TENTATIVE ITINERARY A week in CUBA for the Havana International Book Fair FEBRUARY 16-23, 2013 Saturday, February 16 . Arrive Miami, check in at Miami Airport Hotel Dinner on your own. Group meeting at 7:30 PM. Meet in hotel lobby. Sunday, February 17 . Transfer to Miami International Airport [5:30 AM] . Arrive Havana from Miami; meet your Cuban guide . Check in at hotel in Old Havana with lunch . Walking tour of Habana Vieja . Presentation by Rafael Hernández on “Cuba in Transition” . Dinner Monday, February 18 . Presentation by Fernando Saez, Ludwig Foundation, “Cuba, A Dancing Island” . Havana International Book Fair: This year honors the 160th anniversary of the birth of José Martí. Experience hundreds of exhibits from publishers, booksellers, and artists as well as lectures, readings, concerts, and plays . Rehearsal of leading Cuban contemporary dance company (10 CUC pp) . Visit Plaza de Revolución . Conversation at Hotel Nacional with Jorge and Tomás Rodriguez re: US/Cuba relations . Dinner Tuesday, February 19 . Day trip to Matanzas, City of Bridges: A city known for its poets and artistic communities. Visit the San Severino Castle Slave Museum and other historic sites. Stop on return to Havana at Finca Vigía, Hemingway’s Estate in San Francisco de Paula . Dinner on your own at paladares Wednesday, February 20 . Visit Casa de las Americas . Visit National Library of Cuba . Free afternoon . Dinner Thursday, February 21 . Day trip to Las Terrazas, Pinar del Rio: A nature reserve located in the Sierra del Rosario mountains. Dinner Friday, February 22 . Visit the Museum of the Revolution . International Book Fair . Visit Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes . Dinner Saturday, February 23 . Depart hotel for Jose Martí Airport and return to Miami [8:00AM] FUN THINGS TO DO DURING FREE TIME IN HAVANA Take a Coco Cab ride to Callejón de Hamel to see the amazing murals by the renowned Afro-Cuban artist Salvador Gonzalez. Off Calle San Lazaro, near the University. Not recommended on Sundays when the area is extremely crowded. Visit the Taller Experimental de Gráfica, Experimental Workshop of Graphic Arts, where you will find prints of higher quality, and higher prices, than those offered by street vendors. Callejón del Chorro, a short alley jutting from the southwest corner of the Plaza de la Catedral. Visit Hemingway haunts in Old Havana – El Floridita where local lore says the writer invented the daiquiri, the Ambos Mundos hotel where Hemingway lived before he bought the estate in San Francisco de Paula (his room there is a shrine – you can visit it for a dollar), or La Bodeguita del Medio. Walk along the Malecón and then take the short ferry ride to El Morro. The fortress that guards Havana Harbor took 40 years to complete and for years protected Havana from pirates and in 1762, from the British attack. There is a museum inside, and great views of the city. Walk to the Havana University campus from the Hotel Nacionale. Have an ice cream cone nearby at Coppelia – the wildly popular and HUGE Cuban ice cream parlor nestled in a pocket park near the University. Visit the shops along Calle Obispo and the open air market at Plaza de la Catedral (except Sunday). Have a nightcap at El Patio, Plaza de la Catedral. Enjoy the music and the romantic atmosphere. Visit one of Havana’s famous jazz clubs: Two of the best are La Zorra y La Cueva (calle 23 Esq. a O, El Vedado) and the Jazz Café (third level of the Galerías Paseo mall, Avs. Paseo and 3, Vedado). 10 CUC minimum. The drinks are cheap, the music is great. We do not recommend the food. .