Havana, Cuba

Dates: 8/6/09-8/10/09

Transportation: Now getting to Havana, Cuba will be a bit more trickey. First, you will have to fly in from Venice to Cancun, Mexico. You will depart from Venice at 7:10 A.M. on the fifth and arrive in Cancun at 5:05 A.M. on the sixth with one connecting lay-over. This flight costs $1,422. Then in Cancun you must buy a tourist card from U.S. Customs. This will cost around $20. From Cancun, you will fly to Havana departing at 7:20 A.M. and arriving at 9:00 A.M. on the sixth. You will need to come back through Cancun to get to the U.S., so it is a round trip ticket for $180. Now that you are in Cuba, you can take a 15 minute taxi ride from the airport to your hotel. Taxi will be the main form of getting around Cuba.

Geography: Havana is on the northwest portion of Cuba. It is a port city, bordering the ocean. The city extends westward and southward from the bay. The bay is entered through a narrow inlet, and it divides into three main harbors: Marimelena, Guanabacoa, and Atarés. The city lies on low hills.

Climate: Havana enjoys a year-round tropical climate. The average temperature in August is around 75 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit.

Stay: You will be residing in the Ambos Mundos Hotel for your visit. It will cost $628 for four days. This is the same hotel that Hemingway used to stay in. He wrote the first few chapters of For Whom the Bell Tolls in that hotel. It was his favorite in Havana.

Activities: 1. You will go to Hemingway's favorite Havana bar, El Floridita. Hemingway always had a spot in the corner reserved there, and still to this day it is roped off to be reserved for him.
2. Another place you will visit is actually in your hotel. It is room 511 of the Ambos Mundos Hotel. It is roped off and there is a Hemingway shrine there. His typewriter still sits in that room where he wrote part of one of his most famous works.
3. An additional stop you will make is to the Corona Cigar Factory. This is where Cuban Cigars are made that defined a life of party that Havana used to be when Hemingway came.

Language: The official language of Cuba is Spanish. That is what nearly everyone will speak there.

Government: Cuba's government is a Socialist Republic. This is basically where an assembly votes someone leader, and they have a broad range of executive powers. This would be Raul Castro in Cuba's case.

Currency: Cuba's currency is the Cuban Convertable Peso(CUC).
1CUC=1.o8 U.S. Dollars

Time Difference: Cuba is one hour ahead of Oak Park.(+1)