Copacabana Hotel Havana

... seeing all these old American cars driving around for two weeks, we really wanted to go for a ride in one. So we found a 1957 Ford convertible, and for 30 CUC's, we hit the streets for an hour. It was pretty good cruising thE streets, and when I asked if I could look at the V8 under the bonnet, I ****** myself when he showed me a 2 litre Toyota turbo diesel. <br><br>And just to make sure we saw everything on a tour, we took another ...

... rom, og smake saa mye vi ville. Men den skulle drikkes bar, slik den var ment! Etterpaa tok han oss med til en sjokolade-cafe, der de laget cubansk sjokolade i alle former og storrelser. Vi (jeg, lene, og to av de norske jentene) bestilte 4 smaa gitarer i mork sjokolade :) Resten av dagen brukte vi bare paa aa gaa rundt i gatene, ta bilde av de genialt kule bilene som kjorer rundt her, og bare ta inn innstrykkene Havana. Vi spiste paa en ...

... Castro can hang on to see the 50th anniversary of the revolution on 1 January 2009. Looked at from afar, Cuba has to be one of the most fascinating sociological experiments of the 20th century, and you have to wonder what could have become of the country if they had been more inward-looking during the '60s and beyond ...

... rarely visited by tourists, so most little shops and corner stands accept the Cuban peso and have signage reflecting the same. A small bunch of flowers was advertised at $12.00 pesos (about fifty cents). The young lady tied together my choice of flowers. "Cuanto cuesta por favor?" I ask. "Doce pesos" she answered. I pulled my CUC's from my pocket and separated a $1 CUC note, knowing I would receive about 12 Cuban pesos in change. But she now ...

... with our hotel tour rep we explored further in town, stopping off to draw some money, which involved a 1 hour queue outside the 'cambio' in the hot sun and then an 11.5% commission charge!! It's fun being a tourist. We visited another hotel and had a drink whilst we waited for their rep. We paid hurriedly as soon as she was free, so we could catch her. The next 2 day tour was Monday/Tuesday, which meant we would be away on New Year's Eve and we had decided to be in Havana for ...

... in itself, landscapes and historical paintings (as opposed to other countries, where the first local artists made "colonial" painting, called "mestizo" but still in very formal format, adding pieces of local culture in paintings that were made on order from colons or clergy). The Cuban art then develops into something as varied and interesting as in western countries, obviously connected to American and European art, for the best I would ...

... would purchase on their behalf, again no cash was forthcoming. George and his 'lady'as he called her were very grateful! Notwithstanding the fact we have resolved to ourselves not to speak to many more well-meaning and very friendly Cubans (we just can't afford it), it is indeed a sad state of affairs where you cannot buy milk in your own country and it can only be sold to tourists (and yes, I do believe the story, as the cashier was would not hand over the milk to George ...

... made a risk free profit. Even as I write this it still seems too inconceivable to be true. <br><br>I hopped into the back of a fairly modern cab and, while I noticed the no smoking signs on the back window, the driver casually puffed away on a cigarette as we rumbled out along wide and straight avenues in the warm light of late afternoon. The roads were clogged with old American and only slightly more modern Eastern and Western European cars and trucks. I spotted my first ...