Cuba, Travel blog

Pictures of Havana and Travel Diary

Hi everyone, finally comes my travel diary about Havana with Havana Club. I spent there a very fun and unforgettable few days where I had the chance to discover the culture of Cuba and therefore the culture behind Havana Club.

Many people don’t know it but Havana Club is made in Cuba for it’s worldwide distribution.

This is the reason why, Havana Club invited a few german bloggers to experience the #elrondecuba (See more pictures of Havana under this hashtag on Instagram). On the program, many mojitos and bar visits (I will do a guide on where to drink the best mojitos in Havana in my next article) but also a lot of culture to better understand what Cuba really is about.

To start our journey right, each of us checked into a casa particular aka a bed and breakfast. It is perfect to get to know locals and support them financially. Much better than an hotel as they are quite expensive and not the standards we know in Europe (or USA) so better keep your money for Mojitos 😉

I can recommend my casa particular. I am sure Alejandra will be happy about it. She was so kind and the room I had was big with private toilet and bathroom. The neighborhood also was very cute and safe.

Alejandra :
Email : manuelballester(at)infomed.sld.cu
Phne number : 7 832-0230
Mobile phone : 5 254-3584

A good way to see how locals live. Also in this optic we also went to Agro-Market, a place where locals buy their fruits and vegetables. Indeed there are very few supermarket in Havana and this is a traditional way for locals to do their grocery shopping.

Cuba-Havana-mercado

All in all there is not so many things in Havana, from supermarkets to Internet passing by fashion. This is why in Havana many are very creative and talented at it.

Art and music plays a big role in the culture. We got to see some of it many facets.

Some of what we saw is open to public so I recommend you to go : For example ‚Callejon de Hamel‘ on Sundays from noon to 3pm. It is a pedestrian decorated by world known autodidact street artist Salvador Gonzáles where you can see voodoo performances.

Another must visit is Fondacion del Arte. It is best to go on a weekend night. It is a huge complex mixing Arts and music. You can walk through the exhibition while sipping on a mojito and dance to live music. You can also rest in the very nice outside area. It is for all ages and all taste. Even Mick Jagger went there! Place to be I tell you!!

We were also lucky to see how prints are made in Havana. While everything is digital in Europe, Nelson Ponce invited us to his studio and showed us how he does print the old fashion way. Indeed, in Cuba it is one of the last country that is still doing silk screen printed prints.

Cuba-Havana-silk-screen-printed-poster Cuba-Havana-silk-screen-printed-poster

We also got to see a Rumba performance and dance it ourselves with the ‚Raíces Profundas‘ company. One of the highlight of this trip!

Cuba-Havana-Rumba-performance

We did not miss to do touristy stuff as well, like to have a drink on Malecon and go for a ride in an oldtimer!!

Cuba-Havana-Club-blogger Cuba-Havana-Oldtimer-car

And since we were in in Havana with Havana Club, we also got to see the distillery. We had a tasting of the Havana Club Union Rum that is a rum made in collaboration with Cohiba Cigars, in order to fit perfectly with quality cuban cigars.  We then visited the distillery. Havana Club has got only 2 distillery to produce it’s rum worldwide. Both of them in Cuba. It is really interesting to get to know the process of how rum is produced and to get to see the behind the scenes of such a big brand.

Cuba-Havana-Club-distillery-tasting-Havana-Club-Union Cuba-Havana-Club-distillery Cuba-Havana-Club-distillery

Thank you Havana Club for such a cool experience!! Below pictures of Havana for some wanderlust!

Don’t miss my article about the Nightlife in Havana with good addresses on where to drink the best Mojitos in Havana!

Bisous
Amandine

*ADVERTISEMENT – This trip was sponsored by HAVANA CLUB

Pictures of Havana

Cuba-streets-of-Havana Cuba-streets-of-Havana Cuba-Havana-streetfood-vendor Cuba-Havana-streetart-graffiti Cuba-Havana-primavera-statue-Malecon Cuba-Havana-Street-vendor Cuba-Havana-people-working-on-oldtimer-car Cuba-Havana-people-playing-chess Cuba-Havana-flower-street-vendor Cuba-Havana-buidings Cuba-Havana-Chinatown Cuba-Havana-colourful-streets