I recently spent a fortnight on vacation in Varadero, a Cuban beach resort 150km south of Florida, and a two-and-a-half hour drive east of Havana. As I know some members on the board have an interest in Cuba's history and culture, etc., I post below some of my favourite photos from the trip.

I'll make a separate post specific to Havana. All of these so far have been of Varadero. It's mostly touristic.

To, in and from Havana:

Two pics for Turnbull, of Meyer Lansky's Hotel Havana Riviera:

Some (final!) shots of dense Cuban green:

Capo, The pictures are lovely. Thank you for sharing.

I would love to know what you thought of the place, of the people. I'd be interested in hearing your impressions.

Doesn't look like it changed much since GF2.

Well, considering they filmed the Havana scenes in Santo Domingo, that's really something, MC!

GREAT pics, Mick! I think I told you I'm a Cuba buff, so these are greatly appreciated.

I'd love to see Cuba one day, but legally. It's easy enough if you're willing to go through Canada and bend the law, but I'd rather not risk an International incident .

I have many Cuban Nationals for neighbors in Florida. They're some of my best friends in the world. All they want out of life is to go "home" at least once before they die. I hope that, once Fidel Castro is dead, they get the chance (let's face it, it won't happen while he's alive). But I have my doubts.

America will always need a "boogeyman," and cosidering what lifting the travel restrictions would do to Florida tourism, the cynic in me says it'll never happen. Florida is too corrupt as it is, take away the tourism and you'll see blood in the streets .

It's a beautiful country. And be honest, Nostra, did you get a little red during your stay in Cuba? ;))

Haha, literally, yes: I burned several days over the course of fourteen and never really seemed to learn my lesson.

More figuratively, no: it's very difficult not to fall in some way for Che, or more for his image, but Cuba remains state capitalist.

One of the very obstacles a Marxist such as myself faces is pointing out that Cuba and countries like it are not socialist, despite the quick, willing and convenient assumption that they are.

Any state attempting or claiming to be socialist when surrounded by capitalist states is pretty much doomed.

Which is why Stalin's 'socialism in one country' was rightly attacked by Trotsky, who understood how a socialist revolution had (and still has) to be permanent and universal.

You're welcome.

Like, I suspect, any country with a social and political history as complex as its own, Cuba is full of contradictions that affect everyday life. I found the people very friendly, and as a nation it's a very proud culture, very homogeneous - no native Cubans survived the Spanish Conquest; Havana is full of life, bustling with energy at every corner, and you immediately feel at once welcomed and intrusive, the former because it's very touristy anyway and the latter probably due to some personal, West-determined 'guilt'. There's begging everywhere, despite basic provisions being catered for - education, healthcare, food, shelter; whilst everyone gets their basic food supplies paid for (so I understand), storage can be a problem because something as simple as a fridge can be too expensive to buy; similarly, the housing is often cramped and very, very basic; maintenance of the old American cars is cheaper than buying a new Chinese car - hence why you see old vintage Chevys with tape keeping the windows in. Etc.

I haven't lived there as a citizen, of course, so anything beyond that would be open to inaccuracy and insensitivity; I do think that while you can get approached by beggars and 'street performers' (artists, posers, etc.) at every opportunity, as well as people wanting or willing to sell you just about anything you're willing or wanting to buy, as a busy, capital city, Havana seems very safe. Its people are 'happy'.

That sounds immediately condescending to me and I don't wish it to.

As far as the hotel complex I stayed in in Varadero goes, it was quite backward. Basic, everyday maintenance of stock was poor - though quite normal, I've read. I stayed in an all-inclusive, for instance, but it would often run out of mint, so you couldn't order a Mohito; its many beer taps would be broken thus warm. Its public sanitation was horrid; its staff are underpaid and work very hard at what they do. I understand there's some social disconnect - a jealousy of sorts - between those working in the tourist service industry and those who do not.

There was a central buffet restaurant at the hotel but it also offered two pre-booking dining rooms. There was a dining rule to these that required men to wear long trousers at all times, which was kept to rigorously - people would be turned away if they were in shorts. Quite an absurd, curiously old-fashioned rule, and a frustrating request given the heat (who wants to wear trousers in such humid conditions?); very ironic too, considering the common absence of adequate public sanitation.

Nice to have you back, Capo. Nice to have your avatar back. Nice pictures too, tho you really should take some with you in them! (because it's not just a thread about Cuba, it's about your trip to Cuba, and a few pics of yourself enjoying what you see would fit in just nicely

And I'm terribly sorry for being so corny but...not a single word about them cuban cigars?? no pictures too? I'd like to know how often did you see those cigs during your voyage (or how often have you seen people who smoke them), are they all expensive, are there plenty of stores where you can get them, etc. Any info would be great

I think this is the most pictures I've ever seen of Cuba, to be honest. Some structures/areas look very old and worn, some more modern and some very scenic.

What would you say the highlight of your trip was?

Thanks for sharing Capo.



TIS

Thanks Fame.

I celebrated my 23rd birthday over there; here's me smoking a Guantanamera cigar...



I had the whole thing in one night; I don't smoke, but very much enjoyed it.

I went to the tobacconist that adjoins a cigar factory in Havana. This was the place to buy cigars, I was told, because they were coming fresh from being made, essentially; the ones you see in your hotels and in the duty free sections of airports have been sitting there for a while - and though you can buy boxes of up to (usually) 25, fewer people bought them and so they'd sit on the shelf longer.

Cohiba is the best and most expensive brand; Monte Cristo is the second best and most popular (most widely bought) brand; then Romeo and Juliet; then a few come together in quality - Guantanamera, Churchill, Partagas and a few others...

Cuba makes the finest cigars on account of its unique leaves; apparently, Holland makes the most.

I got a box of 25 No.2 Monte Cristos (Cusamano: "Ton' these are illegal aren't they?" Tony: "They're cigars...") for my boss's fiancé, who'd requested them for his stag party before I went over. They cost 107.5 CUC, which is about $120. I brought a few back for me and friends to have when we go to the horse racing next month.

I was allowed 50 cigars in my hand luggage; after that, I'd have needed a 'receipt' - I'm not sure how difficult it would have been to declare them, security was pretty light for that sort of stuff.

Havana Club rum is incredibly cheap - less than £2 ($3) for the biggest bottle of white, and not much more for gold and dark. You could only take 2 bottles through your hand luggage.

That's the best tan I've ever seen on a Brit!

Probably having lunch on the 33rd floor of a building overlooking Havana harbour. It's the dining room from which I took those aerial shots.

TIS, if I understood a tour-guide correctly, the fine for a US citizen for travelling to Cuba is $75,000; a certain Mr. Stallone, to whom this fine is evidently pocket money, apparently goes there annually.

Very nice photos, Mick. I see you also got some shots of the Riviera, the hotel Lansky built (and lost nine months after opening it in March 1958). I envy you going to Cuba--I can't.

Ironically, we were in Miami Beach until today. One of the highlights of our visit was a concert held at a synagogue formed by Cubans who left in 1960. The concert featured a plethora of Cuban musicians, who are among the finest in the world.

The US government badly screwed up its initial relationship with Castro. But Castro screwed up, too. Plenty of Third World dictators with far fewer brains than he has were able to play off Uncle Sam against the Soviets and Chinese to their people's benefit. Castro took an inimical position, to his disadvantage. Cubans are among the most accomplished people on this planet. Too bad Castro regarded his substantial middle class as a threat, called them "guzanos" (worms) and invited them to leave. They've been building the US, not Cuba, ever since.

That beach looks nice. I've wanted to try legitimate Cuban cigars, especially some "illegal" Monte Cristos.

Gee Blake, how old are you now? Seemed like you were a little kid when you first got here. Look how the years have passed.... cigar man now.

Nice pics mate

I must say Capo as a heterosexual, you're one of the better looking Marxists I've seen. Just saying.

Funny enough some weeks back Castro publicly admitted the "Communist model" failed in Cuba, which isn't a surprise considering how Havana after the Wall fell basically sold its pussy out to European corporations and Chinese investors.

Personally from my end, I wonder if both Cuba and China suffer from having the worst vices of both socialism and capitalism mixed together in the same governmental culture.

Capo looks suspiciously like a capitalist kid on vacation rather than a Marxist. Just saying.

Outstanding pics. Wait until the commies are out and all those old buildings are restored.

None of the Eastern Bloc states were ever socialist.

Haha, I don't know what either a Marxist or a capitalist looks like, though I do know the working class are allowed family holidays, especially when they work all year round for them.