My visit to Cuba

[JohnInCleveland]

I planned a trip to Varadero with my wife a few months ago. We went to Havana last year, and Varadero is a sort of middle ground. She likes beaches and laying in the sun, I throw her a bone (not like that, grow up). There had been rumors of a Rolling Stones concert, so if I was going to plan a trip for late winter, it might as well be during the rumored week...

We stayed at Melia Las Americas for the first leg of our trip, and a lovely AirBNB in New Vedado for the Stones portion. Melia Las Americas is directly adjacent to Plaza Americas, so I made several trips and made friends with the ladies there. No Excelencias in sight, figured I'd plant the seed with the ladies there in case they turned up before I left...

They turned up before I left. 5 boxes. The counter ladies at first are a bit frigid but if you are nice and friendly, they warm up pretty quickly. They were kind enough to set aside a box for me, and appeared legitimately excited to see me pop back in the day they turned up. I threw them a tip for their troubles and they were very appreciative. They'd have happily sold me more but I didn't want to be a hoarder. Share the love. Peace, love, and Diplomaticos Excelencias.

There were Cohibas of all varieties in every LCDH I went into, with the lone exception being that I did not come across any Behikes at Melia Cohiba or Plaza Americas. Siglos of all varieties could be found, along with the occasional Cohiba Piramides. I popped into the other LCDH in Varadero but it seemed much more touristy and didn't impress (although the hand rolled piramide was pretty good).

Now for the Rolling Stones. We went with our Cuban friend Josue and his wife, who didn't know much about the Stones at all but knew they were a big deal. Official numbers were 500,000 people (who am I to argue, but I'd guess a little less). Some songs were better than others, but they really were having a great time and so was the crowd. No concessions or bathrooms or merchandise stands, which didn't really matter (except the bathrooms, my wife might have permanent bladder damage). The highlight of the night was the closer, Satisfaction, which very clearly was the only song that Cubans are really aware of because they were mostly subdued until it came on and then proceeded to go nuts.

I'm no pro at this, just wanted to share my experience with my friends. This was my second trip to Cuba, and certainly not my last.

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[oliverdst]

Cool. Great you enjoyed.

How many people do you think attended the concert?

[JohnInCleveland]

Cool. Great you enjoyed.

How many people do you think attended the concert?

Having a fair amount of experience with both concerts and large events (I've done a lot of one-off parking gigs for festivals), I felt like in the vicinity of 300,000-350,000. People tend to overestimate numbers and underestimate what a massive group that is, it was an absolute success and a huge draw regardless how many were actually in attendance. Nobody could know for certain because there were people lining rooftops and there was no organization for entry (you could've walked in with a bottle of rum in your hand, and plenty of people did).

Wish I knew before I got there...

[madandana]

Looks like fun. Thanks for the pics.

[Pedgy]

Glad you had a great time.

Leaving in a couple weeks to Varadero and will be a couple hotels north of Las Americas. Hope these have the Diplo RE Cuba there. By any chance did you see any RA EL Club Allones 2015

[TheMonk]

Looks like you had fun. Thanks for sharing!

[JohnInCleveland]

Glad you had a great time.

Leaving in a couple weeks to Varadero and will be a couple hotels north of Las Americas. Hope these have the Diplo RE Cuba there. By any chance did you see any RA EL Club Allones 2015

I did not see them but I also did not specifically look for them. At the risk of sounding like a homer for FOH, I really only looked for cigars to bring home that I couldn't find on here, which was the Diplos and a box of HdM DC (narrowly missed the master case in the 24:24).

One of the perks of Las Americas is that it's not super busy and most of the visitors I saw were far from enthusiasts. They were more than happy to open boxes before I left the store to ensure quality.

[luv2fly]

The Stones and Havana! Double score!!!!

[Bartolomeo]

Good stuff, Tks for sharing

[irratebass]

Very cool, looks like you had a good time.

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[Ryan]

Thanks for that! Good to hear you had a good time.

[Ralphanator]

Sounds like you had a great time thanks for sharing.

[CUBANO]

Thanks for sharing. Hope I can find some Excelencia's when I go.

[JohnInCleveland]

Don't be deterred, it seems they're releasing them periodically in small amounts, the box code for the ones I got there in October and last week were both dated from October, so it seems they're letting them out sporadically. I didn't find them until the third time I popped in. I also get the sense they don't just throw them out on the shelves, you might want to specifically ask (and schmooze them a little bit the first few times you stop by).

While I did throw them a little tip ($10), I didn't have to. They were surprised and grateful, it wasn't expected.