Havana with R & M – Part One

Rainer & Marled are friends from my village in Germany.

Rainer, a retired plumber smokes with us at the pharmacy and Marled takes cooking classes with my wife.

Both have a passion to travel, a love that became fulfilled when they left East Germany right after the crumbling of the Berlin wall.

Being surrounded by a wall gives you the urge to travel freely.

So they are familiar with all the socialist BS you encounter in Cuba.

A few years back they were in Havana briefly before starting a holiday in Varadero and I arranged for them to see some spots, buy cigars and a tour to the Vuelta Abajo.

They liked Havana so much that they decided to do it again but with more time and they wanted me to show them my Havana and introduce them to my friends and my way of life there.

Which is what I did.

From the start it was fun, them being greeted by Jorgito and a note from me saying I was too sick to pick them up – which left them coolly disinterested as I could see while I was taking the pictures from behind their backs.

Then more fun as they would call Jorgito “Mojito” believing that was his name.

OK, he retaliated by calling Rainer “Gordito” ….

First night out it was Espacios, Mojitos and cigars. A ritual they soon got familiar with.

We shared my Casa and they loved it, the attention, the familiar feeling.

Met all my friends as well as I took them to all the LCDH’s and all my watering holes.

I had recommended El Palenque last time they were in Havana and we went there again by popular demand. Too good to miss.

Also on the list was a visit to a cigar factory, so I arranged for that through a friend at La Corona.

Met my buddy Omar there again, always the coolest roller in town.

A tour of Old Havana was mandatory despite my aversion to the touristy places. But a good occasion to visit Reynaldo and have a good smoke with him.

Some beers and Mojitos at El Morro, of course, great place.

And the preparations for a family dinner of pork, rice and beans at Mojito’s home …

Nino