TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

I seem to bump into Ernest Hemingway in my travels. The legendary American writer and journalist has travelled and lived extensively in Europe and in the Caribbean. I came across his paths in Spain, Switzerland and Italy. In Cuba, we managed to share a daiquiri with him at the historic, El Floridita Bar Restaurant in Old Havana. Here is a wikipedia in English as well: El Floridita “My mojito in La Bodeguita, my daiquiri in El Floridita” —Ernest Hemingway Now, these daiquiris were the most expensive cocktails we ever had in Cuba at CUC$6 which we did not mind anyway because we need to spend the last CUC$ we have. Click here to read and see our pictures during our mojito visit at La Bodeguita del Medio , another Hemingway watering hole hangout. Blondine and I managed to return the car on time (5PM) at the hotel and we asked the car rental agency if we have enough time to go over and have a drink at El Floridita before they send us to the airport. Of course they replied yes. 30 ...

This has got to be Blondine’s favourite Cuban dish during the entire holiday. I’m not a meat lover though but I can swear on the Dutch flag that this ‘Ropa Vieja’ is really, really good. Cuban-Creole Cuisine is not world famous; the base is usually meat and rice which reminds me of Filipino Cuisine. In fact both have great food, perhaps too focused on meat, but sadly they lack the aesthetics. We discovered this dish on our second night in Havana. On our first night, we only had mojitos for dinner, haha. It was past 20:00 and we were walking on Calle Obispo searching for a cosy restaurant. We didn’t want to go that far because we don’t have enough time. The Cuban Cabaret show that we booked will start sharp at 22:00 and we have to be there earlier. There are quite a number of restaurants and paladares on Calle Obispo but we want a place that will speak to us. Many of the restaurants were too generic looking accompanied with loud live music. Then we came across this cosy restaur...

This Cuban holiday could have easily been captioned as ‘cocktail holiday’. Blondine and I have drank our way through Cuba with so many cocktail concoctions. I will of course blog them as I go along =). Cuba is one of those countries that makes superb unpretentious cocktails. When we arrived in Havana Thursday evening, and after checking-in at Florida Hotel , the first thing we did, which have been in our minds throughout the flight and weeks before the holiday, is to order a mojito. Mojito originates in Cuba. It is somewhat the national drink and many would argue that the birth place of the mojito is at ‘La Bodeguita del Medio’ bar (located near Plaza de la Catedral). This bar has become famous because of Ernest Hemingway who frequently came here in the past. They say it’s his favourite bar to drink a mojito. There is even a handwritten note from him secured in a glass plaque hanged in the bar. Because of the bar’s crazy popularity it is always busy here. Tourists visitin...

Blondine and I were still stunned from the scam experience but our priority was to get out of that seedy part of Havana, fast. So we desperately held on to the map trying to find out where we were exactly located and how we were going back to the old centre. Not the best tapas we've had but it was OK. It was also past 1 in the afternoon and we were starving. We still have 1 plaza in the agenda—Plaza de la Catedral (Cathedral Square) so we unanimously agreed that the square will be our next destination. I really need to sit down and recover, so hopefully, lunch and booze will help drown our sorrows from the scam incident. Thankfully Plaza de la Catedral cheered me up. It’s officially my favourite plaza in Havana, along with Plaza Vieja . We didn’t have to go far to search for food as well because a 18th century mansion converted into a restaurant is right on the square. ‘Restaurante El Patio’ might be very touristy but it probably is the best place to sit in the plaza. For this res...

While Blondine and I were heading to our next plaza in the agenda—Plaza San Francisco, a local couple struck up a conversation with us. The woman smiled at me, ‘Hey, you look like Cuban! And the dress you wore is also very Cuban. Very colourful!’ I have made the decision not to disclose her name, although we never know if she told us her real name. Cubans are a mixed-race. The ethnicities varies from African to mixed colour to Caucasian. You’ll see very black people here, chocolate browns, mixed people from light to dark tans and white people, some even with freckles. So I guess, I can pass as a Cuban =) Nevertheless, we smiled at the couple, did small talk and continued to walk further. I was preoccupied with seeing Plaza San Francisco but just before we reached the plaza, we bumped into the local couple once again. This time they told us about the 3-day Salsa national holiday and that the salsa clubs are waiving their entrance fees. They also said that they can show us Fidel Ca...