Our first day in Florida, we hit the pool, relaxed and took it easy after driving in.
The next day we were up and headed into downtown Miami for our Little Havana Food and Walking Tour.
Not just food, the tour also encompassed Little Havana's history and culture.
There was statues of roosters at every corner, very much a symbol of Little Havana.
Thence to our first stop for Cuban Coffee and Empanadas.
Very tasty indeed, especially with a little hot sauce. The coffee was awesome.
On to various stops including a Rum Bar / Art Gallery of Cuban Art:
As we sat there, a fellow came in with a live rooster. This apparently is not an uncommon occurrence on the streets of Little Havana.
Then on to a restaurant with excellent Cuban Sandwiches.
Walking along we saw many murals painted on buildings including this one of the Women in White - honoring the brave Cuban women protesters who regularly assemble on white and protest against the jailing of political prisoners in Cuba:
Then for a stop to sample some fresh made mojitos and for some to try some salsa dancing with the live band at the bar.
On we went to a cigar factory, where hand rolled cigars are made with tobacco seed from Cuba grown in Honduras or elsewhere and then made right in Miami. This fellow has over 20 years experience hand rolling cigars.
Then on to get another beverage as it was a hot day. This one was interesting:
The shop owner ran sugar cane through this machine and the resulting liquid was nice and refreshing but not overly sweet. Quite tasty and it really hit the spot.
We then stopped at the Bay of Pigs memorial.
A memorial to the failed invasion of Cuba to overthrow the Communist government in 1961. In short, the lesson of the Bay of Pigs is: Don't try a halfhearted amphibious invasion without sufficient men and arms, proper air support, and after leaks of the date and time of the invasion have been made to the opposition.
Cuban Americans are still not a fan of Castro and the commies by any means.
Stopping at Azucar, a famous local ice cream shop, I noticed a certain flavor being advertised (look at 3 over right and 5 down):
Yep, in Little Havana, they're really not a fan of commies, and considering how many of them or their families suffered under Castro one can't blame them a bit.
We ended the tour at the ice cream shop and it had been an excellent few hours full of learning about Cuban-American history, culture and food.
I highly recommend the tour if you have a few hours in Miami. Just don't eat anything first, you're going to want the room.
2 comments:
Cuban food can be very, very tasty, or hot enough to make you sweat between your shoulder blades! Back when I lived in Lost Angeleez, there was a place called "Miami Spice" I used to go to. Very good, but pricey. There was also a place in Long Beach, name forgotten, that was pretty good, and reasonably priced.
We have several "Cuban" restaurants here in Fort Collins, but we haven't been to any, as my wife probably couldn't eat the food.
drjim: The food was awesome. Not very spicy, they probably had it toned down for the tourists.
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