Fun Cab Ride in Havana

[Nino]

Hi,

been back a few days now enjoying sunny autumm at home and giving the liver a rest after 5 weeks in Cuba.

Had a very good time and like to thank Rob for hooking me up with Jose wíth whom I spent a lot of time, good cigars, good conversations and good fun. Although we found out we'd met before, it was Rob who put us in contact - Gracias.

Apart from having fun in HAV with guys like Jose and Toby, Nic and Amir, Andy and Rob (Fox), I took a trip to visit one of the up-coming faces in tobacco, Hector Luis Prieto and his brilliant sidekick Miguel. I also spent some time with Hirochi and found him very seriously engaged in planting the fields.

Lots of new Paladares in HAV now, really good ones too, my favourite would be La Moraleja, great oasis right in the city center and fun bar evenings too.

The Partagas Encuentro was interesting in that I met lots people from all over the world and we had fun outside of it - I attended the Welcome dinner in the Lobby of the Habana Libre and plan no further such events ever.

I'll have interesting reports on Paladares, Casas Particulares, visits to La Corona & El Laguito, cigars, poetic justice to chinese by fake dealers, and much more when I decompress.

Thousands of pictures and millions of impressions have to be sorted out.

For now, here's a video from last week's fun ride in a gipsy cab.

It all started at El Palenque where I love to have good comida criolla, cold Cristal beer, rum and cigars.

We, Amir, Andy, Jose, Jonathan, Rob plus some friends finished off 4 lbs of lechon asado roasted pork plus loads of rice and black and red beans, yucca roots and fries.

It was Amirs idea and we post-celebrated his birthday in style.

I passed out some RA Extra EL 2011 which smoked fantastically well even fresh out the factory, the box I smoked and shared in Havana was outstanding.

But the main cigar attraction was a Cuban peso stick from the bodega named El Coloso which I had received from Jose. A cigar that would have been a perfect 95 points, I enjoyed it immensely and had some of my Cuban friends taste it to confirm my point as they looked at the band and laughed off the stick.

We had a few hours of fun and then Andy, Jose, Rob and I decided to visit the Casa del Tabaco at the Comodoro and say hello to Crisantos.

We caught a vintage Moksvitsch/Lada gipsy cab, whose driver was happy to put on some pop music for his tourists guests and afraid of us taking pictures on Quinta Ave as he claimed it was forbidden - but then relaxed and joined the fun of us singing Three Times a Lady to passing cyclists.

I wanted to share a bottle of Santiago Añejo in my bungalow with my friends but as the shitty rotten Hotel wouldnt allow any Cubans inside private areas, we shared the bottle at the Casa and smoked great Santos custom rolled Robustos.

We all agreed

should be posted and the fun shared …

So here it is on youtube :

Nino

[FrankBlack87]

awesome post nino!!!

[Colt45]

Nino, thank you very much for taking the time to share your travel tales here

[Ryan]

Great post Nino. Great to catch up with you and all the others in Havana. I know what you mean about official events, they are handy for getting lots of people in the one place at the same time though.

I'll get my own post up once I catch up with work and jet lag.

[compitaveggie]

Great to hear most of your trip was good Nino. Can't wait to see the post on your site.

Jose

[Orion21]

Nino,

you have, yet again, outdone yourself. I very much look forward to the full report on your blog. Cheers!

[Squarehead]

Excellente,Nice report.

[Habanos2000]

I can't believe taking pictures is illegal but a taxi full of guys singing Lionel Richie songs isn't!

Nice report Nino!

[rckymtn22]

Look forward to your full report complete with pictures.

[Ginseng]

Wow,

Looks like great fun. You have me drooling and envious. And fascinating, too. Peso cigars are such an intriguing thing.

Wilkey

[riazp]

what a wonderful post, and judging by that video, you guys has A LOT of fun! cant wait for the full report and pictures on your blog Nino.

Cheers!

[Warren]

Thank you Nino you truly are once twice three times a lady.

[BrotherBear]

LOL!!!

Nino, the description of the cab ride falls well short of the greatness that was the rendition of the song! Thanks for sharing!

Marc

[kiwirwe]

Well done nino and welcome home.

[El Presidente]

Nino....you are a Master of what cigars are truly all about :clap:

So good to see great mates laughing, singing, smiling. The comaraderie shines through.

Thank you for sharing. Thank you for making my day

[CanuckSARTech]

Very awesome, Nino. Well done.

Wish I had the chance to meet you guys in person, and enjoy that fun time that you all look to have had. Quite a great bunch of you guys there together - and yet not a good singer among you!!!!

Kudos on what sounds like a great trip. Very cool. Always enjoy these updates from you and Punch Joe (is it me, or does he look slimmed down?)

Cheers.

[maverickdrinker]

great job Nino. As always, you capture the moment with ease. It was a pleasure meeting up with you in HAV. Looking forward to the next time we get together.

[Bartolomeo]

Good stuff!

[OldCubanCigarStuff]

Nino, thanks for the kind words. The pleasure was mutual. Really enjoyed spending some quiet time with you and the boys. Seems like every time we met I had to run off to a meeting, but that is why I call it work and not a holiday.

Look forward to seeing you again. Hope the return of reality wasn't too quick.

All my best,

Amir

[TWalker]

Nino, you guys are a scream! Looks like you were having a much better time than the driver. He seemed a little uptight.