Cuba - Day 1
Cuba trip Day 1 - Flew into Havana from Miami on a (very) early flight. Baggage claim was a little crazy but immigration/customs were a breeze. Met by our tour guide and our bus. Did a quick bus tour through old Havana, stopped for lunch at "La Barraca" restaurant, then checked into our hotel, the Melia Cohiba. Dinner tonight at a private restaurant followed by a show...
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These are the folks who arranged our entire trip. The did a great job! |
Angela and I waiting to board our charter flight. How early was it? Too early!! |
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Arriving in Havana on our charter flight from Miami. Note old-style stairs. |
Jose Marti Airport in Havana. I think we were in Terminal 2. Only 2-3 "gates", just separate doors to the same big room. Two luggage carousels, it was a zoo! |
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| Our tour bus. Standard tour bus we saw all over Cuba. Per our driver, they were all made in China... |
On our way to Havana from the airport |
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A quick downtown tour before lunch. At the José Martí Memorial, located on the northern side of the Plaza de la Revoluciónin the Vedado area of Havana. Fidel Castro use to do his marathon speeches from here... |
Lunch at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba... |
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View from our room at the Hotel Melia Cohiba. Right on the water, it rained on and off the first day or so... |
Our hotel room. Clean and spacious but... very limited internet access and the bed was way too hard for us. We were also warned not to drink the water, not even for brushing our teeth. |
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At dinner somewhere in Havana. Breakfast was at the hotel. Lunch and dinner were usually at restaurants. Many of these meals were at "paladares" which in Cuba are private/self-employed restaurants (versus those owned/operated by the government).
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Floor show by the "Buena Vista Social Club" at the Havana Cafe (connected to our hotel). Band, singers, and dancers! First rate! See here for an interesting film on the original Buena Vista Social Club... |
