Back from an amazing trip to Cuba with the Sundance board and staff to the Havana Film Festival. Sundance had hosted several workshops and panels, and sponsored several Cuban documentary filmmakers to make movies about Cuba in transition. In transition it truly is! We started out opening night at the Karl Marx Theatre:
[findery https://findery.com/caterina/notes/sundance-at-the-havana-film-festival width=”500″ height=”400″]
We were staying at the Hotel Saratoga, though many events were at the Hotel Nacional, the state-owned hotel. I have some travel tips for any staying at the Saratoga:
[findery https://findery.com/caterina/notes/air-freshener-removal-at-the-hotel-saratoga width=”500″ height=”400″]
We ate at a dozen of the restaurants that cater to the new tourist trade, that are in converted houses on residential streets, such as this one, the Rio Mar:
https://findery.com/caterina/notes/rio-mar-restaurant
I was amazed at how similar the menus at all the restaurants were– there wasn’t a single meal that didn’t start with a mojito. Fish was rare, and chicken common, which seemed odd for an island nation. There weren’t many fishing boats, as independent non-governmental food acquisition is discouraged, even illegal.
I’ll continue with the travelogue–more posts about Havana to follow on Findery. If you have the chance to go to Cuba, go, and soon! The influx of tourism following on the relaxing of US-Cuba relations means that soon it will be more and more like Miami, and less and less like the old Cuba.
Caterina.net 