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Jan

16

Our Girl in Havana: The Paladares of Cuba

Underground restaurants may be a relatively new trend in the United States, but they’ve been happening for decades in Cuba. Paladares or ‘home restaurants’ have long served the best food in the country, and are now at the heart of Cuba’s newly invigorated dining scene.


Nov

26

Our Girl in Havana: Single Female Traveler

Most men I meet in Cuba say the same thing to me: “Why are you travelling alone? Where is your husband?” I vary my answer just to make it more interesting; I have a whole harem of imaginary husbands now. Us solo female travelers may be a rare breed here, but that’s not to say it isn’t a good country to visit as a woman. 


Oct

14

Our Girl in Havana: Cuba's Best Beaches

For many years, there was as a divide between locals and tourists in Cuba. There were Cuban bars and there were tourist bars. There were Cuban pesos and tourist dollars (the convertible peso). When you went into a restaurant, you would be handed a tourist menu, different to the menu handed to Cubans. And similarly, there were private tourist beaches and public Cuban beaches.


Aug

14

Our Girl in Havana: A City for Cinephiles

Eating my ice cream at Coppelia, I can’t help but think of the striking first scene of Oscar-nominated 1993 Cuban film Fresa y Chocolate. The title refers to flavours of ice cream, one representing the gay and creative while the other represents the straight in both sexual and political terms.


Jul

18

Our Girl in Havana: Salsa on the streets of Baracoa

 I arrived to dancing in the streets. There was an all-women conga line proceeding down the dusty road, circling back on itself and returning to the small hall where it had started, a bottom-shaking, whooping caterpillar. As they wound past me - sweating under the weight of my rucksack - they beckoned me to join in. With just a moment’s thought, I threw down my bags and joined the party. That set the tone for my entire experience in Baracoa.


May

20

Our Girl in Havana: Top 10 Photography Tips While in Cuba

 It was as if the people of Cuba decided to counter their country’s problems with color; to take solace in a bombardment of blues and greens, and celebrate in yellows and reds. Everything from the crooked colonial townhouses to the chugging old cars contributes to this cacophony of color.  


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