Gabriele and her mother visiting Cuba

Margarete Boiselle-Vogler & Gabriele Boiselle on holiday !

A short summary about the round trip from 12th November until 2nd December for all of those who wants to know more about the family trip...

At first it is important to know...

...that my parents have always been involved in politics and after my father came home from captivity we were one of the first tourists that have been travelling to Russia to take a look behind the Iron Curtain in 1964. Many more trips followed on which my parents taught me to deal with politics critically.

So why the journey to Cuba...?

...No other man has influenced this country more than Fidel Castro.  The missile crisis in Cuba is part of world history and it is difficult to forecast what will happen to this country if Fidel Castro is no longer part of the history of one of the only socialistic country in the world that is still proud of its history...That’s why my mother wanted to visit the country that might be about to change in the next time and so we started a round trip, accompanied by unforgettable moments.

I looked up to my mother for her energy and her love for adventure. And her way of seeing things through her compact camera also inspired me at our excursion.

...started with the arrival at Havanna after a ten hour flight.

Before we reached our hotel we enjoyed an amazing silent Havanna at night.

Also our hotel surprised us with its comfort, which I couldn´t appreciated as I was extremely tired and I felt asleep at once.

In contrast to me, my mother showed again an incredible drive the next day as she went off to an excursion to “Pinar del Rio” where,among other things, she visited a chalk cliff that is admitted as world cultural heritage. I spent the day relaxing and trying to get an internet connection, waiting for the “Tropicanashow” that started at nine o´clock in the evening.

The colourful dance spectacle was extraordinary entertaining and lost some of my prejudices. But overall my mother was happy to get back to bed this evening.

Havanna city was coming as next highlight the following day. The city is characterized by all the values deeply rooted in the revolution and of course pictures from the national hero Che Guevara can be seen in the whole city. We started our city tour at the capitol and were impressed by the contrasts of the city, on the one hand showy and pompous buildings and on the other hand begging people and vegetating old houses. The whole atmosphere was rather oppressive and Caribbean feeling had no chance to come up.

However, we caught amazing impressions from the daily life from the Cuban people when we crossed the theatres, museum, piazzas and avenues. We could also take a look at the famous Bar “El Floridita”, the favourite bar of Hemingway and ended up in a shopping street where we were faced with thousands of different works of art that have been sold.  It is Saturday and the streets are full of people, music and bustle...

We spent lunchtime in a typical Cuban bar located in an impressive building; the atmosphere was like in a film from the sixties...We were always accompanied by loud background music, that represented the cheerfulness of the Cuban people.

The next stop was the historic old town of Havanna where we visited the hotel “Ambos Mundos”; here spent Hemingway some of his years in Cuba. And we had our first Pina Colada in an old rum factor; again accompanied by the hot rhythm of a salsa band and a beautiful voice of a female vocalist.

At nightfall we turned back to our hotel and talked about our impressions. Our tour group consists of 18 people, who harmonize very well with each other. The party is really enjoyable. Also the tour guide Mai, an attractive Cuban who studied German and English, turned out to be a very smart, competent story telling woman...