Cuba and Havana
A lot has been said about Cuba, everyone finds their own there: colonial architecture and nature, rum and cheerful Latin music. For me, Cuba is, first of all, people. Cubans are open and sociable, cheerful and spontaneous, it seems to me that over the past twenty years we have lost these qualities. When I came to Cuba for the first time, I had the feeling that I was in my childhood, pioneers in red ties walk the streets, parades are held that I liked so much 30 years ago, Soviet people walk around me, only their faces are dark-skinned. And the fact that in a bar you can buy a bottle of rum “from under the counter”, and our shops are one to one, and guides who studied in the USSR and remember it with great warmth, and much more so reminiscent of the recent past....The feeling that he came to the Soviet Republic and all around us!
But the service in the hotel, nevertheless, is Spanish. Everything is decent and normal. A lot of animation - dancing, games, and a lot of good live music, as well as light sand and sun.
Excursions, as usual, are taken to places where tourists can spend money. So Havana, of course, is more shown from the bus window or driven along the restored streets. I, like many others, had a desire to see the city again, but on my own. I was lucky, I met a nice woman - Idalmis, she studied at the university in Moscow, now she works as a guide for a major tour operator. She and I went to Havana in her father's 1955 Chevrolet, walked where tourists are not taken (it turned out to be completely safe, which is what Cuba is good for! ), Had a very tasty dinner (a lot of meat and lobsters, everything for $ 15), walked along the night streets and at the end of this amazing day we also visited the Grand Theater of Havana (they watched the ballet, the theater is still headed by the great Alicia Alonso). All this cost the same as a group tour ($50-80 per person). For those interested, Idalmis's home phone number is +5345284269 (or 005345284269 you can call directly from your hotel room). I wish you all a pleasant stay and a lot of good impressions! Olga