Havana!

Ok, this could be the most sought after adventure on my list. I have wanted to visit Cuba for so long i can’t remember. Kelly, Jason, Allison and I will be traveling to Cuba for a 7 day whirlwind tour in July.

I am a Ernest Hemingway groupie. There. I said it. I read my first short story, and having his early journalist career in Kansas City, he immediately intrigued me. I actually have the opportunity to stay in the city where he wrote “Old Man and the Sea”, his Nobel Lauriat winner in Literature.

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1954 was awarded to Ernest Hemingway “Awarded for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style”.

I am so excited to see not only Hemingway history, but history of this rich culture as well.

I cannot deny, i do partake in a good cigar from time to time. Let’s be honest, enjoying a Cuban, in Havana, must be like enjoying Bubbly in the Champagne region of France, Guinness in Dublin, some of the best the world had to offer in culture of their arts.

Check back for more info on this!

Ok, now that the trip is over, Cuba, Havana specifically is an Amazing place!

We traveled from Denver to Ft Lauderdale, then on to Havana. The flight was good, with no real issues other than the nervousness of filling out our documentation correctly even though we left our 6.5 Creedmoor ammo since armory is not allowed inside the airport, as if you do this incorrectly, it’s another 50 bucks to get another set. So we filled it out correctly…

We landed in Havana around 4. Exited the plane on the tarmac, like a good 50’s movie. The planes are racked, packed and stacked on the tarmac like cars in a parking lot. We walked down the steps from the plane and boarded a bus to the terminal. Man was it hot. July in Cuba is sweltering. We were sweating before we got off the plane. As we walked through the terminal, non airconditioned, we headed for the baggage claim. We knew we just got off the plane, so it would take just a bit to get our luggage. As we stood there, a group of people started cheering and applauding! We had no idea what they were applauding, but hey, they seemed happy! We soon, or should i say eventually found out what the cheering was all about. It took approximately an hour for our baggage to hit the carousel.  Hot, sweaty, tired, ready to be at our first destination. 

To back up a bit, as an American, Cuba is a difficult place to travel. The Dollar is not accepted. Debit and Credit cards will not work there. Cell Phones are basically cameras as there are no roaming agreements for ANY US carriers to function on the island. So, our phones worked pretty much for a week in Airplane mode just taking pictures. We exchanged all our vacation money into Euro and Canadian dollars before we left as we heard that those two currencies would work anywhere. But you need to realize that the Cuban Unified Currency, or the Cuc (pronounced Kook) had an exchange rate of the same as the US Dollar. So the Euro was worth more, and the Canadian was worth less, so exchanging to the local currency was the best way to make your money go further.

Back to the airport. So we finally retrieved our luggage and headed to the transportation area. Of course it was now after 6, and the local money exchange shops and people roving had left for the day. Hot and cranky, we decided to take a cab to our first destination Hotel Ambos Mundos. This was the hotel Hemingway more or less had a long term occupancy while he started “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. The cab ride to the hotel was outright robbery. But we were long tired of waiting int he airport terminal, so we paid it. As we neared the hotel, the driver pulled over and informed us we had to walk from here. What? Its getting dark, street lights are on, two obvious travelers are pulling suitcases down a cobblestone street making an inordinate amout of noise, getting lots of looks. We moved to the sidewalk. I was a little uneasy, totally aware of my surroundings, and just wanted to get to the hotel. It was a two block walk as it is located in Old Town Havana which is blocked off to cars. Finally, we rounded the corner and saw it. It is a very uniquely shaped and colored building.  This was one of the places i HAD to stay. I needed to see what EJH saw, the views, possibly pick up some creativity that might have been left over in the original elevator, or the rooftop bar…. The hotel is a 4-minute walk from the shores of Havana Port (towards the end of the Malecon),  and a 6-minute walk to Plaza Vieja and a 15-minute walk from Old Havana. This is such a wonderful location to really see the city!

Our hotel was The Ambos Mundos, the hotel Ernest Hemingway wrote the beginning of “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. Incidentally, the room where he rented there is preserved as a small museum on the 5th floor. Quite a few of his personal items are on display in this room and in the hotel in general.  He had many reasons when he said that the Ambos Mundos Hotel was a good place to write. We actually stayed on the 5th floor, 2 rooms down from his iconic corner suite. I can only imagine the views from that era, as the current views were amazing.