Although wifi is limited in Cuba, and mobile phone and data access is not available to Americans, a few free apps can help you prepare for your travels.
Visiting Cuba is like peering into the past. Little has changed on the island for decades or longer—so visitors can see its classic autos, timeless buildings, and historic sights up close.
Cuba’s cuisine has been influenced by a blend of civilizations over time. Spain colonized the island after Christopher Columbus discovered it in 1492, and the Spaniards brought the flavors of home and the introduction of African slaves. These two cultures greatly influenced the flavors of Cuba, blending their native techniques and spices with the island’s edible offerings.
On Havana´s Malecon sea wall, overlooking the blue horizon of the straits of Florida is an ethnic paladar that is paying homage to Cuba´s recent history. It is called Nazdarovie.
Nazdarovie is a restaurant that celebrates the social and cultural bond between Cuba and the ex-Soviet Union by serving up Slavic dishes surrounded by Cold War era pop and political art.
Literary giant Ernest Hemingway loved Cuba: its fishing, its climate, the daiquiris he discovered at a local bar and would popularize. Cubans, in turn, adored “Papa” Hemingway, who described himself as “Cubano sato,” an average Cuban. He first saw Cuba as a layover on his way to Spain, and ended up living on the island for most of his last two decades (1940-60).
InsightCuba caught up with Berit Engstrom, an insightCuba tour leader hailing from Minnesota that has been traveling to Cuba, on and off, since 2007. Berit discusses how her love for Cuba started while on a semester abroad in Havana, her experience in being in a cross-cultural relationship with a Cuban, as well as her thoughts on the current changes in Cuba.