This alligatorshaped island is all about mountain ranges and plains, stunning beaches, history, culture and frenzied nightlife that continues into the wee hours.
Cuba is also about Cohiba cigars and classic cars. On tap at Havanas Automobile Deposit Museum are such perfectly preserved "wheels" as a 1930 Cadillac V16, a 1926 Rolls Royce and a 1980 Daimler donated by the British Embassy.
Old Havana is slowly but surely being restored into a mesmerizing museum of Spanish Empire architecture and gardening. Former Hispanic palaces are being reinvented as multistarred resorthotels. Alongside all these are the haunts of US sportsman/writer, "Papa" Ernest Hemingway. Have a Mojito (means little monkey) at La Bodeguita del Medio and then write your name on walls that already boast scores of signatures of literati past, present and future. For the best daiquiris in town, Hemingway recommended La Floridita and its still there.
Hemingways writing studio on the fifth floor of the Hotel Ambos Mundos has been set up as a tourist attraction. You can sit at his typewriter, gaze out his balcony and pretend to see the writers yacht Pilar anchored just below in the harbour. You will be accompanied by security lest you are tempted to pinch one of Hemingways toys, such as the muchadmired model of the Pilar. Next, reboard the hotels antique birdcage lift and go to the top floor. Hemingway no doubt liked the Ambos Mundos best for its wellstocked grog shop where you could get stuff for drinks fortified with what the hotel brochure called "the zest of Cuban limes, the glow of Cuban rum, and the sweetness of Cuban cane." To really understand the edgy lifestyle of Americas bestknown scribe, go see his beautifully preserved estate just outside Havana. It comprises Hemingways beloved Pilar, as well as a special cemetery for the mans best friends canines, that is.
As you read, Cuba is busy 24/7 building big new marinas for big new yachts, a host of classy waterfront hotels, and several tropical island hideaways of fourstar quality. A mustsee is the Tropicana, billed as "Paradise Under The Stars." The Tropicana comprises acres and acres of rainforest greenery and blooms serenaded by music thats as loud as it is good. Scores of some of the worlds most attractive men and women display their talents in the cabaret show on a huge, cobwebshaped stage.
Due to more than five centuries of racial diversity, the welleducated Cubans are among the most attractive people in the Caribbean. And there are lots of them. The total Cuban population is around 11 million. To see as many of them as possible you must travel about a bit. Cuba is huge, about as big as all the other Caribbean islands laid end to end.
After Havana, the largest city is Santiago. It features whimsical, highly unusual and very Caribbean architecture and art galleries. Its the cats meow when it comes to history, hostelries, horticulture and the tropical atmosphere usually available only in books.
Cubas No 1 tourist magnet is Varadero Beach. Like Florida, Varadero is a sunkissed peninsula with long, lonely beaches by the dozens. The Duponts had a Varadero villa during the 1950s salad days of Cuban tourism. The former Dupont digs are now beautifully refurbished and appropriately named Xanadu.