Dec 4th, 2009 at 12:00PM: The buzz about the end of the near 50-year U.S.-Cuba trade embargo is mounting and soon enough American will have the privilege of experiencing Cuba as tourists, like the rest of the world's citizens have all along. Despite being just 100 miles off the coast of Florida, Cuba is figuratively worlds away from the familiar capitalist lifestyle we lead in the States. From its unique music to its ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
cubalibre posts
Coming attractions: Cuba
Dec 4th, 2009 at 12:00PM: The buzz about the end of the near 50-year U.S.-Cuba trade embargo is mounting and soon enough American will have the privilege of experiencing Cuba as tourists, like the rest of the world's citizens have all along. Despite being just 100 miles off the coast of Florida, Cuba is figuratively worlds away from the familiar capitalist lifestyle we lead in the States. From its unique music to its ...A review of Cheapflights.com's "Travelnomics: Calling on Cuba" guide
Nov 8th, 2009 at 1:30PM:
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Change is upon Cuba, and American travelers are especially eager to capitalize on the end of the travel embargo. In anticipation of the easing of travel restrictions to Cuba, Cheapflights.com recently put together "Travelnomics: Calling on Cuba," a ...Cool Lust-Collazo photo exhibition in Havana
May 5th, 2009 at 9:00AM: During my time in Cuba, I grew increasingly obsessed with those colorful, old, refurbished American cars that would go galumphing down narrow urban streets. I mean, who wouldn't? I'm not even a car lover, but these clunky vehicles give Havana its character and speaks volumes about the country's history as well as its relationship with the United States. As another great effort to bring awareness ...
Travel guidebooks: Choosing the one that's just right
Apr 25th, 2009 at 2:00PM: My Cuba travel companions and I accomplished the ultimate travel guidebook experiment during the first week of our travels. We each decided to bring a different Cuba guide with us to test which guidebook reigned supreme (kind of like the Iron Chef: Cuba). I was never a good science student, so I apologize for the rudimentary experiment form that follows... Objective: To identify the guidebook ...Cuba Libre: Travel observations and tips
Apr 22nd, 2009 at 7:30PM: Cuba is one of the most distinct places in the world. I can say this with complete certainty having traveled to nearly 50 countries on this globe and never encountered anything like it. During the brief two weeks I was there, I was able to enjoy the hospitality of a most vibrant people, as well as experience life with little to no American influence. As I conclude my Cuba Libre series, there are ...Talking Travel (and Cuba) with award-winning travel journalist Christopher P. Baker
Apr 21st, 2009 at 4:00PM: Christopher Baker is the 2008 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year and has visited Cuba more than 30 times. He's personally met with Fidel Castro, as well as leading members of the Cuban government and is personally acquainted with key figures within Cuba as well as key industry figures outside Cuba. Baker is not only a Cuba fanatic who is intensely interested in Castro's family life and ...Cuba Libre: Baracoa
Apr 19th, 2009 at 6:00PM: Baracoa was the site of devastating Hurricane Ike just 7 months ago. To even imagine the degree of damage to Baracoa's coastline, you might take a look at this video from the Associated Press: If you are paying a visit to this gorgeous little fishing village on the northwestern coast of Cuba, there are still opportunities to lend a hand in rebuilding projects and the like. As long as you're ...
Cuba Libre: Santiago de Cuba
Apr 19th, 2009 at 9:00AM: Since it is almost on the other side of the island from Cuba's most popular destination, Havana, few tourists make the long journey to Santiago de Cuba. The few who do, however, are treated to a unique cultural experience, as Santiago de Cuba has a strong Afro-Cuban history and also is the sight for many Revolutionary events such as the historic July 26 attack on the Moncada barracks and Fidel's ...Photo of the Day (4.18.09)
Apr 18th, 2009 at 7:00PM:
My Cuba Libre posts will be ending in a few days, but until they do, I feel it's only appropriate to continue with my Cuba-themed posts! Our photo of the day comes to us from JKEvgen, who snapped this gem five years ago in Havana. This photo really captures how timeless the country and its people are, which in my opinion is one of the greatest things about Cuba. The nations bright colors, ...Cuba Libre: Trinidad
Apr 18th, 2009 at 6:00PM:
From Havana to Trinidad The 8 hour bus ride to Trinidad was pretty uneventful, as the road is pretty flat and straight. We passed a lot of farm land and occasionally parts of the southern coast. There were just two notable sites along the way: Playa Giron (a.k.a. the Bay of Pigs), which Castro and Kennedy made famous in 1961, and Cienfuegos, where tourists can enjoy a little of the beach and a ...Cuba Libre: Havana - Part 2
Apr 17th, 2009 at 7:00PM:
Having spent only two days in Havana and entirely in the old part of the city and only having two more days before hitting the road to Trinidad to meet up with the boys, I still had a lot of ground to cover. The beach Havana is full of great seaside and beach. If the outer part of Havana (where we stayed) called Miramar and Playa don't strike your fancy, you can opt for taking a short bus or ...Cuba Libre: Being sick and discovering "Cash Cab" in Cuba
Apr 17th, 2009 at 9:00AM:
[Though this might look like the U.S. Capitol, it is actually Havana's Capitolio. The strange resemblance makes even stranger sense when you get to the "Cash Cab" comparison at the end of this post.] Peter and Frank planned to leave for Trinidad on Monday, leaving Lora and I in Havana. They had hoped for a noonish start to their day and planned on renting a car for the remainder of their stay. ...Cuba Libre: Havana - Part One
Apr 16th, 2009 at 4:00PM:
The old part of Havana (Habana Vieja, they call it) reminded me a great deal of Cartagena with its fairly well-preserved colonial and often brightly colored buildings. In just our first two days in Havana, however, I was most astounded by the Cuban people. Lora's guidebook says that the locals earn on average U.S.$25 a month and that, in some cases, even doctors double shift as waiters by night. ...Cuba Libre: High-end hotels and money in Havana
Apr 16th, 2009 at 10:00AM:
So the Melia Habana Resort. We were not aware such luxurious resorts were available for just $50 a night! Had I not come with Lora there would be no chance to stay in such a place. Regardless, we pretty much decided to stay in Havana for the entire week. We arrived at 1 p.m. and were already pretty spent from such early wake-up time, so Lora and I spent the day tanning and resting the immense ...Cuba Libre: First impressions of Cuba
Apr 15th, 2009 at 4:00PM:
I am usually so unprepared when it comes to my travels, and this trip was no different. I assumed Varadero was a municipality of Habana. Instead, it's a city in a whole other region of Cuba and a 2 hour drive from the city of Habana. Luckily, our package through the travel agency booked transport, and we boarded the white Gaviota van #23 (a modern Toyota with A/C) headed for Habana. Our driver ...Cuba Libre: Preparing for a trip to Cuba
Apr 15th, 2009 at 8:30AM:
The biggest step when planning any trip is buying the ticket there. When it came to Cuba, the purchase was intensified by all of the concerns I mentioned in my post yesterday. The timing couldn't have been better, though, as Lora is currently living and working in Toronto, so she contacted a travel agent who scored an amazing package deal for us that included roundtrip airfare and seven nights' ...Travel guide to Cuba
Apr 14th, 2009 at 5:00PM:
Cuba is a timeless place in more ways than one. Time has basically stood still for fifty years, and there is little anyone can do about it except Castro - and I'm not talking about Fidel, I'm talking about his brother Raúl. Since Fidel took the reigns fifty years ago, the "Revolution" still lives on in Cuba in the form of propaganda strewn across the country roadside and city walls. Aged ...Cuba Libre: The U.S.-Cuba trade embargo
Apr 14th, 2009 at 9:00AM:
It was five years ago exactly that Cuba became for me a possible travel destination. My colleague Lora suggested we spend our spring break there and I thought it was a pretty novel idea. I had been to Vietnam the year before during spring break, and learned far more by going there than schooling or Miss Saigon could ever teach me. At the time, I knew next to nothing about Cuba. Even if you ...Cuba Libre: Is travel to Cuba easing for some or all Americans?
Apr 13th, 2009 at 10:30PM:
[This slogan, the first one I spotted in central Havana, reads, "Revolution is: not to lie -- ever -- or violate ethical principles." Is there room for compromise between the U.S. and Cuba? Only time will tell.] On the heels of my own journey to Cuba, news has hit the fan with regard to lifting travel restrictions for Americans to Cuba. The latest news from Washington: Cuban-Americans are now ...
