HAVANA, Hotel National, Old Havana, VINALES, CIENFUEGOS AND TRINIDAD

www.cubabuddy.ca

La Giraldilla – The symbol of Havana

The Tocororo – Cuba’s National bird

HAVANA, VINALES, CIENFUEGOS AND TRINIDAD

The first thing you want to do when you arrive at Jose Marti International Airport is to go to the Money Exchange booth and exchange the Canadian dollars you have for Cuban Convertible Pesos CUC’s. You should receive about 1 CUC for every $1.29 Canadian dollar but rates vary. Do not bring U.S. Dollars because you will loose big time in the exchange process. Euros are good to exchange if you are from Europe. Once you receive your Cuban Convertible Pesos you now have something you can spend in Cuba, BE AWARE – they do not take Canadian money in Cuba, you can use a Trans Card, an Amigo Card or a Mastercard drawn on a Canadian Bank but you have to make sure the establishment takes these cards before you sit down and eat. Claim your baggage and walk outside of the terminal but do not take the first taxicab to offer you a ride into town unless the price is right. Cuba is getting like a lot of popular tourist destinations and taxis are out to get as much money at the airport as they can. The normal rate to travel from the Havana airport to Vedado or Central Havana is about $18 to $20 CUC. Taxi drivers will ask for $25 CUC or more, I refuse to pay $25 CUC and I will walk down the row of taxis until I find a good OK taxi that will take me to these areas for $20 at the most. Tell them to leave the meter running if they want more than this. OK taxis or Pan Taxis are the cleanest and the newest cars on the road in Havana so I stick to these companies, you can probably get a cheaper taxi ride once you are in Havana City but the cars are not so nice. If you want the best taxis in town for the same price as the other cars just go in front of one of the major Hotels and you can get a Mercedes Benz taxi. Once in Havana always ask the price of everything before you buy it or ride in it and ask if that price is for one person or for two people especially for the bicycle taxis, the horse drawn carriage taxis or even for a dish of ice cream at the Copellia. In restaurants you eat at, look at the menu prices and keep track of what things are costing even if you have to mark it down with a pen and paper and when you are finished make sure you see the check and add things up before you pay for it. I add a 10% tip if the service is good but in some restaurants I’ve been to they add the 10% tip onto the bill before you get it and they have an extra charge sometimes if you pay by Mastercard. Havana is a city of two million people most of whom are hard working, friendly and honest but Cuban people make less in a year than the majority of Canadians make in a week and a small percentage of them will try to supplement their living wage at your expense. In some restaurants, in museums and in the ice cream Copellia they have one price for Cuban people and another price for tourists so be aware of this, this is the Cuban way and any complaints usually fall on deaf ears.

Havana has 500 years of history behind it and the best place to start to see it is in Old Havana.

The Old Cathedral – There is lots of activity in this area

Richard and Diane walking on busy Calle Obispo

Calle Obispo is a very busy shopping district

Calle Obispo

La Floridita Bar – is an old haunt of Ernest Hemmingway, in fact there he is standing beside Richard and WD at the bar.

To the right of the statue of Ernest is a picture of Hemmingway with Fidel, the picture over Richard’s head is of Hemmingway, Spencer Tracy and crew.

Richard and Diane relaxing in La Floridita Bar in Old Havana. They say the Daiquiri was invented here and it wouldn’t be right not to have a drink with Ernest when you are in Havana.

We arrived at 11:28am, the doors open at 11:30am and we had the whole place to ourselves for 5 minutes and then it was over flowing with tourists from everywhere in the world.

Remember to try a Daiquiri here, they are famous for them.

Is smoking banned in Public Places in Cuba?

Four of every 10 Cubans smoke either cigarettes or cigars but President Fidel Castro gave up smoking in 1989.

Cigar exports bring in about $200 Million U.S. every year and Cuba has always been producers of top quality tobacco.

I seen a lot of NO SMOKING signs in bars, restaurants, in airports and even in the upscale Hotel National, BUT in reality the authorities do not have a handle on the situation. Who is enforcing this law? The signs are up BUT, no one is enforcing the law as far as I could tell.

I seen the NO Smoking signs up in restaurants and on every table there are ashtrays. In the 1930 Room of the Hotel National where Diane and I went to see the Buena Vista Social Club on our last night in Havana they have No Smoking signs everywhere, ashtrays are also everywhere and when I asked the waitress about the No Smoking signs and how come some people were smoking cigarettes and even cigars all over the place when people were eating and trying to enjoy the show ‘she just shrugged’. Some people have told me authorities let tourists get away with everything they want but the Cubans are also smoking in mostly Cuban frequented establishments. It is hard to get away from the smokers in Cuba and if the authorities in Cuba are serious about enforcing the No Smoking law then they should make the restaurant management, Hotel management or the Airport managers responsible for the enforcement of this law. In Cuba the breaking of some laws can put you in jail for a very long period of time but the No Smoking law in Cuba is not enforced as it is in Canada and foreign tourists who have become accustomed to not breathing second hand smoke should complain to restaurant, hotel and airport management about the lack of respect for our rights as non-smokers.

I always complain about people smoking in my space and if more of us complain maybe the Cuban authorities will eventually enforce the No Smoking law in Hotels, restaurants, bars, airports and other public places.

In 2007 I saw less people smoking in restaurants, at the bus station and in other public places and even at the Havana Airport there was hardly anyone smoking and of the 5 or 6 people I did see smoking approximately 3 of these were airport employees and one of them was an airport nurse.

View from the roof of the Grand Lodge of Cuba building. The large building in the background is the Capital building which is

modeled after the Capital building in Washington, DC.

The Freemason Square and Compass sits on top of a globe of the world that sits atop the Grand Logia of Cuba building in Central Havana.

This building is 11 stories high and is the second tallest building in Central Havana, the tallest building is the main Roman Catholic Church across the street, and the church is a few feet taller.

Francisco, Osmundo, Richard and Diane on the roof of the Grand Lodge of Cuba building with the main Catholic Church in the background.

Osmundo was the Grand Master of Freemasons in Cuba 2007-2010 and Francisco the Deputy Grand Master.

Osmundo was kind enough to point out places of interest in Havana from the rooftop of the Freemasons Grand Lodge Building.

The building is located in Central Havana on Avenue Salvador Allende.

The house where Jose Marti was born is now a museum

Jose Marti’s birth place is well visited, it is well worth seeing but the area near the train station is best avoided after dusk.

We walked through the “non-tourist section of Old Havana” to get here and saw much poverty on the way.

We went to see the Buena Vista Social Club perform on our last night in Havana, they played in the 1930 Room of the Hotel National. Wow, what a show.

La Coppelia – is a place to buy Cuban ice cream, the ice cream is very good but you should ask the price before you buy.

Cuban’s pay less than tourists.

HUMANITARIAN AID TO CUBANS

Distributing anything in Cuba can be quite the experience.

I took 2 dozen t-shirts to Havana once and decided to hand them out to a bunch of youngsters hanging around watching other youngsters playing baseball. Dozens of youngsters dropped what they were doing and rapidly ran towards me. I almost panicked, hands were appearing out of nowhere grabbing for a t-shirt, I managed to get them handed out in half the time I originally thought it was going to take.

I only know of one organization that is working with Cubans but I'm sure there are many more.

Masonic Relief for Cuba has their Humanitarian Aid distributed through the Freemason Lodges in Cuba, they send medical instruments, medical supplies, multivitamins and cases of Ibuprofen, shampoo, soap, lotions, Glucosamine, Chondroitiin, MSM, Polysporin and water purification tablets.

I am a Canadian Freemason and many Cubans I have met have one family member who is a Freemason. Freemasons help the entire community not just other Freemasons and they have proven to be one of the most honest when it comes to getting the goods to the people who need it the most. I have met 2 surgeons in 2 different cities in Cuba, they were Freemasons and other members of the Cuban Freemasons are from all walks of life.

Here is a link to this Canadian Organization and you can give my name if you contact them.

My name is Richard Snowdon, Halifax Nova Scotia.

http://nelsonking.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=30

If you read this page it will say the items that are most needed by Cubans.

As you are aware over the counter non-prescription drugs are not available due to the cost and prescription drugs are very difficult to obtain. The average income for a Cuban is $20.00 - $25.00 per month, the cost of aspirin or any drug is very expensive for them. There are 30,000 Regular Freemasons in Cuba and The Gran Logia de Cuba has a Masonic Home for the Aged and there is a desperate need for these non-prescription and prescription drugs.
For the last 10 years Masonic Relief for Cuba has supplied both non-prescription and prescription drugs to the Masons and The Grand Lodge of Cuba.

Cubans will take almost anything and they will be happy that you gave them a gift.

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May 16, 2007

Hotel National, the Buena Vista Social Club, Old Havana, Havana Airport, La Floridita Bar in Old Havana, Jose Marti International Airport, HAVANA, VINALES, CIENFUEGOS AND TRINIDAD