Who's been to Cuba?

[dcpnz]

I was there in June.
As Dutchie says that not a lot of time, but adding to his suggestion of walking Vieja (which is solid advice btw):

1) Get on Netflix now and binge watch "The Cuba Libre Story" - 8 part series that'll give you a solid albeit somewhat biased historical basis. Follow that up with "Cuba - The Forgotten Revolution" which talks alot more about figures other than Castro and their role in revolution.
2) Download Maps.me and the Cuba maps.
3) Walk away from the vicinity of the cruise ship terminal immediately - there's so much to just observe, amazing but dilapidated architecture, the fruit markets, the cuban ration stores, the old pharmacy museum, etc. etc.
4) Pick your favorite old classic yankee convertible and take a driving tour of the city - cheesy but definitely worth it especially since you don't have time to see rest of city any other way - there's tons of choices and easy to negotiate rate around Parque Central.
5) Seek out El Dandy (on Brasil @ Plaza del Cristo) - cool little spot and the tacos and coffee were outstanding - no complaints with the mojito either
6) Avoid any music venue recommended by your cruise ship .... we enjoyed the low key little hole in the wall "La Taverna" about 50' NW off Plaza Vieja - bit touristy but everybody coming out of their stuffy package dinner and show seemed pretty jealous of the crowd spilling out and partying in the street here.
7) We liked the free walking history tour at the Hotel Nacional - check times in advance - tour goes up to the hotel roof for view and down thru the tunnels under grounds that were built during Bay of Pigs and our guide actually serve in the revolutionary army back then.
8) If you are into fine dining and don't mind the tourist racket get a dinner reservation at La Guarida - its in Centro. Consider walking there to see a more real view of life in Havana.
9) I'd skip all the museums - Revolucion, Bellas Artes etc - they're barely OK , not great.

[iceman]

liberalism at it's best

First post in 6 months but he's still banging the same drum.

edit: which could be because he posted it a year ago, I just realized it's an old thread, oh well.