Cuba Vacation Patrol

Havana is a city almost 500 years old. There is a lot of history on every street. Every “barrio” or neighborhood has stories to tell, and secrets to be discovered by the curious visitor.

Although the “Castillo de San Carlos de la Cabaña” never saw combat, and never fired its guns against an enemy, it is associated with very grim episodes of Cuban history.

When you travel to Cuba, you immediately know you´re travelling to a different World.

Join Ed "The Cuban Guy" as he shares the colorful culture, history and people of his native island. Cuba, here we come!

It is December. Winter is already upon us. Cold fronts cross the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Straits, and hit Havana’s Malecon, or sea wall, creating an impressive spectacle of breaking waves, crashing against the Malecon and turning into foam…

December is also the time of year for movie lovers. The Havana Film Festival, or more properly, the International Festival of the New Latin American Cinema starts in the first week of December. This year it will be the 37^th edition of the Festival, from December 3^rd to the 13^th.

Havana has been called a City of Porches. Located on the northern coast of the Big Island of Cuba, it is geographically on Latitude 23.14 North. This means the sun beats mercilessly upon its streets and squares. Why would any city be known for its’ porches?

Havana is absolutely beautiful. Such a classic and vintage city! As you walked down the street, the colorful vintage cars passed by on the street, more variety of colors in the buildings than ever, bicycles zooming by, and the smell of the ocean fills your nose! All of this “newer” city, taking almost 100 years to build, has been “frozen” since 1959. The city has received no maintenance, hardly even a paint job, for the last 50 years. There is truly a sense of cultural beauty without franchise name ads like McDonald’s, Starbucks, or KFC. Instead the shops and stores are all owned by “Ma and Pop stores”.

It is a warm evening in Old Havana. You maybe had an early dinner, and are walking along the narrow streets of Old Havana, looking for one of the watering holes, to enjoy a refreshing Daiquiri, or Mojito, and listen to some live music played by a guitar trio… Or you are looking for a “paladar”, a private restaurant, for a late dinner, after a long day visiting museums or any other interesting place… 

The Castle of San Carlos de la Cabaña was the largest fortress built by Spain in the Americas. It was, however, built too late. It was never attacked, it never had the chance to fire its hundreds of artillery pieces against an attacking enemy, and its ramparts were never tested against siege and assault.

There is a very characteristic thoroughfare in Havana. It extends for five miles along the ocean front, looking out to the Florida Straits and the Great Blue River, also known as The Gulf Stream; between La Punta, where Paseo del Prado starts, and the Torreon de La Chorrera, at the mouth of Almendares River. It is the Malecón or Sea Wall Drive.

After the change in policy towards Cuba started on December 19, 2014, the number of American visitors to Cuba has increased in more than 50 percent. There are two names, specific to things in Cuba, that every visitor is most certainly going to hear and probably try to pronounce. These two names are symbol of the changes in Cuba towards some form of free enterprise: “Casa Particular”, and “Paladar”.