Cuba is a beautiful country with many historic buildings, cars from the 50's and 60's in mint condition, and great beaches...but the government rules..great seafoood! But when you exchange dollars into Cuban pesos, they take 20% right off the top in the exchange, you give them 500 and you get back 400...what a racket!! The people love their music and love to party...I got back yesterday, Judge Wapner is still there...Immigration there is not too friendly and they do not stamp your passport, they give you a tourist card and you give it back to them when you leave...but you really feel safe with all the police around...they have a nice flea market where you can buy some great art work...definitely going back this year, 300 bucks for a round trip ticket from Costa Rica...
And get this, no Cuban girl is allowed to accompany any tourist to the beach or walk with a tourist in the city, but at nite there are a few clubs where you can meet a beautiful woman, but they have to follow you home in another cab and meet you where you are staying and they cannot go into any hotel...
I fully expect Cuba to be Vegas east when Fidel and his brother finally kick the bucket, i hope many of the old timers in miami and the hialeigh area get back to their homeland before they pass, many never thought they would be away this long. they are certainly some of the finest people you would ever want to meet, family oriented, patriotic, honest to a fault. It will be interesting to see how things go there in the next decade or so.
The architecture in Havana is a must see..tons of beautiful buildings that have sustained a lot of damage over the years and now they are filled with families living in them...we met a ton of friendly people, but the government keeps them on a very short leash, they can never get ahead...and I'm really not sure if it will ever change...I hope so..
