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"Today, short of officers, and with its young members having been born smaller due to chronic malnutrition, not even the PNR is free from the traces of exodus and misery in Cuba." https://havanatimes.org/features/new-batches-of-uniformed-smurfs-arrive-in-havana/

In Havana last month I was out in Espacios with a friend, Rita McNiff. Rita (Irish-American) runs tours in Cuba and has been living in Havana for about 6 years. Rita introduces me to a friend of hers, Jeff. Jeff stands for Jose Emilio Fuentes Fonseca, he is the artist who created the elephants on parade in the Miramar Trade Centre in Havana and he has a great story. The next morning, Rita and I visited Jeff at his home/studio, he gave us a tour and then brought us over for a tour of the elephants. When he was a child in Viñales (he’s 47 now) he picked up a hand grenade in a field that blew off most of his left hand. I mentioned that he was lucky that that’s all that happened with a hand grenade, it must have perished somewhat over the years, but I suppose luck is relative! Anyway, as a child he dreamed of having a large family, lots of brothers and sisters to play with in the countryside. For whatever reason, he ended up being an only child. Then when he got married, he dreamed of having lots of kids to make up for his own lonely childhood. He found out he is sterile, he believes it was due to chemicals he was exposed to as a child in Cuba. So no kids. He went to ISA in Havana and graduated as an artist. In 2009 he tried to enter the 10th Havana Bienal ( art show held in Havana every two years to promote modern art from developing countries) with his herd of elephants. He close elephants as he always thought of them as very caring, social, gentle, family-oriented animals, which I suppose they are. And for him they represent the families that he did not get to have, as a child and later as an adult. He was turned down for entry into the show as he was told elephants “have no relevance to Cuba”. So he turned to guerrilla tactics. On the night before the show started, he got 45 friends and whatever vehicles he could, to line the elephants up on the Malecon, 12 elephants, adults and young, near the Prado and the friends stood guard (they were moved after that to a different location every 8 hours for the 5-week duration of the show). On the morning the show opened, the installation that the art world talked about most was the herd of elephants on the Malecon. Since then, Jeff has had an invitation to every Havana Bienal. An extremely nice guy, I ended up spending quite a bit a time with him, some great insights into the Cuban art scene and industry, basically it’s still the Wild-West. Tax-evasion, fraud and money-laundering is still the norm and seemingly officially accepted. When I explained to him that this would not happen in most other places he said, “Claro si, pero aqui el sistema de impuestas es muy joven!” He has been commissioned by the Cuban government to install a piece outside one of the ministries, I can't remember which one. He showed me a picture of the piece as it will be when finished. An 11 metre (4-story) tall tree with a life-size mother elephant talking the last leaf off it to feed it to her child, representing shortages and sacrifice in Cuba. It's extraordinary. In his home/studio he is building a bar and small barbeque restaurant, the proceeds of which will fund a foundation for young artists. It looks like it will be a bit like a mini-FAC, I promised I’d have an event there and I'd love to. It will probably hold 20-50 people and in Vedado, not far from the Habana Libre. It should be open by February. I think it will be a great little spot. He likes cigars, at lunch one day in Espacios he bought a Monte 2. I made sure it was the last cigar he bought in my company. I can’t speak highly enough about him. One of the people I met on this trip that reminded me how much I missed Havana. By the way, any Americans thinking of travelling to Cuba, get in touch with Rita. Nobody knows better than her the requirements and procedures for US-residents getting to Cuba at the moment. Some pictures/video Jeff at his home/studio in progress Jeff and Rita The Jeff Jeep At the Miramar Trade Centre. He uses Hydro-forming expansion to make the pieces. He has a horse and a calf (I know) outside Espacios On my last night, I was going to have a early night, Jeff and Rita came out to dinner with some other friends to Restaurante Yarini in Habana Vieja. After a birthday party for Punch Joe there and a birthday party for Punch Joe in Espacios, we (the stragglers) ended up in 1ra y 70 in a bar called Bom Apetit. Yarini This was Baileys as we had already had a bit of a mix over the night that involved, wine, rum, tequila, amaretto, Frangelico etc. That's Vivian Melendez, manager of the LCDH Melia Cohiba, with us. Fun night/morning. A well-ventilated ride home. That's Jessica, one of the waitresses from Espacios who joined us in 1ra y 70 after her shift. I'd spent some time with her and her boyfriend the previous week. The bar at Jeff's studio.

I landed last Tuesday, and have not really had time to do this until now! The currency situation makes things more complicated here. I have no idea yet how uninitiated travellers ae managing it. Some others on my flight changed money at the airport, though not many. So the word is out. A friend picked me up the airport, so no money needed, and another friend called around to my place that evening and we changed money. We spent 20 minutes counting out he 170,000 pesos. A sizeable brick of cash. I got new wallet last month in Spain, spent a bit of money on the Moroccan leather, it’s now stretched to f***. The euro fluctuates, it came down a little last week here as there is now some more coming into the country as things open up a little. It had been up to 90 pesos to a euro but came down to 85. It’s varying between 83 and 88. People on the street come up to me and offer me 70. More of that stuff than normal but still quite few tourists around. I’m hearing 70 pesos to a USD but I can’t confirm. Euros are a better deal here at the moment anyway. I have bought cigars with a credit card in shops. The rumours of cigar shop prices being advertised in USD, but then the euro amount charged, are untrue. Prices are in USD, I don’t know how they get away with that. Anyway, for example, I bought a box of cigars and two custom rolls from Arnaldo in the Melia Habana. The total was $95 USD, I checked my bank statement, I was charged 86 euro. Taking my bank’s commission into account, that’s fine. Odalys from Partagas gave me a tour of the new Partagas store, work is progressing, it’s a great location. The shop will have a very similar layout to the old one, they even brought the same spiral staircase. The new shop will be a little smaller. Work has been slow. They were hoping to have it open this month. I would guess it’s 2 months to two years to completion. That’s an accurate guess for here. Melia Cohiba hotel and shop closed until February. Comodoro open and there are cigars, Alex is still away. They have Santiago 11 year old there. Price has gone up to 47.95 and the bottle has a new label. It doesn’t look like 7.95 worth though. Melia Habana open. Good stock in the shops here, still some San Cristobal regionals around. Though fewer since I got here. Some Cohiba though not many. No Siglo VI, I have not seen Esplendidos or Lanceros either. The weather has been changeable, often showers in the evening which makes organising a night out difficult. I promised my wife I’d stick to outdoor venues and that has been largely successful. 1ra y 70 is the spot for very late nights, about 7 beach bars there, most open 24 hours. We left at 6 am this morning. Saw the sun-rise there last week. Pinar del Rio, I visited Salvador Carvajal. He is not planting until next week. Criollo 98. He says that’s what he always tries to plant. Hector Luis Prieto planted last week, seedlings in the ground. The weather is causing some problems. Too much rain and the young plants getting damaged but not a huge issue. Hector’s old roller, Miguel, now has his own place down the road. A little B&B, growing his own coffee and a very nice smoking spot in his garden. Pancho Cuba (Francisco Milian) died this year. Not covid, a pancreatic issue. He was not a young man though. Sad all the same, a very kind man. I was going to call to Hirochi but the road out to his place was dug up by tractors and we couldn’t get the car down. I wasn’t up for the 1 mile walk off the main road in the afternoon heat. Lunch in Papo’s place next door was great. The harvest this year was as good as last year’s. Both better than the previous three years. After a concert on the roof of La Guarida on Saturday, I had a brief chat with Oscar Riconte, Habanos Director of Quality. He’s optimistic about upcoming supply. Of course. I’ll be meeting some more of those lads at a dinner on Thursday. I’ll find out what I can. Factories are all open, some with fewer rollers. The black market has exploded. Lots of evidence that more people got involved in order to survive the pandemic. Unboxed, banded cigars shipping in bulk to Canada (then into US) and Spain. I think it at least partially explains some of the supply issues. Yarini is the new restaurant in Habana Vieja that everyone is talking about these days. Very nice rooftop place, palm trees in pots and cool music. I went afterwards to a dive bar called Melodrama, on Obrapia y Villegas, to see someone I know playing there. More my cup of tea, though not for everyone. I have been hanging out quite a bit with some European distributors, in town for work and kicks. I’ve had a few sun-uppers with them. No power cuts (other than local lightning-related) , no lines for gasoline (currently). The town is quiet but getting busier by the day. I’m having a great time but not enough time to see everyone. Having dinner with Machin tonight in Bone’Ma around the corner from my place. Some quick notes to follow for anyone planning on coming here. Bring a few face masks, it is the law here to wear one all the time including outside and in your car. Don’t try to beat that rule, it’ll just waste time spent talking to a uniform. Though very little Covid here now. Still.. Bring euros if you can. Some things are more expensive here. I paid 25,000 pesos for a bottle of Havana Club 15 year old in a nightclub on Friday, I thought the waitress said 2,500. It was late and lesson learned. We still used it for cubatas. Really nice cubatas. But most things are a similar price as before, with the good rate. If you don’t get a good rate, things are 2 – 5 times more expensive. I was out for dinner last Wednesday with a very close friend here, she nearly cries when she sees the bill amount. She has a 16 year old son, “how can he ever take a girl out to dinner”. So she’s out of here as soon as she can. She has a new US-resident boyfriend so that should help. At that dinner, the last president’s grandson “El Cangrejo” was at the next table with his entourage, living it up. My friend was fuming, I’ve never seen her that angry. If you remember that viral video of Fidel’s grandson, Sandro, in a Mercedes e-class last year, that was an older (maybe 15 years old) w211 model. El Cangrejo had a fleet of new w213s. Hotel food and drinks are bizarrely cheaper now. A Nacional Ham and cheese sandwich was 6cuc forever, now it’s 150 pesos, the official exchange rate. But with the euro rate, that’s less than €2. Beer in the hotel, 100 pesos, just over a euro now. Although, the Nacional had no beer and no cola of any description last night. So it was mojito or sparkling water. I’ve never known the Nacional to run out of beer. Bring mosquito repellent. Dengue is in Havana now and there is less fumigation than before. I’d guess about 20% of the people I know here have had it or a close family member has. Not pleasant. I’m being eaten. It’s perfect weather for them now. Bring lots of paracetamol and Ibuprofen for people here. I brought 2,000 of each and wish I had tripled that. Some places are not open yet, FAC, Floridita, Monserrate. Though most places are. Some with reduced hours. We were kicked out of El Sauce at 10pm last night. Espacios open until 3am, Mio y Tuyo 5-6am, etc. For anyone sending me private messages, sorry if I don’t reply right away. I’m on 200-500 messages a day with stuff to do here and other questions. I’ll have more information when I get a chance in the next few days. Some pictures, if someone could fix the upside-down ones, that would be great, I'm in a bit of a rush. Brick of cash Melia Habana, Arnaldo Ovalles and stock Santiago in Comodoro, 11 year old not pictured Tataki in Santy, still good. Club Habana and Miriela Espacios prices Sunrise on my first morning. A quiet Nacional. Of course they dug up the driveway the week the travel restrictions were loosened. Conde de Villanueva closed Restaurant Yarini Bar Melodrama Carlos Balino factory open Partagas progress Odalys of Partagas New Havana Clubs Coffee at Miguel's Salvador Carvajal Hector A lancero at Papos Marlin tacos and moonlit jazz in La Guarida. A Sunday afternoon panel tasting of some 1982 Punch Nectares No. 2. The verdict is that they are very nice. Out with my old neighbours from Jaimanitas in 1ra y 70

This finally arrived on the shelves of our Provincial gov't's liquor monopoly shelves. Looking forward to try it ASAP.

Too funny if it wouldn't be so sad ... What a f#+?d up country and gvmt ! Three eggs a month only and NO fish in a Caribbean island surrounded by rich fishing grounds Hope you are fortunate to live in the capital .... ------------------------- The PCC congress multiplies the eggs in Cuba but does not achieve it with the fish In April there will be four more "controlled" eggs for Havana and one for the rest of the provinces 14ymedio, Havana | April 16, 2021 https://www.14ymedio.com/cuba/congreso-PCC-multiplica-huevos-Cuba_0_3077092266.html The imminence of the Eighth Congress of the PCC, which begins its work this Friday, has had a beneficial effect for Cuban chickens and in rebound, for residents of the capital. This was announced on Thursday, with great satisfaction, by the Ministry of Internal Commerce with the announcement of a substantial improvement compared to the month of March: in April there will be four more eggs for sale "controlled" for Havana and one for the rest of provinces. The ministry considers it an "improvement throughout the national territory in the availability of this product for controlled sale in relation to the previous month." In March, the people of Havana were only able to enjoy three eggs, in addition to the five standards guaranteed by the book throughout the island. There has not been the same luck with the medical diets that include fish, which the ministry will have to substitute with chicken in Havana and Santiago de Cuba, while in the rest of the provinces it has been able to assure it "with its own sources." The list of products that the State should guarantee, and cannot, continues, because there is not enough canned meat either and it will be necessary to replace it "partially" with chicken, depending on availability.

Taken from this post. Here's a recent list of rollers that was put together. See credits below. Roller || Address || Notes Alejandro Gonzalez Arias || Hotel Comodoro Cigar Shop at 3ra Ave. & Calle 84, Playa || Replaced Santos. Word is good on his sticks. Leopoldina Gutierrez aka 'La China' || Partagas LCDH at Calle Industria #520, Centro Habana || Great personality, excellent roller. Get whatever you can. She can't roll as much as she used to. Arnaldo Ovalles || Hotel Melia Habana LCDH at 3ra Ave. between Calle 76 & 80, Playa || Replaces Yolanda. Maria || Quinta y 16 LCDH at 5ta Ave. and Calle 16, Miramar || Unknown to me. Amaury, and Reynol || Club Havana LCDH at 5ta Ave. between Calle 188-192, Playa || Worth the visit for his Monsdales alone. His new Robusto Largo is also a winner. Reynaldo Gonzalez & Jorge || Conde de Villanueva LCDH at Mercaderes #202 corner of Lamparilla, Habana Vieja || Another master roller. Known for rolling monster sized cigars. Full bodied blends. Juanita Ramos Guerra || Hotel Melia Cohiba LCDH, at Paseo Ave. between Calle 1 & 3, Vedado || Ask about her Elefantes. Short, chubby cigars, packed with flavour. Milagro Morales || Hotel Nacional LCDH at Calle 21 & O, Vedado || Unknown to me, but a stop for a smoke here is a must. Arnaldo Alfonso Ibanez || Hotel Palco LCDH at 146 Ave. between Calle 11 & 13, Playa|| Great old guy. Can do it all. I like his shaggy foot Lanceros myself. Cueto || El Morro Castle. La Habana del Este, Havana, Cuba || Roller of the world's longest cigar (268.4 ft Guinness record). Credits: * List: Matteo Speranza for Cigar Inspector * Notes:My own.

After a busy week in Havana, I got to take the new GoPro out for a spin. This might bring back memories for many.

Some here that a few of us have eaten in before but I think some new ones too. La Corte del Principe I thought had gone downhill a bit last November. El del Frente is very nice, Tocamadera of course and Beirut Shawarma is nice but not brilliant. I hear good things about their new place, Amir Shisha. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/caribbean/cuba/havana/articles/best-restaurants-havana/?fbclid=IwAR1RBvKO3hNklZ1UNDsBAHWfQ0Oae-Eo7TeRMoHGcWbnctlI9gn04V2s8f8

I got some images this morning from a friend in Cuba with details of the events in Havana for the 500th anniversary. Some of these will overlap with the Partagas event. Quite a bit going on. The big public event on Saturday the 16th, and probably the place to be, is a concert by Los Van Van on the Malecon by the Piragua, that's the space between the Hotel Nacional and the Maine Monument, basically in front of the Gato Tuerto. Anyway, here are the images.

@nino just gave me the idea for this. Quite a few of us have just returned from Havana and some members will be going in the next few months, February etc. Any new paladares to recommend? Or any that have gone downhill since the last visit? Here's my, short, list to begin. Michifú https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Restaurant_Review-g147271-d16227665-Reviews-Michifu-Havana_Ciudad_de_la_Habana_Province_Cuba.html It's very new, not even on the Alamesa app yet. I was brought there by a friend who lives and works in Havana. It's about 1/2 block east (towards Habana Vieja) from La Guarida. Great spot, smoking indoors and out with no complaints, in a courtyard style setting. I was there 3 times for dinner on the last trip. The food is Cuban/Spanish/French fusion. The mixed chicken/pork skewers are very good. So is the ratatouille. A friend had the pargo (red snapper) and was very impressed. It was opened by the original owner of Sia Kará (one of my favourite cafes in Havana). Very cheap. Starter, main and a couple of beers won't be much more than $20. Casa Nostra https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Restaurant_Review-g147271-d10460593-Reviews-Casa_Nostra-Havana_Ciudad_de_la_Habana_Province_Cuba.html Currently my favourite Italian in Havana. Very close to El Sauce. The owners have another place (Il Rustico) in Habana Vieja. They have their own herb and vegetable garden in the back. I test Italian restaurants with a plate of penne and pesto, with the thinking that if they can get simple right... The pasta is homemade as is the pesto from basil they grow on site. It was brilliant, as good as I have had anywhere. They have a wood fired pizza oven. I was told by a friend in the know, to order the octopus. They put the octopus on the pizza spade and shove it in the pizza oven for less than a minute. It comes out crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked inside, extraordinary. I was in the mood for a White Russian (not on the menu), they apologised that they had no cream, until they magicked up a bottle of cream from somewhere about 15 minutes later. Great service. I highly recommend. On the downslope Unfortunately, La Corte del Principe I hate saying this, as it was one of my favourite restaurants in Havana. I was going there with a friend on one of my first days and was warned by some ex-pat friends in Havana that it had gone downhill. There was still a good crowd there. The grilled eggplant and cheese is still very good. But the pasta was stale or poorly cooked and the prices have really gone up. Service wasn't great either. Some of the staff are still the same and I believe it is still owned by Sergio but something has changed. We were charged $66 for two for lunch, what would have been $40 in February. 2 starters, 2 mains, 4 beers and coffee. Honourable mentions of other good places. Tocamadera, ate here a few times again, met @nino there one of the days. Good dining, but I really like the hamburger there, new comfortable outside furniture. Owner and staff are great. La Guarida, still brilliant. Was there for Punch Joe's birthday. Those marlin tacos.. Bone'Ma, I can't remember where I heard of this place, none of my Havana resident friends had heard of it. On Calle 21 between L and M. A block uphill from the Hotel Capri. Very nice spot, lovely staff. Very clean. And they do a doner kebab. Some people will disagree, but I sometimes get an urge for one and had never seen one in Havana. Very decent. They do chicken kebabs but had lamb on the menu in a different dish, they were happy to make lamb doners for us, and the chips/fries were great too. A rare thing in Havana. I brought Stuart there on his first night. I think I saw a tear. Muelle There is a new fairground area at 1 av and 70th in Playa. Bouncy castle, rides for kids etc. It is surrounded by bars/restaurants, chiringuito style on the beach (it's a rocky/concretey beach but nice view of the sea). Muelle is the one closest to the Hotel Panorama (to the west) and is owned by the same people as Espacios. Obviously very new and they're still shaking it out but service was great. Drinks cheap and a great view. I didn't eat there but I heard decent reports. Very nice spot for a sundowner, along the lines of 7 Dias. Espacios Still great staff, good drinks at a reasonable price and very decent pizza as a quick bite. Espacios was our launch pad on many nights.

After 18 months away from Havana I was again able to go for a few days with a small group of the cigar gang here in Toronto. This seems like a good opportunity to provide a quick update and also include a few photos from the trip. The photos are mix of phone and DSLR, so the quality will be different. The colour/lighting/exposure are based on my preferences so that may not appeal to some. Considering the weather we've been having in Toronto it was an excellent reason to get away. Here's what I was leaving behind on the day of the flight to Varadero from the back of the cab: I thought for sure that the flight would be delayed quite a bit but as luck would have it we only took off 2 hours past the scheduled time. Of course leaving on an afternoon flight to Varadero with a two hour bus ride to Havana meant we would not make it to the hotel until late Wednesday/early Thursday. But, that's no matter when the thought of Havana beckoned. We got into the hotel around 12:30-1:00am. Check in, drop off bags and head straight to the back of the Nacional for a quick night cap. The next day i got up early, had a quick breakfast and again headed out to the back for the first morning smoke of the day - can never get enough of this place: First smoke all done, the rest of the gang started to stumble out into the 30 degree (celsius) heat (sorry all, that's up to the attendees to post their own photos). We had to figure out what our day was going to shape up to be like, cigars then shopping, shopping then cigars or shopping cigars and food or some other combination. We decided to have a couple of more cigars at the back then head out to the old city to visit Conde de Villanueva. That is a Reynaldo custom sublime - great cigar. That done we decided to walk around a bit and head over to the Partagas store. It's sometimes nice to get there when there's no festival going on to get the fill of the place, and that we did. We almost had the back room to ourselves. A nice small cigar (sorry no photos, and I can't remember what I smoked) and an espresso rested us well from the heavy workout we had with walking over from the Conde to Partagas. Quick update; neither Conde nor Partagas had anything other than regular production cigars. This was true of most everywhere we went. After the walking trip around the old city what could we do but head back to the Nacional for more smoking before dinner. Again, not many photos of this as I was too busy blissing out on the cigars and cocktails. When dinner time came we headed out to La Guarida: (sorry about the cutoff fidel quote, I was too busy trying to get the flag into the frame and missed) And of course, after dinner back to the Nacional for more, you guessed it, cigars (and some music): (like the cut off head?) Onto Friday. The big day. Rent a car and go cigar shop hopping. First up Melia Cohiba for a quick look at the humidor, all regular production. We then went to Club Habana to pick up some customs there (and I found the first stack of 50 cab Punch DCs. Of course I had to get one). Then onto El Aljibe for some chicken. Too busy eating to take photos (mainly). Popped into the shop there, not much to see. After lunch we headed over to 5y16, again mainly regular production but there we a couple of boxes of Libertadors there. After that onto Comodoro for some puntillas and talk to Alex for a few minutes. Then onto Melia Habana for some coffee - a few more Punch DC 50 cabs here too. Then back at the Nacional for a quick drop off the cigars/coffee, and of course another cigar. Then off to Terazza for an early dinner and then back to the Nacional for a cigar and some more music (are you noticing a pattern here?). The next day was a bit lighter with most of our time spent at the Nacional, but we did make a jaunt out to Parc Centrale for lunch as well as a quick stop off at the Cohiba Atmosphere lounge to check out the stock there. The Cohiba Atmosphere was the only place we saw the Monte Maltes and Dumas together, as well as the only place that had an open box of Cohiba Esplendidos @ 50% markup though (32 CUC). Which reminds me, for the first time in a long time there were many more Cohibas in Havana than the last few trips I made in 2016/17 - Robustos, I, II, III, IV, V and VI could be found in most places. There was one shop that had three pack Esplendidos but I forget which one. As for the Monte 1935 line, there were some Dumas at a few spots. Nacional had four boxes of the Maltes, but they were gone within a day. No Leyenda in any shops in Havana. The last bit of the trip was pretty uneventful. Just lounged around the Nacional mainly. Monday (March 4) was the end of the trip so we headed back to Varadero for the flight back to Toronto. What could the trip be without walking around the airport to check the cigar wares there? There were a few boxes each of the Monte 1935s - Dumas, Maltes and Leyenda. There was a lone box of Cohiba Talisman at one of the counters. And, there were boxes and boxes and boxes of the Punch 2017 - Regios de Punch - LE in the main humidor at the airport. Here are the final batch of random photos from the trip as well as the haul I brought back (the same as the one posted in the Cuban Haul thread).

Gotta love reading the reviews from visitors to Cuba: Quick quiz, which one is by a clueless American? The Penthouse is beautiful and it’s right on the Malecon, 3 min wall to National Hotel and restaurants. The breakfast every morning was wonderful with fresh fruits , veggies eggs and juices. Juvie and Adrianna took care of our every need . The place is absolutely amazing. The views from every room are spectacular. Excellent choice. Would definitely recommend. Isabel is definitely a superhost! This air bnb is outstanding. We came here to celebrate our 40th bday. (Guys trip from college). The place is spectacular. The location is amazing. The views are fantastic. We looked at tons of places in CUBA and this place surpassed all expectations. The rooftop was superb. The rooms were clean and spacious. The showers were modern. We had Juve and Adriana as our in house hostess and they were both extremely helpful and made our trip run smoothly. They are like (Hidden by Airbnb) . They helped with reservations and making sure we had what ever amenities we needed. Honestly I have stayed in a lot of airbnbs and this is by far the most amazing unique one I have ever stayed in. Our entire group could not stop commenting on how amazing this place was. It felt like the four seasons airbnb. Spectacular! We can't express enough how amazing this place was. The location was perfect, far enough away from the touristy cruise ship crowds but close enough to everything that it is extremely convenient. There is a gas station across the street that made stocking up on bottled water very easy but there is a mini fridge stocked with waters and sodas if you don't want to be bothered. Hotel National is right next door which made getting a taxi super easy. The views from this place go on for days and we enjoyed watching the sunsets from the balconies each evening. The housekeepers were available for everything we needed at any time and the breakfast feasts they prepared each morning were delicious! We were only 2 but this place could easily accommodate much larger groups without anyone feeling cramped. Cuba is HOT so the AC's in the bedrooms were much appreciated after long days in the sun. We loved our 9 days in Havana and are looking forward to future visits and would not hesitate to book Isabel's place again. On a side note we would recommend a day trip to Vinales- Beautiful! We also did a walking tour of both Old Havana and Central Havana through freewa (Website hidden by Airbnb) that were phenomenal and were blown away that they were free (except for tips of course). A great way to get aquainted with the city too. THE ADVERTISEMENT WAS COMPLETELY MISLEADING! The house DID NOT have air conditioning throughout. It was only in the bedrooms and two (2) of the units did not work well. There were several plumbing issues. The tub backed up water, there were times when we had no water or only cold water. We could not flush toilet paper, it had to be placed in the trash can next to the toilet. There was no continuous access to WIFI as listed in the advertisement. There was no free parking on premises. There was street parking only. We DID NOT have access to a kitchen and could not prepare meals. Everything that was available was for an additional fee including WIFI and laundry. The WIFI did not work even when we purchased hourly access cards for $2 per hour. There was someone living in the unit with us, which was not disclosed on the advertisement. The first person (Juvi) was very hospitable and pleasant. The second person (Adriana) had a guest stay over night in her room and was often unable to be found when we needed things. The rate changed from $167 per night when viewing in the app to $379 per night when booking. The mattresses were very uncomfortable with springs pressing through into your back so we could not get a good nights sleep. Overall this unit lacked creature comforts. The only upside was the location was close to everything; however, there is constant traffic, noise from the busy street below, the smell of carbon monoxide coming in the windows and load music from the club right next door that blasts music Thursday - Saturday night. I would not recommend this place to anyone nor would I ever stay there again. My family and I feel deceived and ripped off!! Our Stay in Cuba was amazing! We stayed with a group of friends and this was the perfect place to stay and enjoy the beautiful views below from the balcony. The place is even better than the pictures and the hosts were very nice and accomodating. They helped us in making dinner reservations and giving us tips on where to go. There is very limited wifi in Cuba so it would have been difficult to organise our trip without the ladies help. The breakfast was great and the very early morning coffee made before our flight on the last day was a lovely final touch. Thanks so much for having us! Laura Please note all were comments from Americans..... All reviews here: https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/99251202 ----- For us it was: Fantastic place - we had a great time. Perfect location (Tangana!), very spacious and comfortable, outstanding service, highly recommended. Huge props to Isabel, Juvi and Adrienne!

I posted a great review of Paladar Marea this year on my blog - now I am hearing bad things about it from knowledgeable people. http://flyingcigar.de/startseite/havana-2018-hole-in-the-wall-paladar-marea/ Update 07 Sept. 2018 : Looks like the Cuban Paladar disease of "earn 500 CUC today and lose 5.000 CUC tomorrow has affected Marea in Miramar. Good and knowledgeable friends lately have reported shitty food, frozen Tuna and bad culinary experiences there. I spoke today with a group of Scottish friends who had dinner last night there and they reported it was terrible as well as expensive. So be warned - might have been taken over or the cook has been "kidnapped" by higher earnings somewhere else - happens frequently in Havana .... ? Nino

My son, @Ethernut clued me to a post yesterday, from @GotaCohiba who is on a cruise to Havana, and having immigration procedure delay issues. I'm in Florida for the cold months, and scheduled to sail on this cruise, with Royal Caribbean, on Sunday from Miami. We stop in Nassau, Key West, and Havana (7am to 5pm) on Jan 25. To be legal, we scheduled a 3-4 hour tour, and will have 3-4 hours to ourselves and the Cuban taxi drivers. The tour is actually looking pretty good, with a drive down the Malecon, and stops at Revolution Plaza, the Capitol, Morro Castle, El Cristo del la Habana statue, and a drive through Fusterlandia. Royal Caribbean makes trip certification easy by using the following procedure: For ease of completion, of travel docs, Royal Caribbean has arranged the affidavit Into 3 parts: Part A: Guests exclusively participating in the Royal Caribbean tour program should select Part A and complete the identification information in the last section. Part B: Guests traveling on a self-guided people-to- people exchange program should select Part B and complete the identification information in the last section. Part B does allow for guests to split their full-day schedule between tours purchased from Royal Caribbean and activities organized on their own. I chose Part B, and looking forward to a day of full of running around and enjoying Havana for a day. If anything unusual happens in the procedure, as with GotaCohiba (above), I'll post back here.

Hello fellow brothers / sisters I will be traveling to Havana Jan. 13-17 2018 if anyone will be in Havana let me know we can meet for drinks and cigars. If you will not be there during those dates let me know when I travel to Cuba every two weeks. Thanks Robert Rogers

Here is a good tip if you like to take a free tour in Havana and help students in their spare time practice English. One of them is the sister of a good friend of mine, a fantastic roller, Alejandro Gonzalez of Comodoro fame. . Thank you ! I’d like to start the new year with a nice project that a group of students is running in Havana. They offer free tours of Havana in their spare time so as to practice languages and earn a small tip if the tourist is satisfied with the tour. They speak Spanish, English and French and their starting hours are 10 am and 4 pm. Tours take two to three hours. One of the students being the sister of a good friend of mine, Alejandro of Comodoro cigar roller fame, it is a pleasure to promote this project. Here is their contact data : http://www.freetourhavana.com/en The guides always carry a RED UMBRELLA. Find them at Parque Central, across the street of The Grand Theater Of Havana. Mobile : +53 5 3575087 And their Trip Advisor ratings : https://www.facebook.com/freetourhavana/app/254084314702229/ Here is their own description : Free Tour Havana was born as the result of an Andalusian friendship who believed in us and, with many friendly hands, it was materialized. Our purpose is to show Havana´s contrasts. Don´t look and see only the superficial things of our city, ask and know about the worries that usual Cubans have today, uncertainties and hopes of Cuban society. Our tours usually lasts around 2 and 3 hours, depending on the group. On these tours you`ll discover differents life styles within the city. Different traditions, different ways of seeing things. We are a trully mixed society and is our goal to show you all. Nino

I will be in Havana from November 20-27th with a couple other brothers. If anyone will be there during these dates would love to meet for drinks and cigars. Thanks Robert Rogers

Just got back from Havana. Went with some old friends and made some new ones. A slushy Mojito with a Trinidad Vigia. My first ever Vigia. Loved it. The gang relaxing with a smoke at the Melia Cohiba (I think) Browsing the humidor at 5 y 16 The new Kempinski hotel in it's shining glory. Very shiny, but antiseptic. Like an Apple store. We had a smoke on the second floor lounge in the Kempinski. Prices were good, service was great, the ventilation was excellent but IMO, the decor was not fitting for a cigar lounge. Once again, too polished. I prefer smoking in the Partagas VIP lounge. Enjoying an early 1940's H Upmann Cristales with my espresso. A very good smoke that sadly is past it's prime. It had some interesting flavours throughout but had some bland points now and then. Glad I had the chance to smoke one though. My Havana haul (toaster and Nespresso machine not included) Two boxes of Trinidad Vigia Two boxes of Partagas E2 (5 counts) One box of Bolivar Liberatador Bundle of Monsdales (25 cigars) Four Alex PC and Robusto custom rolls. Two Robaina Lanceros and Four Laguito No 5's Four HdM Petit Robustos we split down there. Hotel Nacional ashtray, medium sized (2nd largest one) Ron Mulatta 7 Years Coffee. One Serrano and two Turquino One Cuba word champs hat.

Cheers I'm currently en-route to Havana, Cuba re-routing me from Atlanta airport which has closed in/out flights from now till who knows to lovely New York airport now. Then will take straight shot away from Irma to Havana, Cuba to arrive on Tuesday 9/12/2017......finally! Havana is slowly regaining power back and should be back on at least in Havana by Tuesday when I arrive and the water not exactly sure but I just took a shower in the sink at the airport in Kansas City with couple hand fulls of water.....? As for the flooding in Havana it should reside a considerable amount by Tuesday when i arrive. Have a full itinerary and have extended our stay since the crazy cancellations. Have made sure NO damage was done from the wind to Hirochi Robaina tobacco farm. Unfortunately I cannot say anything 2 hours down the coast opposite of Pinar del Rio to the far end as it was damaged considerably. Those areas sustained a direct hit from Irma and in shambles......sad! Will post many pics once back from trip and cheers all! Robert

Just got in last night with tons of pics from Havana..... unfortunately, I am afraid the storm here has fried my desktop. i will do my best using my phone and hope it gives me same quality as my desktop. it was a BLAST , Enjoy ?????

Hey all! I've been putting off making this post but you all have given me so much in my time on the forum that I knew I needed to give back in my small, but hopefully special for somebody, way. Background: I've been smoking cigars for about 10 years now and been getting much more into cubans in the last 4years or so. I watched a few docs and saw a few different pictures of Cuba and knew that I needed to go. When I took a new job with an unlimited and flexible vacation policy, I knew how I was going to take advantage of it. So I convinced my wonderful wife to do a 10 day trip, 5 days in Varadero with only drinking and beach for the wife and then Vinales for 2.5 days and Havana for 2.5 days for me. Without further ado, let's dive in. Varadero (days 1-5): We stayed at the melia las americas. My wife and I went to an adults only resort for our honeymoon 3 years back and swore that we'd only go to them from that point forward. The hotel was nice enough, food was miserable but all-inclusive is definitely going to do that. Got to play a round of golf at the Vardero golf club (rental clubs were atrocious but it was only $30 for the cart rental). Course was nice enough and it was great to get off the resort for awhile. The beach was great and on day 3 we walked down to the LCDH in plaza las americas. Overall the selection and service was acceptable but not astounding. The #1 thing I found there was a box of sir winnies which I immediately bought. I also purchased about 3lbs of coffee as they had a massive selection. Their singles selection was lackluster and the staff actually screwed me on the purchase (didn't feel like calling them out over $5) of about 7 singles. Our last night there we went to the Hotel Xanadu (An estate that the DuPont family had owned) and went up to the top floor. The entire top floor is windows and so the sunset was astounding. There was also live music although the drinks were more expensive (5$). On day 5 we got a very, very early cab to the viazul station where purchasing a ticket was very easy. Pictures below: Because of the length of my write-ups for Vinales and Havana, I've moved those sections to new posts.

Just did a four day stint in Havana with some good friends. No debauchery, just some good, relaxing times. A Trinidad Topes EL 2016 outside our "hotel" which seemed to be a running joke with the other hotels. Not going to bother with this release myself. Hanging out at Club Habana after emptying the place out of Monsdales. Enjoying a mid 1970's Sir Winnie at 5 y 16 LCDH with an espresso. I like bringing these old classics to their birthplace to smoke. While at 5 y 16, Carlos Robaina handed me his cigar for the day to enjoy. Smoked it later that night at the Nacional. Simply brilliant! Probably the spiciest, full bodied Cuban I've had since the RACF. Some silliness in an old Chevy. Lot's of silly faces in this one. La China rolling at Partagas whilst singing to herself. Enjoying the Partagas VIP lounge all to ourselves. Love this building. So glad they finally finished the restoration work. The leg of lamb at La Terraza. It just doesn't get any better than this. FYI. The clay pot chicken at El Aljibe is worth the 45 minute wait (while you smoke of course) Enjoying a modern classic. El Capitolo facelift coming along. Looking better since my first trip in 2012.

It’s about time I got some pictures of my last trip up here. Great time as usual, one of the best trips yet. I had an old Chicago friend, Sue, come down and join me for a week. One of my closest friends, I hadn’t seen her in ten years and it was great to catch up. My flight got delayed in Paris by just over three hours, for some reason they upgraded me to business, so I didn’t complain. I used some miles to get up to business on the way home too so all good! I got in the Wednesday before the festival, had to check in to two apartments, then straight to the Gato Tuerto. Refurbished but many of the old faces and still smoking allowed everywhere, which is good. The next morning, did a tour of the shops, got a few boxes of SLR Marquez and picked up my usual custom rolls, no shortage of those. Sue flew in that afternoon, then straight to the Habana Libre for more cigars/coffee, then the Nacional for a mojito. Dinner in La Guarida that night, great as always though very, very busy these days. I had made a reservation weeks before. The marlin tacos there are one of my favourite dishes in Havana. Closed the Gato again that night. Juana Bacallao was on, great stuff. Friday morning, over Finca Vigia, Hemingways house, Sue wanted to see it. Much, much busier than it was three years ago when I was last there. Probably 300 people wandering about the grounds. Last time, maybe 50. Worth a look though, interesting stuff. Lunch of Bruschetta and pizza in Nero Di Seppia. Great food, service and a lovely spot. That afternoon over to Conde de Villanueva to see Reinaldo and book the TV for Ireland v France in the rugby the following day. Reinaldo on vacation and the staff didn’t seem too interested in much of anything. The shop was empty. Shame to see that, the Friday before the festival. Some pictures and more to come. Decent rum deals in Dublin duty free Cigar prices in Charles de Gaulle Humidors for sale in the Partagas shop Sue with Hemingsways boat "Pilar" at his house, Finca Vigia The view from his writing desk. Inspirational. More to come.

Havana 2017 I just recently returned from another trip to Havana, my first since 2015. Having been down to Havana multiple times in the past, it’s always interesting to reflect on any changes I’ve experienced in the city. Mental note: don’t do a 7 day cigar trip to Nicaragua and then roll right into a Cuba cigar trip. The positive takeaway is that I already had my ‘Cuban head’ on before I landed in Havana. In the past we’ve always flown through Varadero for a multitude of reasons. The problem with Varadero is that it’s filled with tourists and as a result everything becomes painfully slow. You can bank on taking an hour and a half to get through customs, retrieving your luggage, and the point at which your bus leaves to Havana. Then you get delays from all the various hotels they stop at on the way to Havana. This year some of us flew through Varadero and some of us flew through Havana, for me it was my first experience. Things have improved significantly in Varadero with our group arriving almost exactly on time factoring in the bus ride. They commented that their luggage beat them passing through customs. Impressive. The experience in Havana was similar. Customs went rapidly with a minimum of delay. Baggage came out almost immediately, and from tarmac to taxi it was approximately 35 minutes. Eliminating the almost 7 hours of bus travel from the trip makes the overall trip far less exhausting. CADECA experience In all the times I’ve travelled to Havana, we have always had multiple members of the group ‘taxed’ when changing money. That ‘tax’ either comes in the form of one of your Canadian bills mysteriously disappearing, or some of your CUC not being in the pile. This has lead to us being extremely clinical about changing money. After several money changes, both at the Havana airport and at hotels, I am happy to report that not a single member of our group was ‘taxed’ a single CUC. Prices are up & down, service a mixed bag Hotel pricing is at a level that surpasses premium hotels in Las Vegas. The rack rate at the Nacional is at $375 USD per night, and the Parque Central was $750 USD per night. Now Cuba being Cuba, it’s very possible that most of these rooms are being bundled for tour packages so they have no need to offer reasonable rates outside of those packages. Service at the hotels is at an all time low. The typical Cuba pace of things has reached flat out disinterest at some points. Problems that would typically be resolved by the end of the day drag on several days. People at the business centers are annoyed to even talk to you. Service at the restaurants is at an all time high. Food out 15 minutes after ordering? Mojitos replenished at the tables in less than 5? I’m not sure what is driving this but at times it’s a welcome change not to wait 55 minutes for your food, and 25 minutes for a new set of drinks. Scams are down. Are they gone? In past trips you could always bank on having at least one restaurant experience where extra appetizers or drinks inexplicably show up on your bill. You’d always have a handful of cabs overcharge you for rides. In 2015 my cab scam experience reached an all time high where you’d have to confirm the price being quoted applied to the total ride and not individual occupants. I’m very pleased to report that we did not run into a single restaurant bill issue, and we had several interactions where cab drivers undercut us on price, and refused to accept more. The Americans are here The flood gates have opened to Havana, but the number of American travelers has reduced somewhat. I can’t speak to whether that being a result of the luster of Havana now rubbing off, or prices skyrocketing, but gone are the massive crowds downtown and in various LCDHs. All the Americans we ran into were friendly, respectful, and engaged in great conversation. There were more than a few people who were trying out cigars for the first time, and the questions and interactions were entertaining. I’m confident the some elevators in Cuba are not rated for a group of Americans. I mean that in all sincerity, as many of the people who we ran into were easily 150 – 200% our size and weight. Construction Construction on the El Capitolio building has progressed nicely, with renovations and construction projects being present all over Havana. The speed at which some of these builds are progressing is much faster than the typical Cuban pace. It will be interesting to check in next year to see if it continues. Habanos quality Big ring gauge cigars are here to stay, and it’s clearly the direction Cuban cigars will be going towards in the future. From 65+ ring gauge custom rolls, to EL / LE product arriving at 58+ ring gauge, small ring gauge is out and big ring gauge is in. I am completely disappointed at this shift. I feel I can say that objectively Cuba has had the best small ring gauge and small vitola cigars in the world, for some time. Larger ring gauge product is going to be a tough market in places like Canada and Australia where a combination of taxes and experienced Cuban cigar smokers are going to drive many customers away. There does seem to be greater care and focus on the quality of cigar in terms of the construction and consistency of blends. We definitely sampled some Edicion Limitada cigars that clearly need more age, but regular production stock was smoking very well. Footnote There has been a lot of debate about whether to freeze cigars brought back from Cuba. I’ve known for some time that product not marked for export is not frozen or fumigated. A person who I know and trust implicitly tested a set of cigars rolled from the same tobacco leaf. One cigar was subjected to the freezing process, while the other was not. Both cigars were smoked blind to determine if there was any impact to construction, or flavor. Freezing had no detectable impact. I learned a new cigar party trick. We observed significant background police presence all throughout the city. You could not walk more than two blocks without spotting a uniformed officer. We also observed, with great entertainment, an encounter with two locals which resulted in police on scene in under 10 seconds. The entire exchange was handled in typical Cuban ‘manyana’ fashion. I was able to enjoy some truly exceptional cigars that I no doubt would have never had if I wasn’t on the trip.

I spoke with Prez this morning and he agrees that it would be a great idea to have a gathering for any FoH members who will be in Havana for the Habanos Festival next month. The Habanos Festival is from Monday Feb 27 - Friday March 3. The event will be in the restaurant VIPHavana in Vedado from 4pm to 7pm on Wednesday March 1st. A fairly new restaurant, it's a really nice space and great tapas. Not stuffy at all, it'll be relaxing, fun, a few drinks and cigars, absolutely in the spirit of FoH. A time to share stories of our week so far.. http://en.viphavana454.com/index.php/about-us Finishing at 7 pm as some members will be going on to the mid-week Festival event, in which case at least you'll have had some food before the "dinner". For those not going to the mid-week event, we'll be in the middle of Vedado so there'll be plenty to do afterwards. I am hoping to get final numbers before February 14th so I can give the restaurant some idea of how many we'll be. For anyone going to the festival, please PM me if you can come. Hope to see you there, it'll be a laugh! VIPHavana