Cuba Travel

Here is a picture of a wooden souveneir I bought in Cuba, that displays the logo of Cristal and how the label on a bottle of Cristal would look like. Regards, Michael Kralj

Cuban Beer - Cristal As I went down to Cuba, I was uncertain as to what the drinks would be like. I had hoped there may be a couple varieties of beer served, as in hot weather beer is my choice. When I got there, I had learned from the Sunwing Representative that the beer there was called " Cristal " and would be the beer you would get at the resort. I'm not very interested in the mixed drinks (which there was plenty of different kinds to choose from), so I had hoped the beer would taste good and I would enjoy my Cuban Beer . My overall opinion once I tasted the beer, was I liked it. It wasn't a very strong beer and more of a light taste to it. I normally drink Budweiser, which is more of a light beer and this had a similar style taste to it. If you drink Guiness, this is the total opposite. So for those who like a Bud on a hot day, you will in my opinion enjoy the Cristal Cerveza down in Cuba. Regards, Michael Kralj While in the Travelling Spirit, you may want to vis

Cuba Travel: License Plate Colors On my trip to Havana , I had learned about the different License Plate Colors that Cars in Cuba can have. The three main ones that were told to me were blue, red and yellow. Blue License Plate meant it was a government vehicle. There are spots in cuba where people are waiting for a ride. If you drive a government vehicle with a blue license plate, and do not pick up people waiting, you will loose your vehicle and priveleges. Red License Plate means a tourist vehicle. I seen a few Toyota Corollas designated as tourist vehicles. It also makes everyone know who you are, a tourist! Yellow License Plate means a vehicle privately owned. To buy a car in Cuba, you have to buy a car that is older than 1957 I believe they had told me. So any yellow plated cars are usually old American cars. The Chevrolet I was in had a 3 gear stick shifter by the steering wheel! Quite odd to see. Also, if you privately own a vehicle, you are not allowed to give people drives

Travelling to Cuba with Sunwing Vacations When I travelled to Cuba, it was my first time on a plane and going anywhere. I didn't know the differences in Air lines, nor was I too concerned. My friend recommended " Arenas Blancas ", so I looked for trips to that location as from speaking to the Travel Agent, I realized that resort was fairly priced as well. Sunwing was offering the flight down to Varadero, Cuba on the date I was set to leave. I had booked and my experience with Sunwing began on the day of my trip. I have to say I was quite happy with the service and the flight. The plane was not a large plane from how I imagined it would be, however it was plenty big. About 30 rows of 6 seats were on the plane. On the trip there, I was 4 rows from the front and on the way back I was in the very back row. The flight took about 3 1/2 hrs to get there, and just over 3 hrs on the way back. During the trip there, being it was christmas day, they had went around offering glasses

Phrases to learn for Cuba Speaking to a fellow worker, I had got him to teach me a few phrases to say when going down south. I will be visiting Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic shortly, and am learning the following for the trip (Note: the spelling of the translated version is my spelling and it may be incorrect): English: How Much is This Translated: "Quanto Questa es to" Pronounced: Kwan-to Kes-ta es to English: Let's Go Translated: "Vamanos" Pronounced: Va-ma-nos And the very important one :) English: Give me 2 beers please Translated: "Deme dos Cerveza por favor" Pronounced: Deh-meh dos Cer-ve-za pour fa-vor As I think of more to ask my fellow worker, I will put more posts up with the phrases to learn and say when you Travel to Cuba . Regards, Michael Kralj Learn about Sump Pump Installation in my other blog.

Cuba Travel: Item Exchange One thing I was told prior to going to Cuba was to bring many items that I could exchange down in Cuba . I was skeptical and thought about how you would approach that when down there. So I didn't bring a lot, but brought a shirt that didnt fit, as well as a few smaller items. While on the poolside of Arenas Blancas , I was listening to the DJ play some music and heard a latino mix of 50 Cent In the Club. I thought it was well done and wanted it. So I went up to the DJ and asked how I could get it. He offered to make a copy for 10 pesos, which I thought was a lot. So I had gave the offer of 5 pesos and we made a deal. As we were making the deal, he also let me know that money isnt as important there and asked if I had any shirts or if I would trade my sunglasses for the cd. Having my older shirt that didnt fit, I came back with it and made the exchange for the CD. What was useless to me, came in handy in getting something down there. And it came in handy

Arenas Blancas When I went down to Cuba I stayed at the Resort Arenas Blancas . This was my first trip down south and I loved it. I had a great time there, and had no complaints with the resort. All of the service was to my expectations and I enjoyed laying around the pool side area. I tipped the guy at the sign in desk one peso when getting there, and he was ever so helpful from there on with anything I required and gave me all the info I needed whenever I asked. I was able to go up to him right away, with no waiting and get my answers answered. Arenas Blancas is definately a great resort to visit, and I recommend it to anyone. The buffet was good with great servers cooking the eggs in the morning. I remember the server looking at me and my gf, and making a kiss like sound and handing us a cuban flower telling me to give it to my wifey. Just great people there and they were always smiling and made that memorable. I recommend it, and you will see more pictures in this blog of the resor