Day 0 - 11/24/15
Prepping for Cuba
My memories of Cuba start in my teenage years. Our politicians, press and history books labeled Fidel Castro as a bad boy revolutionary communist, who overthrew his government, laid waste to property ownership of American companies, imprisoned people who opposed him and was just lying in wait so close to our US shores that he could do bad things to us. Our views were influenced by events like the CIA and Cuban nationalists fumbling around with a Cuban invasion at the Bay of Pigs, which is remembered as a cause gone bad by some and really stupid by others. A missile crisis in 1962 moved us close to nuclear war and put many of us through classroom drills of diving under our desks to prepare for the feared nuke that might explode in the US. The horrific scenes of desperate Cuban's trying to escape Cuba by paddling leaky boats to the Florida shores imprinted our brains. Radical Americans were hijacking airplanes in the US, finding refuge in Cuba started our airport screening lines. The list could go on.
With all this and much more and a political system and Cuban exiles pounding the drums of BAD for Cuba, how could our sensory system of right and wrong not be overwhelmed with the "wrong" when it comes to Cuba. However, the writing of history and molding of perceptions takes some funny turns when you mix political, economic and emotional needs and often times accuracy is tested and failed. I in no way will defend many of the actions of Cuba and its political leadership but I made a bet with myself that if we looked under the covers by observing Cuba, without words of disagreement spewing from our respective governments and really had the opportunity to talk directly with the people of Cuba, that the image of the Cuba I have known for so many years, could well be modified. With 11 days of “feet on the ground” planned in Cuba, we will get our look and have a great opportunity to meet some of the people of Cuba.
The ability for Americans to legally travel to Cuba is relatively recent. While countries around the world have been sending tourists to Cuba since the mid 90’s, the USA only started allowing a limited number of USA tourists to travel legally to Cuba beginning in 2010. Special VISAs for cultural or people to people exchanges must be granted in coordination with touring with Cuba and US sanctioned groups. The Cuban passport stamp is like the “mark of Cain” on your USA passport and it is recommended that we carry, for the next couple of years, the letter we received authorizing our VISA. The number of US travelers to Cuba has been limited but with the thawing of some Cuban/US relationships, and the establishment of a US Embassy, the number of US tourists is beginning to rise. In our case, we chose to go with Grand Circle Foundation. Associated with Grand Circle Tours and Overseas Adventure Tours, the “Foundation” has a limited travel offering and focuses on “People to People” interaction in its tours.
Our objective for going to Cuba was premised on my belief that the absence of political relationships and the 60 year trade embargo might not stand much longer. Significant events transpiring after we signed on early in 2015, such as the opening of the US embassy in Havana, seem to point in that general direction. With a thawing of political relations between the USA and the Cuban government and the potential for US business investment, the Cuba of today may look far different than the Cuba of tomorrow. We wanted to see the Cuba of today and if we live long enough and hold on to good health, perhaps we can return and see the Cuba of tomorrow.
Even better for a trip like this is sharing the experience with friends. We called on our longtime friends and travel partners, John and Kathy Grotting from San Diego to make the trip with us. Our last trip together was a 3 week blitz of Greece (see my blog on Greece) and we had a wonderful time and knew how well we traveled together. It will be fun.
Grand Circle Foundation prepared us well with a well-defined itinerary, names of our fellow travelers, clothing requirements, etc. Our first assignments of VISA paperwork and passport needs had to be acted on early. To assure everyone would be at the starting line the day before departure, our tour started with a meeting in Miami the evening before our early departure for Havana.
Carrying the burden of being self-trained in the international travel school of “belts and suspenders”, Mary and I decided to fly to Miami the day before the prep meeting, giving us a full day of activities in Miami. With a 12:30 pm flight out of Louisville on Monday, a connection in, where else, Atlanta, where we connected with John and Kathy coming from San Diego and an uneventful flight to Miami, we were making a great start. On time, clear skies and no turbulence. What more could you ask for.
For those who haven’t traveled to Miami, an arrival in the Miami airport makes you think the pilot might have made a mistake and you have landed on foreign soil. Relax, this is Miami. Spanish may be the dominant language but many other languages can be picked out of the crowd. Miami is truly a global melting pot. Not bad, just far different than landing in say, Kansas City.
With two nights to spend in the Airport Sheraton and time to see a little of Miami, we choose to go to a well-known Cuban restaurant to begin preparing our palates. Versailles, an unlikely name for a top ranked Cuban restaurant was our pick. Excellent.
For our local transportation needs I am taking lessons from John on the use of Uber. Having taken several Uber rides with business associates using their Uber app on their phone, I had yet to gain firsthand experience on how to use this new transportation wonder that disrupting the taxi industry all over the world. I had to go through a couple of look sees with John before I ventured into the Uber world. Punch in the Uber app, use a few key strokes to indicate where you are going and magically the screen on your phone shows where the closest Uber drivers are located, which Uber drivers want your business and within 3 minutes our Uber driver was loading us up. Payment and tips are all done by Uber on your previously registered credit card. This is transportation magic.
Can’t say good things about the Sheraton mattress but Miami is waiting on Tuesday morning and a stiff back is not going to slow me down. With the famed South Beach as the destination for John, Kathy, Mary and myself our Uber driver was a former flight attendant who had improved her work hours and with more money when she turned to being an Uber driver.
If you haven’t been to South Beach, it is a sight and it is expensive. A whole lot of money and not many clothes has settled into the area. A long walk on the beach demanded some hydration, but the $13 bottle of water being sold on the beach convinced us it was time for South Beach window shopping. Browsing the high end stores on Lincoln Avenue and Espanola we used our Yelp app and a couple of other sources to find a restaurant for lunch. Yardbird, a restaurant specializing in southern fried chicken is not your local KFC. Praised and awarded by many and filmed by Anthony Bordain, it lived up to its reputation. We recommend.
With an Uber driver who had recently immigrated from Cairo after having his liquor store burned out by the Muslim Brotherhood, we made it back to the hotel in time for our meeting with the Grand Circle folks and our fellow travelers.
14 women and 6 men, John and I are gender outnumbered. First impressions were that we had a group of adventurous people with a variety of backgrounds that should make this an interesting trip. We will get to know these folks as good travel friends over the next 11 days.
With dotted i’s and crossed t’s for our VISAs and entry papers completed we had a light dinner and bedded down for a good test of fellow traveler timeliness with a scheduled 5 am departure from the hotel in the morning.
Prepping for Cuba
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Miami, Florida, United States
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