It was a short trip, no thanks to Cayman Airlines changing our flight from Thursday to Friday making our already tight timeline even tighter. After sitting on the tarmac for 50mins waiting for the Cuban-Americans to transfer from their Miami - Cayman connection to our Cayman - Havana flight (the “Swamp Loophole”) the fun was just beginning.  

have undergone some incredible restoration. There remains much work in progress but they have done an incredible job revitalizing the area and its buildings. 

It is impossible to walk around Havana, especially while strolling the Prado and Malecón and not wonder what it was like pre the Communist Party of Cuba - the self proclaimed "leading force of society and of the state". It really is difficult to not ask yourself “what if” the buildings had been maintained, what if foreign investment had not been discontinued, what if the Special Period never happened (the removal of Soviet Union subsidies in the 1980’s) and what if the U.S. government had not tried to isolate Cuba economically in an effort to undermine the regime and deprive it of resources (“Five decades of Failure”). Amazingly, even with all this, the spirit of the Cuban people remains high. The soul of the nation can be seen through its artwork and felt from the music that rings out of every restaurant and bar. The one place where the “what if” has been realized is old Havana. Thanks to being inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1982. The restoration of the colonial

buildings is still in progress but they have done an incredible job revitalizing the area and its buildings. 

More often than not people come back from Cuba complaining about the food and dollar value of their accommodation. We stayed at the Hotel Sevilla, fantastically located on the Prado, minutes away for El Capitol and Old Havana. Our last visit was some (5) years ago and we did notice that there were more cars (Peugeots and Fiats) and the food seemed to have improved - how is this so? We enjoyed several seafood meals, numerous mojitos and Cristals all at bargain prices. A place for good inexpensive food and continous music is the Taberna in the Plaza Vieja - it has it own brewery, and is a must stop to relax and enjoy the food. Unlike the locals, we were able to avoid the monotony of eating white bread, slim pickings of pork slices and a piece of cheese. We did our best to go in as many stores as possible to try to see through the eyes of the locals, the bare shelves and the ration shops.. What is obvious is the lack of variety in their diet, vegetables other than onions and tomatoes were hard to come by and nowhere did we find any other cuts of meat than pork. In fact we had a discussion with a local that told us she had never seen a cow let alone haven ever eaten a steak. 

Highlights - there are so many but to name a few; 

• Walking along the Malecón as the waves crashed over the sidewalk - we were lucky to be there 
when the winds and swells were in full force. 
• Walking the back streets of Havana taking in the sights of old American cars. 
• Chilling with a Mojito in hand while listening to some music 
• Walking through the new market - they have just moved the market from outside to a 
new well organized covered market located at the Cruise ship docks. 
• Cruising in a Coco taxi 

This was no doubt not our last trip to Cuba. On the list of places to go and see is a baseball game and other parts of the island. Really enjoyed Trinidad during our first visit, and renting a car will be a must in order to experience the country side. For now, I encourage everyone who has the opportunity to go to Cuba to just do it - it won’t stay this way forever (hopefully) and will no doubt change overnight once the Pin Strips from up North get their way.