Cuba trip

[puros71]

Last month in September I took a trip to Cuba to visit my wifes family. Had the chance to tour the Partgas factory and H Upmann factory in Vedado. Also went to some good smoking shops through out Habana. I also got to meet Mr. Jose Antonio Candia a rep for Habanos S.A.

At the Partagas factory shop I purchased a bundle of 25 robustos rolled from La China and 25 H Upmann Mag 50's. At the shop Kiki and Abel are great. I sampled all kinds of good smokes.Was gifted Sublimes, Salomones, and some torpedos. At La Casa del Ron next to La Floridita I bought 3 bottles of Habana Club 7 anos.

High light of the trip was heading out to Tarara outside of Habana where my sister in law lives. My brother in law raises and sells pigs. I got to see the real daily life of selling pork at the local mercado in Tarara.

Over all are the Cubano people are desperate. Lots of people wanted to leave to any country. Life is rough economically and people are willing to sacrifice just to leave the island. Dont get me wrong, Cubans are not starving though. Very friendly people, I had some great conversations with Cubans. They love to talk and learn about cultures outside the islands. Another thing that amazed them was my knowledge of cigars.I was bombarded with fakes off the streets. Some fakes look good but you could see the inconsistancy of the sizes and colors. I would be walking down Calle Curazao in Habana Vieja and old men would walk by me and say " Buen Tabaco." Funny because only they could smell the difference.

The trip was great, came back a little sun burned but over all we were happy to see the familia. Only negative is every one on the streets and stores are trying to make an extra buck off you. The extra charges or bullshit charges for tourists.They wanted to charge me and my wife to enter the Colon Cemetery to go visit her fathers resting spot. Thats when my lady had to lay down the smack down on them. Ridiculous stuff like that.

Here are some pics of the trip at my yahoo gallery

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hjmendoza71/...ren%3as,1%3af,0

[Van55]

Thanks for the update and the great photos!

[Colt45]

Thanks for taking the time to report, and for the pics!

The beach looks great! (fall is here, and it's getting chilly)

[puros71]

Like I said my sister lives in Tarara which is about 5 minutes from the beach. So I stayed two days out there and was hanging out out the beach those two days. Drinking Bucanero beer and enjoying the rays. The water is warm and very pleasant. I did get sun burnt to hell. The Cubanos said I looked like a "camaron" (shrimp). Ha ha. I thought that was hella funny! But for real I was hurting.

[El Presidente]

I am glad that you had a great time mate and that we could help in arranging to meet Jose. He is a great guy.

It is a shame Hamlet was in Canada at the time as you would have enjoyed his company although I am sure you were not short on hangovers ;-)

[n2advnture]

Great pics & recap bro!

Thanks for sharing!

~Mark