lunes, 2 de septiembre de 2013

Meeting Paola´s family

Paula in Havana


I´m used to write a few words about each tour. I love keeping those moments, a phrase, a question, a discovery. But this time I better share the words of someone else. Her name is Nora and she came to Cuba with her husband and her daughter.



We had never been to Cuba, and in 2012 decided to visit around Christmas because the temperature should be the least hot, and therefore the best, around that time. We did not know a lot about Havana and thought that taking a tour with a guide would be a great way to get to know something about the city and about Cuba in general. John had been trying to book one or two nights in a “casa particular” for the first nights in Havana and had found a highly rated B&B which unfortunately was already booked.

However, the owner of Casa Maura managed to arrange other lodgings for us, and she brought us in contact with a guide, Madelein. We did a tour that was customized to our interests starting at 2 pm. She knows a great deal about the city, and anything else you might be interested in. We are originally from Holland, and for us Havana and Cuba were “something else”. So we had lots of questions ranging from the naïve “why is there a line of people there?” to the practical “how do you negotiate with a street artist on the price of a piece of art?” and Madelein answered them all.


Cocotaxi in Havana

We toured the old city and admired the different styles of buildings and visited, among others, a famous pub where everyone leaves their autograph “la Bodeguita del Medio” and a Greek orthodox church. I really admired the sculpture of a family in which each member was “doing their own things”, but in the spirit of being together. It would seem that families in Cuba are very much like families everywhere…



The table of silence in Havana

A concert in Havana
 The entire day was one of the highlights of our trip and we never ran out of interesting topics of conversation. At the end of the day, we invited her to dinner, and she suggested a place that is very popular and gives value for your money. When we parted company in the evening we wished we could have had more time.
We can highly recommend this tour.

Paula in Havana

Old Square in Havana

Tobaco plantation in Pinar del Rio

Paula in Pinar del Rio

Paula in Cuba

Paula and her Mom

Cuban nature

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