Cuba Trip #4 2019

Cuba Trip #4 (2019) The Pre-Story In early 2018, My new good friends in the NW Gil and Ann Gramson like to travel (China, Australia, South Africa, etc.)  Ann wanted to visit India....and Gil said no.  So Ann asked Gil where do you want to go next ?  and Gil said "to Cuba !! with Manny" They asked me and I said OF COURSE !! as long as i can take my good friends Bridge Partner "Jane from Cannon Beach" and "Jim the Counselor" (teacher and coach from Alaska) Ann set the limit of 10 people (best idea ever) and the trip quickly filled up with bridge friends.....many more wanted to come....sorry, maybe NEXT trip The Pre-Trip parties In Fall of 2018, Denise offered her home (south of Cannon Beach) for a Cuba party.  We had a wonderful time sharing some Rum, Wine, and food. Before Christmas 2018, Vern and Cindy threw another party at their beautiful Gearhart home with more rum, wine, and food.....and Manny answered questions for about an hour. On Tue...

Cuba Trip #4 2019 Day 1 Miami to Havana After an amazing Pre-Trip party at the Hilton hotel in Miami (with our Guest Mayor Xavier Suarez, cousin Marie Luise Gaston and nephew Patrick Hidalgo), we woke up early to go to the Airport.  Everyone was so excited....especially ME !!  The day had finally arrived.  A full year of planning and many phone calls and emails...etc I was bringing 10 bridge friends from Oregon (my new home) to my old Homeland Cuba. Ann Gramson had asked my good friend Gil, where do you want to go next and Gil said "Cuba with Manny" and now it was a reality. Ann, Gil, Sandy, Jane, Vern, Cindy, Denise, Celia, Jim the Counselor and Manny the Tall Cuban. Manny passed out the Visa's and Airplane tickets with LAST minutes instructions.  The Buddy system was started where if i lost someone in the group i would ask the "buddy" who is responsible to communicate their every move....including bathroom breaks, etc. This was VERY important becau...

Cuba Trip #4 2019 Day 2 (Las Tias, Villanova, Finca, Obama Room and Cannon) 7:30 am Mass with the nuns at the convent....Jim the Counselor joined me and Jane from Cannon Beach joined Sandy Baker (good Catholic and mother of 12 !!) 9 nuns from the Philippines with voiced like angels and another 5 nuns from another order in the back of the Church. 8:30 Breakfast at the Convent...ham and cheese, fried eggs, powder milk, mango juice, toast and coffee....a Meal fit for a King or Queen in poor 3rd world country of Cuba....but we are NOT really there....we are in Disney World, Havana called the Convent. We are paying $100 a night for two in a room with a bath, A/C and TV and real toilet paper. 10 am in the Lobby...and a short walk to Van...with ALL 10 people...one with crutches another with a cane. We drove the Malicon...pass the US Embassy...International and Presidential hotels...and finally at the "Casa de la Tias" Gaston which is now a school.  Marie Luise Gaston had ...

Cuba Trip #4  Day 3 (Varadero Beach and Cigars) 7:30 Mass....and this time Denise joined our morning group 8:30 Breakfast...and the little nun that served us had made friends with many of the members in our Party.  She has a brother in a religious order near Salem, Oregon...we promised her we would visit him. 9:00 i walk with Jane from Cannon Beach to see if we can meet the Big Black man who offered to sell us cigars...when i asked the hotel door man...he knew the man i was looking for and told me that THIS hotel was exactly THAT a "Cigar Hotel" and they had a daily "tasting" party at 10 am When i realized i might have gotten the Big Black man in trouble....we walked away...a young man walked up to us and said he heard that we were looking to buy cigars....we ignore him and did NOT answer his questions...he finally said that his Dad worked at the Cigar Hotel...oops 10:00 meet at the hotel lobby...and we walk 2 blocks to Van...our driver bribed the guard ...

Cuba Trip #4  Day 3 (Cigar Story) So we are heading back to Havana from Varadero Beach....Van full of souvenirs...Wait a stop at the Rum Hut first !! Banos.... The lady who sprained her ankle is now dancing with her husband as we all enjoy the show. Some humidifiers are bought for our anticipated cigars....lol We drive into the Back part of Havana in the Dark of the Night.  The Roads are narrow and the buildings seem to be crumbling all around us.  The Real Cuba....not the Walt Disney world of "Old Havana" for the Cruise ship tourist to see. But then this could be Detroit or parts of LA or any major city in the USA. Our driver stops at a door and goes in with our Money for Cigars.  He leaves 10 Americans in the running car.  Retired Lawyers, Mayor, Teachers, and other professionals.  All very good bridge players. I wish i had taped the conversation..."What are WE doing here ?"...."why did HE leave the car running ?"....Jimmy added "what ...

(oops this one is not in the correct Timeline....sorry) Cuba Trip #4 Day 4 (going home) We had a 6 am wake up call.  Breakfast served especially for us at 7 am (normal breakfast time is 8:30 AFTER morning Mass).  We once again had a feast prepared by our little angel nun who made friends with all in our group and has a brother in Oregon. 8 am meet in the lobby with ALL your luggage.  This time i hired the 2 sons of the desk man to help with luggage.  Everyone left everything behind...including tooth paste, t-shirts, reading glasses, extra aspirins or tylenol, even the American Soft toilet paper...etc. got to the Jose Marti airport by 9 am and said goodbye to our driver....although i had already tipped him $100 (5 months pay in Cuba), the other people also tipped him...he looked VERY happy....his family will eat well...at least for THESE year the terminal is SO BIG compare to the old one (house for American charters)....there were NO lines...we checked in i...

Cuba Trip #4 Day 3 (Last Night) So on the last night i always give my group a Free Night We had just passed out the Cuban Cigars at the Lobby of the Convent I had suggested to the group to eat at any restaurant in Old Havana, walk down to the main tourist street and hail down a Taxi and ride along the Malecon, or just walk the streets of Old Havana on a Sat nite and shop...etc Jim and I were still FULL from lunch, so dinner was NOT important.  We went back to "our happy place" the Beer Garden near the Convent in Plaza Vieja, Havana, Cuba. most of the group decided to eat dinner at restaurant ride next to the Convent.  Cindy and Vern walked down to the street to get a horse and carriage....they rode down the main street near the cruise ships.  They went to the warehouses full of artist, but it closed at 6 pm. Of course there was a party at Ann and Gil's suite. Jimmy and i took our cigars from the previous nite dinner and order a Tower of Beer.  At 7 pm ...

Cuba Trip #4 Day 4 (Post Party) Jim and I rented a car at Miami Airport....our first adventure was tying to get to I-95 WITHOUT using a Toll Road....we did not pay extra for the Toll Pass and there is a $60 administrative fee if the Rental Car place gets a "mail toll charge"...Jim got a GREAT deal on a car using Costco...he saved $50 The iphone GPS kept trying to send us to the Toll Road...so i finally had to turn it off...and use my common sense to get us through the Overtown neighborhood that at one time was called Color Town and later Brownville.  It is now called Overtown because the Interstate 95 runs Over the town.  This is also the Overtown of the 1980 riots.  GREAT !!  In some place it looks as bad as Havana. We finally get to Steve Kitchens house in Ft Lauderdale.  Steve taught and coached at Berkeley 1979-1982.  I lived in his house in Tampa for two years before i got married in 1981.  He has a PhD in Divinity and a Headmaster of a Ba...

Cuba Trip #4 Day 5 (Actually 6 if you count pre-party as Day 1) Key West !! so i had to wake Jimmy Boy up at 6 am....his door was ajar and i turned on his light...he was WHITE as a Ghost !!  Oh NO, I killed Jim the Counselor....lol Apparently he later told me that he inhaled the Cuban Cigar...oops and was NOT feeling well when he went to bed...dam shame Anyways i allowed him 30 more minutes of sleep figuring that the Cuban trip had finally gotten to him. at 6:30 am i knocked on this door...and after a quick trip to the Bathroom...Jimmy had his color back...Thank God !! Off we went to Key West !! Bradley had loan us her Toll Pass so we were able to take the Fla Turnpike and avoid Miami traffic.   We got down to the "Start of the Keys" around Homestead  in about 1.5 hr and a McDonald's stop for breakfast and coffee and Bano. Then we got to the Keys....the water was beautiful.  We started seeing signs for some Souvenir store    4 t-shirts fo...