| - To get into the tropical atmosphere of Cuba | | | | |
| at its fiftieth. Among the American | | | | Hemingway Museum |
| automobiles, the smoky bars of Havana, the | | | | |
| effect is assured. | | | | Address: San Francisco de Paula, San Miguel |
| | | | del Padrn, 12 km from Havana |
| - For its fantastic sea. Cuba offers about | | | | |
| six thousand kilometers of splendid Caribbean | | | | Schedule: 9-16; Sundays 9-12.30 |
| coast, with beaches and cliffs for all likes. | | | | |
| | | | Entrance is paid |
| - For the people's hospitality, not always | | | | |
| interested as it is wanted to make you | | | | Dedicated to the enthusiasts of North |
| believe. The Cubans are people full of | | | | American writer who lived in this building |
| happiness and eager to leave, people who love | | | | from 1939 to 1961. It was here where |
| to find the foreigner, just to exchange | | | | Hemingway wrote Whom sound the bells for and |
| ideas. | | | | the Old man and the sea. |
| | | | |
| - To smoke the best tobaccos in the world, | | | | Music National Museum |
| made by hand with the leaves of Vuelta Abajo. | | | | |
| You can also attend to the making of the | | | | Address: Calle Crcel, Havana |
| tobacco in a factory or maybe inside of a | | | | |
| big hotel, where there are exhibited in | | | | Schedule: 9-17; Sundays 8-12; Closed on |
| parties, authenticate preparations for the | | | | Mondays |
| tobaccos artists. | | | | |
| | | | Entrance is paid |
| - To travel through out the town of | | | | |
| Hemingway, a North American writer that lived | | | | There are exposed numerous Afro-Cuban musical |
| in the island from the 1939 to the 1961 and | | | | instruments, besides the Fernando Ortiz |
| where he wrote some of his romances. | | | | anthropologist's private collection. Disks, |
| | | | scores and instruments are sold, also some |
| GEOGRAPHICAL DATA | | | | concerts are presented in the museum saloon. |
| | | | |
| Located in the Caribbean Sea, Cuba, with a | | | | CUBAN CUISINE |
| longitude of about 1.200 kms and a surface of | | | | |
| 110.860 Km., is the biggest island in the | | | | The traditional cuisine in Cuba is excellente |
| biggest Antilla. It is at about 200 Km. from | | | | and it would be a sin to get lost looking for |
| the island of Keys and it is close to The | | | | other inetrnational plates, proposed in other |
| Mexican peninsula of Yucatan in and the | | | | local. The Cuban culinary art is born from |
| island of Hispaniola. More than the main | | | | the encounter of the precolumbian cuisine |
| island, The Cuban Republic gathers all the | | | | with the African, French, Spanish, English, |
| isles and islands that surround it. Great | | | | and the Hindu and indonesa. The result of |
| part of the Cuban coast is low and sandy, | | | | this is a miracle of the balance. There are |
| with numerous bays and areas of lagoons and | | | | fruits very often so as (mango, papaya, |
| paludose. Its interior is of plains, | | | | avocado,) mainly to accompany salted plates |
| interrupted by the Sierra de los Organos to | | | | and to form part of the base of cocktails and |
| the west, the Sierra del Escambray to the | | | | drinks.It is used a lot the pig meat, lots of |
| center and the Sierra Maestra to the east. | | | | chicken, mainly in the inside of the country, |
| Its population is of about 11 million | | | | while in the coastal restaurants are intend |
| inhabitants. | | | | exquisite sea plates: fish, crustaceans |
| | | | cooked in several ways. The national plate is |
| Time Zone: -6.0 (summer); -6.0 (winter) | | | | the "ajiaco" a soup with the help of potato, |
| | | | banana, corn, calf meat, Chicken, and dry |
| Duration of the days 13.5 hours (June); | | | | meat. Another typical food is the "congri", |
| minimum 11.0 hours (December) | | | | made with black beans and rice cooked all |
| | | | together , accompanied by "pig pork |
| WHEN TO GO | | | | cracklings". The "fuf" is on the other hand a |
| | | | banana puree seasoned with "mojo", a fried |
| Period better: February, March | | | | lightly of oil garlic and cumin. Do not loose |
| | | | teh oportunity to taste the "Creole lobster" |
| Good period: January, April, December | | | | that is nothing else but a fried lobster with |
| | | | tomato, onions, peppers, spicy pepper and |
| Worse Period: September, October | | | | sour orange juice. Among the candies the |
| | | | "boniatillo", made of sweet potato and sugar |
| WEATHER | | | | and the "coquito acaramelado" also "la mala |
| | | | rabia" also made of sweet potato sugra cane |
| The dry station which is naturally the best | | | | sirope, cinnamon and sweet orange shell. The |
| period to go, begins at the end of October | | | | diffused drink is the coffee, served to the |
| and finishes in April. The rains station is | | | | American way, that is to say not few, and the |
| from April to October, but in these months | | | | rum is pure that serve as base to any |
| precipitations, although are abundant always | | | | prepared swig or the numerous cocktails so as |
| occurs in the half-day and for a short | | | | Cuba Libre, the Rum punk or Pia Colada. Cuba |
| period. | | | | also produces an excellent beer. The |
| | | | diffused national marks are the Mayabe and |
| What to take | | | | The Lagarto. |
| | | | |
| Without doubts the bathing suit. And then | | | | FUN/SHOPPING |
| summer clothes, shirts and cotton pullouvers, | | | | |
| short and long pants. And do not forget | | | | Who doesn't know the Cuban rum and tobacco, |
| besides, the shoes for walking in the | | | | known for everyone as best in the world? In |
| afternoons, to take also a pair of sandals. | | | | the island there are lots of opportunities to |
| | | | return home with some good music, |
| CULTURE/MUSEUMS | | | | revolutionary souvenir and why not an |
| | | | automobile of the fifty years. |
| City Museum | | | | |
| | | | Tobaccos |
| Address: Plaza de Armas, Havana | | | | |
| | | | The tobaccos or cigarettes are of different |
| Schedule: 9.30-18.30 | | | | sizes, they are sold loose or in elegant |
| | | | wooden boxes. Just to see them makes yoy buy |
| Entrance is paid | | | | them although you are not a smoker, maybe for |
| | | | a beautiful gift. The prices are almost half |
| One of the main museums of histoty and | | | | of the prices in Italy. For example a box |
| culture of the isle. It offers a rich | | | | with three Montecristo Sigars N.4 costs at |
| exposition ofartistic testimonies bengining | | | | about 10 American dollars. They can be bought |
| from the colonial period up to firts years of | | | | in the stores. At Havana in the House of 5a |
| the republic. | | | | and 16 (5a Ave y 16). In Santiago in Casa del |
| | | | Tabaco (Ave. Jesus Menndez 730). Pay |
| Revolution Museum | | | | attention to the conservation of the tobacco. |
| | | | An adequate humidity is needed for them. |
| Address: Palacio Presidencial, Calle Refugio, | | | | |
| Havana | | | | Craft |
| | | | |
| Schedule: 10-17; Saturday up to 18 | | | | Cuban craft reflex the influence of diverse |
| | | | cultures, mainly the African. Many objects |
| Entrance is paid | | | | are related with the santera, the Afro-Cuban |
| | | | religion diffused per excellency in the |
| All that is wanted to know about the myth of | | | | island. There can be dolls of pieces and |
| the Cuban revolution is exposed in this | | | | ceramic, masks made of paper mach and wooden |
| place, in the ex-presidential building that | | | | sculptures. Puppets of tamarind seeds are |
| housed as last tenant, the dictator Batista | | | | also made. Pretty hats palm feathers fibers |
| up to 1959,documents, registrations and | | | | or of knitted coconut. Baskets and bags are |
| movies on the revolutionary epic poem. | | | | also made. In old Havana there is the Craft |
| | | | Palace (Calle Cuba 64). In Santiago in the |
| National Museum | | | | Craft House (Cathedral Plaza). |
| | | | |
| Address: Calle Trocadero, Havana | | | | Foods |
| | | | |
| Schedule: 10-17; closed Tuesday and Wednesday | | | | The rum is bought obligatorily and the most |
| | | | famous mark is The Havana Club in several |
| Entrance is paid | | | | versions: Liquor, the most economic; Carta |
| | | | Blanca 3 years and particularly used for the |
| The exhibition is divided in several | | | | cocktails. Carta Oro, 5 years, and the most |
| sections. The pinacoteca, with linens from | | | | refined matured during 7 years. The precise |
| Spanish, Englishmen, Danish teachers, among | | | | goes from 4 to 7 American dollars each |
| them stand out Velsquez, Murillo, Goya and | | | | bottle. For adventurers the most valuable rum |
| Turner; the Egyptian old art collection, | | | | in Cuba is the retained Matusalem, product |
| grecian and Roman, considered the most | | | | from Santiago de Cuba matured during 25 |
| important in Latin America, the gallery | | | | years, it can be around the 15 dollars the |
| dedicated to the Cuban painting from the XVII | | | | bottle in Casa del Ron de Obispo y Bernaza in |
| century to our days, the ceramic collection, | | | | Old Havana. |
| and a space for the contemporary exhibitions. | | | | |