Cuba

Time Spent/When: 10 Days in February 2017

Route: Havana-->Trinidad-->Havana

Yep..it's really like this

Oh.my.gosh. Was so not expecting this, but Cuba shot right up to the "Top 3 Favorite Countries Ever" list. It surpassed any and every expectation i could've ever had. Here we go..

Things to do in Havana:

Stroll along the Malecon and be sure to check out O'Reily and Emperdado Streets They're packed with amazing art shops and dance studios.

Emperdado/O'Reily Street

Take salsa lessons! (see my sweet skillz from just one lesson below)

Go to The Revolution Museum to learn about Cuba's history and continual fight for freedom.

Museo de la Revolución (Revolution Museum)

Dance the night away and see the art at Fabrica de Arte. (Seriously- this is a must-do if you're in Havana)

Take your camera, (iPhone,) and snap shots of the cars, pups, street art, and acrhitecture throughout the city. This is an entire day in itself.

Vistit Playa del Este just outside of the city- gorgeous beach.

Playa del Este

Enjoy a delicious coffee in the dreamy courtyard at Cuba Libro..if you can find it, (very easy to miss- keep your eyes peeled.)

This looks like chill, but it's really exhaustion from walking 10 miles to find this place. #worthit

Things to do in Trinidad:

Go to the House of Music and dance in the cave behind it.

Visit Playa Ancon, though note there's not really much food on the beach if you're a vegetarian.

Stroll around and snap pictures, (do this everywhere you go, actually.)

Where to Stay

Havana: $20 per night. Super clean. Great location and rooftop balcony over looking the city where they'll serve you breakfast in the morning. Doubles as a disco at night, (kidding- only saying that because our first night there, the husband turned the lights off and showed us a disco light they have turned on there.) When we were there, they had an adorable daschund with fresh puppies. After returning from Trinidad, we had no place to stay, so we turned up here. Aurora called her friend up the street who had room for us because she was full. :)

Real life. Don't mind the terrible red-eye corrector.

Trinidad: $25 per night, but honestly, they're worth double that. House is spotless and in a great location with an adorable courtyard and a giant, friendly German Shepherd. the best part though is how amazing Osmany and Odalys were. We ran out of money and had to have money wired to us, so in my broken Spanish, I asked Osmany to accompany me to the bank to pretend to be mi novio, have the money wired to him, and trust that he'd hand it to me. He did with zero hesitation and wouldn't take a cent in return. They are absolutely wonderful.

Food

In most places, the food was nothing to write home about, but we did find fantastic paella at one place, though it takes roughly 6 hours for them to prepare it.

You can find basic beans and rice for around $1.60 but will pay between that and $8/meal (8 on the nicer side.) You'll probably spend $3-5 a day on water alone.

Getting Around/Fees

Bus tickets from Havana to Trinidad were $25/person, or a shared taxi was $35, ($25 on the way back.) We opted for the shared taxi because the bus was full for the next week.

We had some fees at the Cancun airport to exit, but the amount is escaping me.

The cab from Havana back to the airport was $25, (and I'm guessing about the same vice-versa.)

Primarily, we cabbed it, and cabs were quite readily available, though I wouldn't say they were cheap, especially as compared to SE Asia, Central, and South America.

Pro tips:

-Brush up on your Spanish if you're not fluent- you'll need it. Even just a crash course covering things like, "Where is" "what is" "open/close""Where is the bathroom?" etc

-Fly direct - no need to go through Mexico or Canada- they won't ask for paperwork/what your'e doing. Have a story ready in case that changes, but literally everyone has told us it's just a formality and almost everyone we spoke with flew direct. IF you do connect, leave AT LEAST 2.5 hours between connecting flights. We complicated our trip quite a bit by stopping in Mexico on the way there, which we realized, afterward, was totally unnecessary.

-Cuban airlines are almost always late.

-Book buses at least a week in advance, (if in-person, bring your passport to the bus station- one for each person booking.)

-Havana is great but hard- even just getting across the street or finding something on a map is hard.

-You can't book Airbnb from within Cuba, and American cards do not work. Wiring money is hard because it's only very recent that you can wire money to an American there so the procedure isn't clear to all Cuban bank workers. BRING MORE MONEY THAN YOU THINK YOU'LL NEED because obtaining any after you get there is next to impossible, (see my debacle above.)

-Either book your accommodation in advance via Airbnb or be okay with just knocking on doors with the upside down anchor, (they are EVERYWHERE-do not worry about not finding one,) seeing the room, negotiating a price, and staying there.

-Haggling/negotiating is okay and not offensive.

-Find internet a swanky hotels where you pay between $1.50-4.50 (includes a free drink if it's on the higher end,) for a scratch off internet card with a code that's good for an hour. Can be used in increments over 30 days from activation,) although note that some of them only let guests purchase and use internet. The Iberostar is an exception to that role and exists in both Havana and Trinidad.