TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Blondine and I were right on time. We arrived at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Vedado, which is in the outskirts of Old and Central Havana around 4PM. We need to bring back the car to the hotel in Old Havana by 5PM but before doing that we would like to unwind with some cold mojitos and lovely view to the Malecon esplanade (Avenida de Maceo) on the gardens of Cuba’s oldest and historical hotel, Hotel Nacional de Cuba. Ah, our last few hours in Cuba... Here is the history of the hotel: Hotel Nacional de Cuba We were actually in this hotel earlier in the trip. We watched the Cuban cabaret show: Parisien which was a colourful and lively evening of dancing and music. I have also looked into staying at this hotel but was discouraged to find out that the hotel is located outside Havana centre. So no go. We booked at Florida Hotel instead which is right in the smack of Old Havana; the highlights were around the corner and the rest of the interesting spots were a walking distance of...

I’m actually amazed to see so much culture in Cuba. Stunning colonial buildings, vintage American automobiles, fragrant cigars, a smorgasbord of cocktails, superb coffee, sugarcane-tobacco-coffee plantation ruins, the union of Roman Catholic and Santeria, and of course the life and soul of Cuba, its music and dance, it is everywhere. Cuba is home to the habanero, guaracho, cha-cha-cha, rumba, mambo, but to us non-Cubans it is salsa that we are quite familiar with, although cha-cha-cha is big in the Philippines as well. People say that a holiday in Havana is not complete without watching a Cuban cabaret show. Music, the singing and dancing, is the blood that runs in the vein of every Cuban, and a cabaret show is a great platform to see the fusion of Cuban music and dancing. Now that is a splendid idea to spend our second evening in the country! We heard that the most popular of cabaret shows is the ‘Cabaret Tropicana’ and the most expensive as well because dinner and drinks are i...

Because Blondine and I wanted to see Havana in a grander scale, we succumbed to doing the touristy Havana Bus Tour. It does not cost a lot anyway (CUC$5 per person for a whole day access to the bus) and it would be interesting to see Havana from a different viewing point—on top of a moving bus. The Capitol and National Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment in Havana Centro. The locals refer to this grand piece of architecture as Capitolyo. Unfortunately, no one can be admitted inside unless you have official business to conduct with the ministry. The Havana hop-on hop-off tour buses leave at Parque Central in front of the Inglaterra Hotel (beside the Capitolyo) but because this is Cuba, we had to wait for a long time. Like I said in my last entry, time does not only stand still in Cuba, it does not almost exist. There are 2 routes; it used to be 3 routes they say. The first route is the Havana route and the other goes to the playas (beaches). We did both but for this en...