Busted – in Havana!
More than anything else, meeting local people who are warm and friendly is what I remember most when I travel. To increase my chances of interacting with locals, I prefer to stay in smaller hotels, guesthouses, Bed & Breakfasts, and when possible, with families. So when my friend, Lett and I decided to visit Havana, there was no question where we’d stay – we chose a B&B or casa particular. The casa particular we ended up staying at was not…
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Havana’s Black Flags are Lowered. Will Travel Restrictions be Lifted Next?
Five years ago, on February 6, 2006, these black flags - 138 of them - each with a white star, were hoisted in Havana to commemorate the lives lost during the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion and several other tragic events the Cuban Government has attributed to the United States. [caption id="attachment_1655" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Black Flag Monument"][/caption] Was it a true commemoration or an attempt to block the illuminated crawling sign on the side of the U.S. diplomatic building where…
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Havana: Africa Meets Cuba in Regla
Following our visit to Callejon de Hamel, we went to the Centro de los Orishas in Regla, a municipality located about a half an hour's drive from Havana. The Centro is an open air exhibition space where performances are held. There is a small restaurant as well as a little shop at the back. The main attraction for us was the sculptural representations to the Santeria gods Eleggua (also Eshu), Obbatala, Yemaya (Yemonja, Iemonja), Chango (also Shango and Sango), Ochun…
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Havana: Africa Meets Cuba in Callejon de Hamel
When Africans were brought as slaves to the New World, one of the traditions they brought was their religion. In Cuba, this religious tradition is known as Santeria and it exists side by side with Catholicism. Each Sunday afternoon, Callejon de Hamel, a block-long shrine to Santeria located between Aramburu and Hospital Streets in Havana comes alive with rumba music and dancing. [caption id="attachment_1597" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Callejon de Hamel Mural"][/caption] Artist, Salvador Gonzalez, whose studio is located in the middle…
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Havana: These Cars Still Rock!
Half of the nearly 400 photos I took in Havana were of buildings, the other half of cars. These are some of my favorites. [caption id="attachment_1546" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Fiat"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_1552" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Havana car"][/caption] Some were, surprisingly, in very good condition. [caption id="attachment_1551" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="White car on Havana Street"][/caption] I don't imagine any of the cars being made today will be around 50 years from now. [caption id="attachment_1549" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Yellow Plymouth next to blue telephone kiosk"][/caption] [caption…
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My non-Valentine Valentine’s Day
I have a confession: I've never had a Valentine - well, not one that I remember. Somehow, I always seem to meet guys after February and we break up before the next [caption id="attachment_1521" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Happy Valentine's Day!"][/caption] Valentine's Day. Or, the ones I end up with don't believe in Valentine's Day. So while other girls are getting gussied up to go out to dinner, expecting the obligatory hearts and flowers, I wait patiently for the day to end.…
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Exit Zero Escape: Cape May NJ
Living in New York City, summer means looking for places to recharge. One place I've come to love is Cape May, New Jersey. Cape May is a picturesque seaside resort town on the southern tip - the last exit on the Garden State Parkway - of New Jersey that comes alive in the summer, swelling ten fold to about 40,000 residents. Friends talked glowingly of the Victorian houses, the beach, the restaurants. They kept saying it was a place I'd…
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Traveling Sick: What would you do?
I felt a chill shortly following our presentation of the gifts and supplies we had brought [caption id="attachment_1486" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Taking off"][/caption] from the U.S. for students at St. Peter Claver Primary School in Soweto. Then a general feeling of weakness throughout my body that forced me to grab the nearest seat. I felt drained. I took an aspirin that I got from Sandra, one of my traveling partners, and waited for it to take effect. All I wanted to…
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Travel Rules: What Not to do When You Visit New York City
New York City boasts an impressive array of attractions and activities – from Central Park to Broadway - that draw about 40 million American and international visitors annually. [caption id="attachment_1479" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Where to go, what to see"][/caption] And we love that you come, because last year alone, you pumped $39 million into our economy. But for people like me who work in the middle of some of the City's most popular tourist areas – Times Square, Broadway, Rockefeller Center,…
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Here’s How to Travel with Friends and Keep Your Friendships Intact
One of my guy friends once told me that he never goes on vacation with any of the women [caption id="attachment_1462" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Judith, Sandra and Marcia in Lesotho"][/caption] he dates because he knows traveling together would ruin his relationship. After traveling with my relatives on many occasions, I was close to adopting my friend’s attitude, just to preserve the ties of family. But my trips with friends had gone well enough. So when my friend, Sandra, announced that she…
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