Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Havana, Cuba (If You Can Get There)
“Where all cars are taxis, and all women are whores.” This raucous response to the frequently posed pre-trip question, “So what does Cuba mean to you?” understandably stood out the most. The “cigars” reply was the majority winner. But what do you expect from people whose ex-President, John F. Kennedy, had 1,200 Cuban cigars delivered to him before signing the U.S. embargo papers against Cuba back in 1963? To describe the Cuban capital city — home to a mere 2.4 million inhabitants — in a few words is complicated. It’s one city, but its various worlds will fascinate, seduce, sadden and perplex the visitor all at the same time. It’s too much, to be honest. So let’s start with what the visitor will undoubtedly meet first: the world of tourism.
Cuba thrives on foreigners bringing in money to have the “Cuban experience”: sipping on a world-renowned mojito, smoking on a Cuban cigar, meeting a Cuban girlfriend/boyfriend (this term is used loosely — pun intended), and essentially being in a dream world where everything is at one’s fingertips. This paradise is a verifiable reality, and lives alongside other realities (i.e., worlds) quite effortlessly.
Things to Do. Walk around Havana Vieja (Old Town of Havana) for a day or two – hunt for the best mojito at places like La Bodeguita del Medio, Hemingway’s old hangout, or walk through some stunning architecture amongst decayed structures. Spend a night absorbing the dance show and glamour at the Tropicana Cabaret. Take a tour through the Partagas Cigar Factory and see the mechanics of making this Cuban treasure. Meander around the Museo de la Revolucion to see pictures of Fidel’s revolution that overthrew Batista’s dictatorship in 1959.
Where to Eat. Paladares – private homes that have sectioned off one room as a restaurant – are numerous in Havana. One of the most well known, visited by queens and movie stars, is La Guardia, located on Concordia Street 418, Centro Habana.
Where to Stay. Among a few other quality hotels, Hotel Santa Isabel (hotelsantaisabel.com) offers all a visitor could want and more. Cost: around $130 per night, depending on room and time of year.
Travel Restrictions. Americans are prohibited to spend money in (and effectively prohibited from traveling to) Cuba. Travel is permitted when one is visiting Cuban relatives or is traveling with a general or specific license (these can be obtained for a variety of reasons, including humanitarian travel and freelance journalism).
Here's something you might be interested in.
Havana, Cuba (If You Can Get There)
Havana, Cuba (If You Can Get There)
“Where all cars are taxis, and all women are whores.” This raucous response to the frequently posed pre-trip question, “So what does Cuba mean to you?” understandably stood out the most. The “cigars” reply was the majority winner. But what do you expect from people whose ex-President, John F. Kennedy, had 1,200 Cuban cigars delivered to him before signing the U.S. embargo papers against Cuba back in 1963? To describe the Cuban capital city — home to a mere 2.4 million inhabitants — in a few words is complicated. It’s one city, but its various worlds will fascinate, seduce, sadden and perplex the visitor all at the same time. It’s too much, to be honest. So let’s start with what the visitor will undoubtedly meet first: the world of tourism.
Cuba thrives on foreigners bringing in money to have the “Cuban experience”: sipping on a world-renowned mojito, smoking on a Cuban cigar, meeting a Cuban girlfriend/boyfriend (this term is used loosely — pun intended), and essentially being in a dream world where everything is at one’s fingertips. This paradise is a verifiable reality, and lives alongside other realities (i.e., worlds) quite effortlessly.
Things to Do. Walk around Havana Vieja (Old Town of Havana) for a day or two – hunt for the best mojito at places like La Bodeguita del Medio, Hemingway’s old hangout, or walk through some stunning architecture amongst decayed structures. Spend a night absorbing the dance show and glamour at the Tropicana Cabaret. Take a tour through the Partagas Cigar Factory and see the mechanics of making this Cuban treasure. Meander around the Museo de la Revolucion to see pictures of Fidel’s revolution that overthrew Batista’s dictatorship in 1959.
Where to Eat. Paladares – private homes that have sectioned off one room as a restaurant – are numerous in Havana. One of the most well known, visited by queens and movie stars, is La Guardia, located on Concordia Street 418, Centro Habana.
Where to Stay. Among a few other quality hotels, Hotel Santa Isabel (hotelsantaisabel.com) offers all a visitor could want and more. Cost: around $130 per night, depending on room and time of year.
Travel Restrictions. Americans are prohibited to spend money in (and effectively prohibited from traveling to) Cuba. Travel is permitted when one is visiting Cuban relatives or is traveling with a general or specific license (these can be obtained for a variety of reasons, including humanitarian travel and freelance journalism).