them if they knew what time the next games were to be held so that we can go to one. I'm a huge fan of baseball (started in 2002 when the AL and NL wild card teams played for the national title) and they were games scheduled for two of the days that we were in town but I didn't know what time. This happens here in the U.S. too, when the schedule is determined based on other factors, but is usually announced days prior to the game. In this case, unfortunately, we learned that the times are unpredictable, it could be either a 1pm or 7pm game, and no one knows until minutes before the starting pitch. The men in the park, since all they do all day is argue and talk about their favorite athletes, can pick up and head to the stadium when they hear that a game will be played in a few hours. This wasn't an option for us since we still wanted to see other sights and were short on time.

Yari was knowledgeable she was born and raised in Havana and she spoke fluent English (studied abroad in UK). We saw the Partagas cigar factory (currently not in operation), had lunch in Chinatown (we didn't see any local Chinese people there), Hemingway's room at Hotel Ambos Mundos (don't miss the view from the free rooftop), and La Bodeguita del Medio. Later on that afternoon we took the taxi from Old Havana to revolution square for a photo op, and ended the tour in Vedado - we wanted to see Hotel Nacional de Cuba. We had dinner at Los Nardos across the street from El Capitolio, where we found out that beer prices are controlled by the state, it costs the same as bottled water.



The following day was a sightseeing day on our own; we are now familiar with the layout of Old Havana. We went to the Cathedral (go up the tower for great vantage point of the city), camera obscura (rooftop has nice views of Plaza Vieja and El Capitolio), and the scaled model of Havana. We stopped for drinks at La Bodeguita del Medio, where Hemingway had his Mojitos. There were musicians singing and playing Cuban music, people dancing in the small space, and I had a cigar (the cost of a cigar is about 2 weeks of what a typical local makes, you will not see many people smoking there). For dinner we went to La Guarida (scenes from Fresa y Chocolate were filmed here), the interior of the building was well preserved and the restaurant was decorated with props from the set and movie memorabilia.

On our last full day there the weather was great so we went to Playa Santa Maria (the conditions weren't optimal for scuba diving so we didn't do that on this trip) - we took the taxi there and it cost us 15 CUC each way from Old Havana. We made plans with the driver in advance to come back and pick us up. But if you don't make the arrangement you can also get a taxi in front of the Tropicoco. The beach was pristine and there were picture perfect waves, it's a little cold for the locals there but I was happy to relax under the sun for a few hours. The food on the beach was extremely expensive compared to the city; in addition, you have to rent the chairs and umbrella. Remember to bring your own towels. We headed back around 16:30 to catch the sunset on the Malecón, definitely a highlight of the trip.

We couldn't go back in time with Doc in the black DeLorean, but Cubana's CU153 will do. I wish we could've had more time in Havana, and a few more days on the beach. Everyone was friendly and many speak English (especially the courteous taxi drivers). Be careful following people into buildings and alleyways - use caution as you would anywhere else.  Knowing Spanish is a definite plus. We had a fantastic trip and loved every moment of it. I'm sure you will too ;)... and as the locals say,It's very safe in Havana, there are 2 million people living here and we have 1 million policemen (It seems true, we saw a lot of police and military presence everywhere.)

Where: La Habana, Cuba
When: December 2012 (long weekend - 4 nights)
Total Cost: USD 750.00 per person (flights, room, food, visas, and taxes)

Trip Notes:

• Exchange enough money at the airport for the taxi to the city and maybe one meal (we exchanged 70 EUR). The rates at the banks and cadecas were much better (bring passport when exchanging money).
• Water costs the same as beer. Meals were about $10 per person for lunch and $25 per person for dinner.
• Standard tip is about 10%, some restaurants automatically include it on the bill.
• Mojitos and daiquiris will set you back 2.5 to 3.5 CUC. (La Floridita 6 CUC, La Bodeguita del Medio 5 CUC).
• Taxis cost maximum 10 CUC within Havana (save your small bills for taxi rides and bargaining).
• Bring toilet paper (and coin change for tip) when using restrooms outside.
• Berets (hats) can be purchased for 1 CUC but they were often sold at 5 CUC.
• CUC is "tourist" currency but we weren't able to get our hands on any CUP (nor did we encounter the need to use them).
• Bring your own toiletries if you are staying at a casa, bring towels if you're going to the beach.
• Streets in old Havana can be really dark, look out for holes, cracks, and puddles.
• Names of streets can be found on the corner of the sidewalk (on the floor) when outside of old Havana.
• Negotiate taxi prices before entering the vehicle, always haggle if you are buying souvenirs.
• Be firm with the solicitors if you want them to go away.
• Remember to save some CUC's for your taxi to the airport (25 CUC -30 CUC total) and departure tax (25 CUC pp).
• Plan on getting to the airport 2 to 3 hours before your flight time. Check in at a leisurely pace with time to spare for rum and cokes while waiting to depart.

Resources:
Yari was our local tour guide.
Pototo arranges lodging and transportation needs in Cuba.
Martha Y Ramon is a safe casa particular in Old Havana.