[sharpster]

Hi all,

planning for a Cuba trip in summer(July 30th - Aug 20th) and am curious if some of you have already been there and could give some advice on art galleries or events, sites worth paying a visit to etc.
Have seen photos of the JR Parla Collabo on the streets of Havanna lately, any idea where these can be found?

Will stay the first week in the Havanna area before doing a kind of round trip across the country, third week still not fixed yet (Cayas maybe or Santiago de Cuba).

Any help or insiders tips (also non art related) are more than appreciated!
Thanks in advance!

[ricobenfico]

Nice timing!

www.urbanartassociation.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=joseparla&thread=97081&page=1

[Cornish Crayon]

Havana is a fantastic city

Would love to go back, it's a timewarp of vintage automobila

So pleased to have visited before the dollars start to flow again

[dotdot]

..do

travel light
hire a car
take a good camera...
buy beer in the city .. you can't get it .. everywhere...
wonder why people follow you.. perhaps a bit more than you'd like.
(security folks are.. everywhere..)
wish you could find a nice place to eat
get a good map (don't laugh they are not easy to come by.. if you're driving..)
find out what is where before you go... folks there might not have any idea of what you're on about.

oh and yeah - do get in a coco taxi... we had to do it once... hold on !!!!


..don't
panic.. it's a pretty safe place...
buy cigars from anyone who is not legit - trust me you'll regret it...
worry about the weather... it's ok... if not a tad hot
think too much about the smell in havana .. it's the gas they use for their automobeels.


.. and yeah there's more...
we visited a few years back... classy... drove a lot and well yeah it was like another world... entirely.

am sure it hasn't changed too much....

[sharpster]

thank y'all so much!

[Coach]

Jul 8, 2012 21:16:56 GMT 1 dotdot said:

..do

travel light
hire a car
take a good camera...
buy beer in the city .. you can't get it .. everywhere...
wonder why people follow you.. perhaps a bit more than you'd like.
(security folks are.. everywhere..)
wish you could find a nice place to eat
get a good map (don't laugh they are not easy to come by.. if you're driving..)
find out what is where before you go... folks there might not have any idea of what you're on about.

oh and yeah - do get in a coco taxi... we had to do it once... hold on !!!!


..don't
panic.. it's a pretty safe place...
buy cigars from anyone who is not legit - trust me you'll regret it...
worry about the weather... it's ok... if not a tad hot
think too much about the smell in havana .. it's the gas they use for their automobeels.


.. and yeah there's more...
we visited a few years back... classy... drove a lot and well yeah it was like another world... entirely.

am sure it hasn't changed too much....

I have never been to cuba, but reading this post makes me want to.
+1

[Blakeies]

I'd agree with what's been said so far, probably the best place I've ever been...

Don't be surprised by random people approaching you in the street telling you they will show you fidel castros old house though ;D

You will have an amazing trip!

[dotdot]

it's place untouched by sponnies in a while... ....so it has it's own class.

.. we got lost getting out of hava...

could we get out.... ? (and yes we did have a map.)

what a funny story... it was.. !! it was pouring with rain...... and 85 degrees

we asked around 10 folks.. nobody knew.. they'd never been out of hava.

one guy knew... he knew where the road was.. but had never been on it...
by the time we found it.. it was t o r r e n t ial... (for some reason that word is b 4 nn e d here)

and the road.... it was dual carriage way.. into the horizon.

empty of cars... where's 5th gear... !! on my wee saxo !!

(- oh and don't go to varadero...
and do take deet - the mozzies ... will eat you.. given half a chance)


you'll come back a different person... and have a different sense of perspective.. that's what it's all about. !!

..

[sharpster]

thank you for the advice dotdot, really looking forward to the journey now ... more than +1

[sharpster]

hey guys, just came back from the trip, had a great time there but wont bother you with any boring travel stories but thought these pics might be worth to share with those who are interested ...
for those ever heading to Havanna, the three pieces I could find where in Vedado, near Callejon de Hamel (Cuban art street in Havanna with lots of nice pictures, graffitis all over the place)

Took me forever to find them but after some help by locals I managed to find at least three pieces, some of them already demolished and ripped apart but still impressive especially the largest one which covers a whole building... amazing in the flesh!
Enjoy!

[ricobenfico]

Great photo's Sharpster, thanks for sharing. So just how long did you spend looking for these then looking AT these? I'd be there for days!

[sharpster]

Cheers for the comment, honestly it was quite a rush through but tried to take my time enjoying the pieces. My fellow travelmate just shook her head as I tried to convince her (and suceeded) I HAD to get back the next day to take some close up pics of these pieces... luckily I managed to discover the larger one (first pictures) as well then .. If I would have been on my own I would have been all day looking for the other pieces in the darkest holes of havanna lol