Cuba: Hospitable, Inspiring

My holiday trip to Cuba was in the year 2000. I left Vancouver, B.C. in the cold month of February and landed in Havana. My immediate feeling was that here I was on a Caribbean island, how sunny and warm the weather felt, how wondrous the lush vegetation looked with the varieties of plants and beautiful flowers, sweet chirping birds and friendly, smiling people.

My guided tour trip started with booking into a hotel with a friend. Later I ate in the tourist cafe. The food was excellent, orange juice made directly at the site with oranges. The potatoes just had a special taste. The ice-cream was the very best ever. It was said that Cuba won first prize for ice cream in Montreal years ago. Cuban rum was excellent.

I as a Canadian noticed that frequently other buses would arrive at hotels with tourists and asked some of them where they came from. They told me they came from various countries like Britain, Germany, etc., and the Americans bypassing the USA, which does not allow entry into Cuba, so travel around from places like Canada or Jamaica to Cuba

Visit to the beautiful white sandy beaches was especially nice. I could just not take my eyes off the gorgeous turquoise coloured Caribbean Sea.

With our tour I visited cafes where frequently Cuban musicians would play and sing Latin-African Cuban songs and sell their cassettes. I also visited with friends indoor and outdoor concerts and dramas, museums, and Che Guevara and Castro museum. Went to the hot springs, tour guide trip through Havana and bus trip along the island. Visit to the huge outdoor market square was very impressive with many paintings and varieties of crafts on display, and the people there were very hospitable.