After writing my day-by-day posts of the actual events during the Festival del Habano XVIII, I thought I would take a little time to put down my thoughts on the festival as well as the city of Havana and Cuba overall. As others have reported around the internet, the city of Havana seems to be perpetually stuck in the past, with cars, buildings and even furnishings harking from much earlier eras. It is fascinating to see—and ride in—lovingly restored cars from the 50s and 60s, although most cars I used for taxis were far from that nice, and a couple of them seemed to be more rust than car. Of course, there were issues, especially coming from a major metropolitan area. Working as part of the media, the internet situation can only be described as extremely challenging, with people needing to purchase internet cards—usually in one hour increments—that work in specific locations. Some work in different hotels, while other hotels’ internet can only be accessed by using its specific cards. This means that wherever you are, there is a very good possibility that you will either have to purchase a different internet card, or won’t be able to get online at ...
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