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Arrival

We arrived in to the charter airport, which is for the American planes, but 5 flights arrived together and each piece of baggage in the hold has to be x-rayed before it hits the belt.  The place was crawling and, because no one knows which conveyor the bags will come out on, the people – Cuban, German, North American – move like shoals of fish between the two belts.  Big things come out first —huge bundles plastic wrapped, tvs, bikes, huge amounts that were greater yesterday because of the Black Friday sales on Amazon and in Miami.  You have no idea and as soon as I get some decent wifi I will post a pic stitch as I had 2.5 hours to stand there and watch and photograph. If it had been just me with my walk on, I would have sailed through.  The paperwork was simple and immigration was easy, so all of that stuff was fine.  And the flight is only 40 minutes from MIA..amazing..although, I have to tell you, that I believe we were hit by lightening on the flight I saw this huge flash out of the window..so stunning that I thought, for a moment, that maybe our engine had burst into flames.

Arriving in Cuba is like walking into the myth of a forbidden land.  It won’t be like that forever, of course, as the mythology is in the imagination. We checked in to the Saratoga hotel, the best in the city, unpacked and then headed back out with David our guide for the next few days.

David is a top guide of Havanaturs, the company that is the best ground operator here.  He was a criminal lawyer, then a diplomat in Syria and opened the embassy in Ryad, and now is a tour guide as he makes more than he did as a professional.  That is an example of the socialism that Fidel orchestrated for Cuba and what has occurred now that tourism has become the #1 foreign exchange earner.  He is bright, easy and honest.  There is no sense that anything is hidden, cannot be talked about, cannot be photographed.  There is a very Latin feel here, mixed easily with Africa and the people reflect that heritage.

We went to El Cocinero for dinner, a four-story restaurant with indoor and outdoor terrace dining and then a rooftop snack bar filled with Cubans.  Located in the old oil factory – the oil brand is called Cocinero – it has style and buzz and the wait staff is beautiful and young and good.  Wine, lamb curry, veg, whatever you want.. Next to it is FAC, an amazing space that could be in Tribeca – a huge industrial warehouse space that hosts fashion shows, photo exhibits, contemporary art (all simultaneously), nightclub space and an outdoor music venue where, last night, there was classical music.  Very buzzy, very young, very hip and chic Cubans..all Cubans..black, brown, pale, dreads, skin jeans, stilettos, gay, straight.  So we swung through that before returning home around 11.  Quite a day.