CUBA, THE NEAREST NON-CONTIGUOUS COUNTRY TO the USA, is one of the most difficult to visit. Readily accessible to Canadians and Europeans for years, American passport holders are nearly encouraged to fib on their tourist card. For example, we had to disguise our birding trip as a humanitarian mission to satisfy US authorities. We were lucky, too — our guide didn’t feel obligated to stick to the itinerary, letting us tour not only Havana, but Cienfuegos and Trinidad as well.
Pink Cadillac '23 Citroen; best in show
I had expected to see a parade of Detroit heavy metal from the ‘50s and wasn’t disappointed. Chevys, Fords, Dodges, Caddies and even a finned DeSoto like the ’57 we used to own. The best in class was a 1923 Citroen in pristine condition. Judging from the number of pink cars, someone must have gotten a deal on pink paint of a shade that would make Mary Kay proud.
Smokin' Mama
I also expected to see everyone smoking big Havana cigars, á la Fidel himself. As it turns out, Havanas are expensive even in Cuba, much too much for Cubans, who earn between $30 and $100 per month. And while Cubans are paid in Cuban pesos and shop in so-called “peso stores,” the stogies are sold in tourist shops where the currency is Cuban convertible peso or CUC$, which is about equal to the Euro. No problema — we don’t smoke!
El Morro Old Havana
Havana itself has a European feel, a bit run-down but still interesting. The people pretty much ignored us. Maybe it’s a communist thing or maybe they aren’t interested, but no one begged or tried to sell stuff to us. Gretel, our guide for the day, did a pretty good job while avoiding any mention of the revolution or politics, two verboten subjects.
