Cuban Arts, Music and Culture Program. For Our Spectacular Expedition to Havana and Viñales!

Transcription

1 CUBA! People to People Exchange Cuban Arts, Music and Culture Program For Our Spectacular Expedition to Havana and Viñales! SEE WHY EVERYONE WANTS TO GO TO CUBA Dance the salsa on a rooftop in Havana, rub shoulders with locals walking along the faded elegance of the Malecon seawall, eat in private home restaurants called paladares, visit Ernest Hemmingway s, house, watch Cubans of all ages soften when the strains of Guantanamera float into the streets, visit the Museums, cafes LEARN HOW THE SOCIETY FUNCTIONS Have you wanted to explore the unique island nation of Cuba? Now is your chance! Interplanner is offering you an unforgettable cultural immersion focusing on the arts, education, health and Cuba s distinctive culture, you ll experience lectures, museums, schools and arts communities, along with Cuba s unique cuisine, music and architecture! th Street NW Washington, DC interplannercuba.com Contact us for a day-by-day program Interplanner Interplanner@comcast.net

2 DAY-BY-DAY DAY 1 This morning please plan to meet by 5:00 am at the Xael Charter check-in counter to meet your delegation leader. Check in will be in concourse G adjacent to the Dunkin Donuts. Lines queue up according to the flight, not just those flying with the charter company, so make sure you get in the correct line! Departure is scheduled this morning on XAEL Charter service (operated by World Atlantic) at approximately 9:00 am (checkin begins as early as 5:00). WELCOME TO CUBA!! Upon arrival at the Havana International Airport, you will need to make your way through passport control where they will take your photo (be prepared to remove any hats, scarves or glasses) and check your paperwork for entry into Cuba. Make your way to baggage claim and from there exit through customs to where your national guide will be waiting for the delegation. Enjoy some sites of the city in a panoramic bus tour of Havana in-route to lunch. Lunch: Santana Paladar. Hotel Check-In: Early this afternoon the delegation will transfer to your hotel for check in at the Quinta Avenida Hotel in Miramar. Check in and settle into your rooms before meeting in the hotel conference center for your welcome briefing. Your delegation leader will have some time to address the delegation and facilitate group introductions Dinner:Enjoy a welcome dinner at Paladar La California, this paladar is known as one of Havana s best. DAY 2 : will be provided daily during your stay in Cuba. This morning the delegation will have a welcome orientation to Cuba on behalf of the staff at the Cuban Institute of Friendship with People in conjunction with our local team at the Casa de la Amistad. This mandatory meeting focuses on Cuban/U.S. relations, and is a required component of all visits to Cuba. Enjoy a walking tour of the historic center of Old Havana, a village founded in 1519 and declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in There will be an explanation of the projects carried out by the City Historian s Office for the rehabilitation of Old Havana. Lunch: El Meson de la Flota. Afternoon visit to the Museum of the Revolution. The museum's Cuban history exhibits are largely devoted to the period of the revolutionary war of the 1950s and to the country's post-1959 history. Portions of the museum are also devoted to pre-revolutionary Cuba, including its War of Independence waged against Spain. Behind the building lies the Granma Memorial, a large glass enclosure which houses the Granma, the yacht which took Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries from Mexico to Cuba for the revolution. Around the Granma an SA-2 Guideline surface-toair missile of the type that shot down a U.S. Lockheed U-2 spy plane during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the engine of the U-2 airplane is displayed. There are also various vehicles and tanks used in the revolution displayed. Near the museum is located an SU-100, a Soviet tank destroyer. Dinner: Dinner at your own expense. This evening enjoy a neighborhood street party with all the residents of the block participating. It s a great opportunity to interact with the locals. The delegation should collaborate to bring some rum, chips, crackers, sodas to contribute to the party. These can be purchased at the hotel or any local store. Also some gifts for children will be very much appreciated however we don t have quantities, ages or genders to share. We recommend small items that are easy to carry. Appropriate items could be school or art supplies, books and notebook paper/journals, stickers, children or teen magazines, matchbox cars, dolls, card or board games, etc. DAY 3 This morning you will tour various art galleries including the stunning Villa Manuela Gallery which is home to Cuba s contemporary arts and an opportunity to see some of the emerging graffiti-style artworks that are popping up all over the city. Please note: Due to the constantly changing nature of the Art Scene in Havana, this itinerary will vary in order to include special art events and exhibitions and available participating artists. Lunch: La Casa Paladar After lunch depart for a visit to the city of Regla. Visit the church of Nuestra Señora de Regla, one of Cuba s most frequented pilgrimage churches. PAGE 2

3 The most impressive is the statute of the Virgin of Regla who is black and cradles a white infant in her arms. She is the patron and protector of sailors. She is considered the equivalent of Yemaya, the goddess of the sea in the Yoruba religion. Visit the Municipal Museum of Regla. There will be a ritual dance of Santeria, the religion brought to Cuba by African slaves. Later the delegation will stop at the Centro Cultural Antiguos Almacenes to visit and talk with private sector owners of more than 300 different booths selling art, handicrafts, clothing, and a variety of Cuban products. Dinner: Dinner has been specially arranged at La Fontana Paladar After dinner this evening the delegation will go down to the Cannon Blast ceremony, a tradition evoking the announcement of the closing of the gates of the city and of the channel at the entrance of the bay. Evening show at Havana s famous Jazz Café. DAY 4 Morning departure to visit the Hemingway Museum located in the Finca Vigia, former residence of the American writer located in the San Francisco de Paula neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. We will tour along the beltway of the city reaching Cojimar, a fisherman s village where Hemingway docked his fishing boat El Pilar, a source of inspiration for this famous novel The Old Man and the Sea Lunch: El Bodegon Brisas del Mar. This afternoon visit the Museo de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Museum). The Fine Arts Museum is dedicated exclusively to Cuban art collections beginning in the mid-16th century. Spanning the 17th and 19th centuries, it has galleries devoted to landscape, religious subjects and the Costumbrismo narrative scenes of Cuban life. Other galleries are devoted to more current work, and are recognized for the extensive collection of Hyperrealism and the latest generation of Cuban artists whose works all reflect the strong symbolic imagery prevalent in recent decades. Dinner: El Guajirito Paladar. Performance: Tablao de Pancho. Famous for its traditional Cuban music of Buena Vista Social Club. DAY 5 This morning the delegation will meet with the professors and students of La Escuela Taller Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos Workshop School). This unique institution was established in 1992 in a heroic effort to train youth in the arts, crafts and theoretical knowledge to rehabilitate and preserve their architectural heritage. The school teaches young people archeological and restoration skills necessary to sustain the physical heritage and cultural patrimony of Old Havana. The Cuban capital harbors the largest collection of colonial-era Spanish architecture in our hemisphere. Lunch: La Torre Restaurant Continue your visit to the Fuster Project in Jaimanitas, a small coastal neighborhood west if Havana, led by famous Cuban painter and ceramist Jose Fuster. Dinner: Dinner at your own expense. DAY 6 Viñales This morning you find yourself in a unique contrast of flat top hillocks, rocky heights and magnificent forests. You are in the Viñales Valley. The fertile tobacco fields are the most important part of the region. The best tobacco in the world comes from Vuelta Abajo, west of the provincial capital. Visit a tobacco farm and engage in conversation with the factory workers. Continue to the city of Viñales and exchange with the local residents that are now involved in the new economic changes including the opening of private restaurants and rental properties. Perfect afternoon to walk or horseback riding through the tobacco fields and meet and talk with the farmers in the valley. Lunch: El Ranchon. Dinner: Dinner at your own expense DAY 7 This morning we will meet with a special chef at the Culinary Assocaition of Cuba and will participate in a cooking class at ArteChef. You will then taste your own creation at lunch time. Lunch: ArteChef Culinary School. Afternoon visit Danza Contemporanea de Cuba. A uniquely Cuban blend of modern theater, Afro Caribbean dance styles and classical European ballet. PAGE 3

4 Under the direction of Miguel Iglesias, DCC presents its dancers with exceptional opportunities and with exceptional challenges as well. Along with the physical discipline required by a grueling training regimen, Iglesias places a premium on a dancer's spontaneity and intellect. "The grammar of dance, the words of dance, is movement," Iglesias explains, "but choreography must have a central idea, an intention. We must provide a dancer with the intellectual means to turn all this sophisticated technique into the language of dance."time for Q & A with the company members. Dinner: Share your memories of Cuba with your traveling colleagues at a farewell dinner at Café Del Oriente Restaurant in the historic center of Old Havana. DAY 8 Departure to Miami, FL, US DEPARTURE DAY Hotel Check-Out: Prepare luggage for check out. Please settle all incidental expenses incurred during your stay. Delegates will transit to the airport for their flights home this morning. Notice: Scheduled meetings and other planned interactions are subject to the availability of the professionals we seek to collaborate with, as well as allowances made by the Cuban government to grant visits to visitors. Where permission from the Cuban government is required, adjustments may need to be made. Interplanner is committed to featuring replacement program activities that will retain the content and quality of this cultural experience. PAGE 4

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