Wow Factors of Cuba

WOW FACTORS: “Cuba – La Isla Bella” Created by “Bo Thijssen” Havana, 19.03.2020

A LO CUBANO – INSIGHTS INTO THE DAILY CUBAN LIFE

How to live like a Cuban in Havana? Well, first you need to get up very early in the morning to get your daily things organized. Buying food, goods and transport are still a big challenge, which require lots of patience, time and improvisation. In Europe you probably get done 3 times more things in the same time. Your English speaking guide will pick you up at the hotel and bring you to an „Agro-Mercado“ – a typical farmer’s market in the city, where you can still buy fruits, vegetables and meat from the provinces in CUP, the Cuban peso - the currency of the locals. Visit a „Bodega“, one of the small „shops“ run by the government, where you can see Cubans buying other important subsidized goods very cheap with their so called „Libretta“ – the ration card. During the visit of an elementary school or of a family doctor at a typical Poli-Clinico, a medical center, as you can find it in each block of the city, you will learn more about the free Cuban education and/or health system. During a part of the tour your transport will be a „Rutero“ or a „Maquina“, the typical old classic American car or „Lada-.Taxi“, which the Cubans use as a collective means of transport. Don’t miss having a look into one of the big supermarkets or department stores, where also the Cubans have to buy goods in “divisas” or CUC, the Cuban hard currency. Finally the excursión will end at a typical „Solar“, where you can see Cuban men during their favourite “sport”, playing domino - also an important part of Cuban life and despite of all the daily “challenges”, they always find some time for it.

Senses of Cuba by TOURCOM Edificio Bacardi, Oficina 404, Calle Monserrate 261, La Habana Vieja, Cuba Tel.: +53 (0) 7 866 47 34 // Mail: [email protected] // www.sensesofcuba.com Created by “Bo Thijssen” Havana, 19.03.2020

ARTS & DANCE

The morning begins with a guided tour through the Grand Theatre „Alicia Alonso“ in Havana, named after the legendary former prima ballerina and director of the world famous Cuban National Ballet. The splendid stage area and the entrance hall with its columns and statues around an imposing marble spiral staircase impress „Aficionados“ of Opera and Ballet from around the whole world. Further on to Marianao, where you will visit „Havana Queens“ in an old theatre. The young dance group, winner of several Cuban „Lucas Awards“ for their successful participation in many Cuban music videos, is probably the best and „most hip“ modern dance ensemble in town. Watch and participate in a training session of the young talents. You will sit directly on the stage, where the Swiss manager and/or the Cuban choreographer Rosario will tell you their fascinating story. Followed by a visit of „Fusterlandia“: The artist Fuster, also known as the „Gaudí of the Caribbean“ is renowned in whole Latin America. With his ceramic arts he changed the streets and houses of his whole neighborhood integrating the local people into his social project. If you have luck you can meet the artist personally at his impressive house and studio, the whole complex looking like a modern art museum. After enjoying your lunch at art paladar „El Atelier“ visit a gallery of young Cuban artists such as the studio of Arian Irsula, who will show you some of the avant-garde masterpieces of himself and his colleagues during a Mojito or a Cuba Libre cocktail and explain you more about the exciting art-scene of Havana.

THE COCKTAILS OF HEMINGWAY

In the morning a 1950s American vintage car with English speaking guide and driver is waiting for you to take you to Marina Tarara East of Havana. On bord of a small private yacht, the captain will introduce you to the secrets of deep sea fishing while your can listen to anecdotes and stories of Hemingway and his passion for catching big swordfishes. During your boat tour including open bar you can also try your own luck, an angling equipment is at your disposal. Later you will visit the former fishermen’s village of Cojimar, background for Hemingway’s nobelprize winning novel “The Old Man and the Sea“. Short walking tour the seafront with the statue of the famous American writer and lunch at his favourite haunt restaurant and bar „La Terraza“ (specialty fish or seafood), where he also created the cocktail „Don Gregorio“ named after the captain of his yacht. Further on to his Finca „Villa Vigía“ in San Francisco de Paula, where he welcomed his illustrious guests celebrating fiestas with filmstars such as Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich and famous Spanish toreros. In the late afternoon continue to the „Floridita“ in Old Havana, where you can try the „Papa” his personal Daiquiri Cocktail creation (he drank up to 12 per day). After a visit to the Hotel Ambos Mundos, room 511, where he wrote „For whom the bell tolls“, your day ends with a Mojito, naturally at his favourite haunt „La Bodeguita“, which especially now in the early evening unfolds its nostalgic flair.

PERSPECTIVES: OVER THE ROOFTOPS OF HAVANA

Havana from above. Discover the city from an unusual perspective and enjoy fantastic views over the city from famous or little-known and hidden look-outs and viewpoints. Your tour starts in the morning or late afternoon with a visit of Camera Oscura. The live-panorama goes back to an idea and concept of Leonardo Da Vinci and is projected on a big table at the highest floor of a building 35 meters above Old Havana. Followed by a small Salsa or percussion class with afro-cuban rhythms on the hidden rooftop terrace of a casa particular. From the bell tower of the Cathedral San Francisco de Asis you can enjoy one of the best views over Havana Bay and to the Christ Statue opposite the harbour. Afterwards enjoy one of the best views over the rooftops of Old Havana during a refreshing cocktail, before you are driven in your American vintage car to Vedado, where a 1950s „high speed lift“ will bring you to the 26th floor and the panorama bar of the FOCSA Building for an aperitif or sundowner. The building from 1958, high above the American Embassy was constructed in the shape of a boomerang as a protection against hurricanes. Listen to anecdotes and stories, while enjoying the breathtaking round view to the Revolution Square, the legendary Hotel Nacional, the former Havana Hilton and over the Malecon to Old Havana. Finally you will have lunch or dinner at the prominent cult paladar “La Guarida” – “the hardest table to get in Havana”, location of the famous Cuban film “Strawberry and Chocolate”, nominated for an Oscar in 1992. The cocktail bar on the roof top terrace with its panoramic views, where also Madonna celebrated her 50th birthday, is among the most “hip” nightspots in town.

THE MAFIA IN HAVANA – STORIES FROM MEYER LANSKY, SANTO TRAFFICANTE TO LUCKY LUCIANO AND AL CAPONE

„December, Hotel Nacional“ was the code for the legendary, probably most important and opulent Mafia Congress (1946) in the history of the italo-american „Mob“, also mentioned in the famous movie „The Godfather“. Disguised as an „Homage to Frank Sinatra“, who had to sing and perform as an evening entertainer for the big bosses, more than 500 „delegates“ from New York, Chicago and Las Vegas were holding their conference in an extraordinary peaceful and solemn atmosphere under the direction of Lucky Luciano. Learn more about this and many other mob stories during our excursion „The Mafia in Havana“, while chauffeur-driven in your stylish American 1950s vintage car. Thrilling anecdotes about Mafia Boss Meyer-Lansky and his direct connections to dictator Batista, about drug trafficking and the sizzling, decadent, scandalous nightlife of the 1950s with its cabarets, brothels and casinos. From Mafia-Hotels like the Riviera whose swimming-pool until today has the shape of a coffin, to the American B-Movie star and doorman George Raft, whose gangster face even forced Fidel Castros revolutionaries to withdraw, when they came to destroy his casino at the Capri Hotel. Our English speaking „Mafia-Guide“ will lead you through Havana’s former underworld and show you the relevant locations including a lunch at a former popular Mafia restaurant. And please do not forget the tip, as otherwise perhaps you might not leave Havana alive.

EXCURSION ANGERONA, LAS TERRAZAS AND SOROA

ABOUT COFFEE, SLAVES AND FORBIDDEN LOVE

„Roble de Olor“ – „Scent of Oak“ (2003) is the title of one of the most beautiful movies in the world of the New Cuban Cinema. It centers around a European plantation owner, Cornelius Souchay, who came to Cuba in the 19th century and his tragic relation to a black woman from Haiti. During our tour you will learn more about their touching story and visit the antique Cafetal Angerona, still a secret and rarely frequented by tourists. Until today in the ruins you can feel the spirit of the legend. Not less tragic: the story of Tomás Felipe Camacho, who in 1943 founded the famous Cuban orchid garden of Soroa in memorial to his daughter, who died as a young child. When later he also lost his beloved wife, he totally dedicated himself to his flowers collecting more than 700 species of orchids from around the whole world. You can overlook the garden with more than 20.000 plants and the surrounding landscape from the romantic Castillo de las Nubes (Cloud Castle) before you continue down to the water cascade Arco Iris, another miracle of nature, which you will reach via 296 steps. Followed by a visit to the multiple times awarded eco-community of Las Terrazas, set in the UNESCO Biosphere Resort Sierra del Rosario. After a walking tour through the village with its arts and handicraft market enjoy a rustic creole lunch with panoramic views at Cafetal Buena Vista, the ruins of a former French coffee plantation, before you take a refreshing swim in the natural ponds of the Rio San Juan or (for those with more courage) join a Canopy Tour over the valley. Back to Havana in the late afternoon.

Senses of Cuba by TOURCOM Edificio Bacardi, Oficina 404, Calle Monserrate 261, La Habana Vieja, Cuba Tel.: +53 (0) 7 866 47 34 // Mail: [email protected] // www.sensesofcuba.com