| Apr 2008 | An explosive Christmas —Las Parandas de Remedios— Places |
by Silvia Gomez |
For most of us, the 24th of December—Nochebuena or Christmas Eve—is marked with a quiet family dinner. The only interruption might be the sound of Christmas carols at the door. This was probably once the case in the old Cuban town of Remedios. But in the 1820s, everything changed. A young priest named Francisco Vigil de Quiñones had noticed that in the chilly mornings of the last days of the year, his congregations were dwindling. |
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| Feb 2008 | Saratoga – Reborn Places |
by Silvia Gomez |
Standing on a portion of the former wall that once surrounded and protected the old city the Saratoga Hotel is, more than a century later, as magnificent and radiant as it must have been in its first days. The intervening years, however, have not been easy. In 1881 Palacios sued the builders for delays in the construction schedule. In turn, the engineers lodged a complaint concerning additions to the building work not included in the original contract. By 1888, with no agreement reached, the nearly completed building was beginning to deteriorate without ever having been occupied other than by ‘lowlife characters, tramps and ladies of pleasure’ |
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| Nov 2007 | Baracoa, the most beautiful land human eyes have seen Places |
by Christopher P. Baker |
Baracoa, Cuba's oldest city, is perfect for independent-minded travelers seeking somewhere just a little bit different. It has an atmosphere all its own. One as haunting in its fantastical unfamiliarity as it is enchanting in its beauty. The town's setting seems fit for a Hollywood epic. Baracoa spreadeagles below a dramatic flat-topped formation – El Yunque (the anvile) – that floats mysteriously above the surrounding hills, forming a great amphitheater flowing down to the Bahía Miel (Bay of Honey). |
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| Jul 2007 | Museo de Bellas Artes Places |
by Juliet Barclay |
One mid-eighteenth century day in London, the Venetian painter Canaletto found himself a bit strapped for cash and decided that drastic measures had to be taken. Whipping out a handy blade, he sliced in half a rather long landscape he’d painted, to sell both halves separately. Now one half of Chelsea from the Thames hangs in Blickling Hall in Norfolk. The other half is in Havana in the Museo de Bellas Artes. |
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| May 2007 | The Hotel Nacional Places |
by Ian Stalker |
The Hotel Nacional de Cuba has seen mobsters and missiles alike during the more than 70 years that it has served as one of the world’s great celebrity hangouts, a role it continues today. The five-star hotel, which opened Dec. 30, 1930, quickly turned into a meeting place for everybody who was somebody, with entertainers like Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Cesar Romero, John Wayne, Betty Grable, and Fred Astaire hobnobbing in a property that also drew such famed athletes as boxers Jack Dempsey and Rocky Marciano and baseball great Mickey Mantle, and heads of states, among them Winston Churchill. |
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| Now 2006 | The hottest beach in Cuba. Places |
by Juliet Barclay |
However does one find the best beach in Cuba? There are an awful lot to choose from and most of them are fabulous. The longest and most famous is Varadero on the north coast, where you would be hard put to it to walk the length of the beach in a day, especially after all the cocktails that you somehow find yourself drinking en route. |
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| Oct 2006 | Las Terrazas—Ideal trip from Havana. Places |
by Juliet Barclay |
Las Terrazas is the weekend retreat for overheated habaneros, especially in the summer. Who wants to go to the beach when the sea’s the temperature of soup and the sand’s too hot to walk on? While only an hour out of Havana, it feels a million miles away from the city. It’s a UNESCO biosphere, so great care is taken sensitively to develop the area and a reasonably steep entry fee is charged, to prevent the place becoming too overrun with day trippers. |
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| Sep 2008 | Isla de la Juventud Places |
by Christopher P. Baker |
Most visitors to Cuba bypass Isla de la Juventud — the Isle of Youth. Their loss. Our gain. Then again, this inverted tear-drop-shaped island in the shallow Gulfo de Batabanó, slung 100 kilometers below the underbelly of Havana province, isn't the easiest to get to. Nor is it well-endowed with tourist services. Far from it. But its fascinating history, sensational diving, and remarkable birding are among the many reasons to visit this off-beat highly and individual isle. |
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| Aug 2008 | Off-the-beaten-track Cuba Places |
by Christopher P. Baker |
Wild places are strewn like isles within isles. The varied ecosystems spell Nirvana to tourists who appreciate nature. Many areas are buried in thick rainforest brightened with tropical flowers. Other areas are desert-dry plateaus dotted with cactus. In fact, Cuba is sculpted to show off the full potential of the tropics, permitting you to journey metaphorically from the Amazon to a Swiss alpine forest. |
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