Indulging in Cuba

Indulgence, one of the deadly sins, is next to impossible to avoid in Cuba. Havana city built its history on delicious food, flowing rum, tobacco, and Afro-Cuban music. Today all continue to strive despite oppression and poverty. Locals and tourists alike flock the streets and parks to enjoy local musicians and a cocktail. The communist leadership and extreme oppression of Cuba are heavy and hard to understand but I will share more about my social and political observations in a post to come...  

Food 

In Havana small family or private restaurants are popping up all over the city. If you enjoy "plated" meals and don't mind limited options, these restaurants offer delicious food and a fun experience. Most include a drink (or two), appetizer and/or bread, soup, meat of your choice, sweet potatoes/plantains, veggies, rice, AND flan! We also enjoyed dinner at Los Nardes, one of Havana's most popular restaurants  loved by Cubans and tourists alike! And I know why, the food was delicious (and HUGE portions), the sangria perfect, and the deserts a perfect end to the night! We waited about an hour in line OUTSIDE and spent easily 3 hours indulging! We also ate at the oldest restaurant in Havana, "Dos Hermanos". 

Shrimp Creole

Delicious Roasted Chicken at Los Nardes!

Leg of Lamb at Los Nardes

We also had a Cuban birthday celebration at "The Lotus" in Havana's Chinatown, another famous resturant with huge portions and great prices. Jeanette was so surprised, especially since she didn't even know it was her birthday! But the flaming flan and serenade was enough to justify our little white lie.     

Flaming Flan at "The Lotus"

Drinks 

The girls and I followed Cuban tradition by enjoying our fair share of mojitos and daiquiris around Havana. Both were "invented" in Havana and made famous by Earnest Hemingway. Hemingway wrote, "My mojito in La Bodeguita, My daiquiri in la Floridita" These drinks are especially tempting as they run less expensive (and certainly more delicious) than a coke or water in many places! 

Earnest Hemingway's "Floridita"

Cuban Daiquiri

The Bacardi building stands tall and beautiful above Havana but today, sits empty as the company moved its empire to Puerto Rico. Instead, today "Havana Club" runs the scene in Cuba, its factory and parent store located in Old Havana and its labels plastered on restaurants and bars around the city!  

Cristal - Cuba's (one and only) Beer

Tobacco

While I must admit, not a single one of us smoked any cigars during our trip, we decided to tour the "Partaga's La Casa del Habano." The different types of cigars vary by length, fatness, and the ratios of types of leaves. The leaves have differing flavors and strengths based on where they come from on the tobacco plant and where the plantation is located. The rolling specialists are trained in every type of cigar but once they become professionals they make just one type of cigar for quality control, size and ratio of leaves in each cigar, so one "roller" completes the entire cigar making process. The cigars go through quality control when testers smell, taste, and measure the cigars. Lastly another department and color specialists match cigars by color so that each box has a unified color. Each employee gets to keep 10 cigars each day for personal use. When you complete the tour, you can purchase these cigars directly from the workers... in my opinion this was a fun way to help the individual employees and "chose" a special cigar. 

Fresh off the presses... literally. 

Music & Dance 

Salsa is king in Cuba but the Afro-Cuban rumba is queen. Live music and dancing are everywhere, an outstanding number of people make their living as musicians and/or dancers. The constant pressure to give tips to people on the streets to whom you kindly said no thank you is a little much, but in restaurants and clubs the live music is a nice touch. 

We visited two music/salsa houses during our stay in Havana. Hotel Florida, a popular and small salsa club full of dance teachers and their tourist dance students. Dancing here was fun because the Cubans were used to dancing with learners and there were enough bad dancers to make you feel comfortable with your not so amazing Cuban salsa skills. A couple of the girls and I headed to the "Casa de Musica" for a Mikael Blanco concert. In this venue, those not dance teachers or advanced students were shamed to swaying in front of the stage or sitting in the back. We gladly watched Lenka dance her shoes off and fended off the Cuban dance teachers.   

Casa de Musica - Habana Centro