That Time Fatima Rolled Her Own Cigar

When planning our trip to Cuba, we knew we wanted to spend a few days by the sea but also wanted to explore other parts of the country. Naturally, Havana was one of those places. That meant we had to rule out other, far flung beaches such as Cayo Santa María and Cayo Sabinal, but looking back, we think we made the right choice.

Although most resorts in Varadero offer plenty of tour options, we found one online, Cuban Connection Tour, that gave us the freedom in choosing what we saw in the capital. It was a little more pricey but worth it considering we would only have one day in Havana.

The day started fairly early when our driver showed up in a gorgeous old-school Mercedez-Benz (with AC thankfully). One of the best things about the tour was that it was just us and the driver, which meant we were able to ask lots of questions about Cuba. We got an insight into poverty, how much people get paid, and how young people bypassed the poor internet connection to find out ways to share TV shows and movies!

Two and a half hours later, we were in Havana, and our first stop was the main cigar factory. We learned about how they used different leaves to create a unique strength and smell for various brands. There were about 4 floors and each one housed a different process, for example, one floor specialised in drying out the leaves while another there were rows of people who concentrated on rolling the leaves.

At that point of the tour, we stopped to have a closer look at how the cigars were rolled. To Fatima's surprise, she was was asked to be a volunteer and see if she could roll one! Let's just say she realised how tough it is to roll the leaves together while keeping it as tight as possible. On the plus side, she got to keep the cigar and save about £10 in the process.

After buying our cigars (they make for perfect gifts!), we drove further into the capital and passed the parliament building, which is designed to look just like the Capitol building in Washington, DC. At its centre is a huge 26-carat replica diamond. Although the original diamond was returned only a few weeks after it was stolen, some 70 years ago, the real diamond never returned. Residents have their own versions of what happened to it... 

We were then treated to a drive down the historic Malecon in another vintage car. After all, when in Cuba! On the 20-minute ride, we passed a number of sites, such as the former Presidential Palace, opera house, Prado Promenade, the old city walls, former Bacardi Building and the museum of the revolution. It was a nice treat for our first time in Havana.

Now we had the chance to start exploring some of the narrow parts of the capital by foot. We passed by the bars often frequented by Ernest Hemingway (such as the bright pink El Floridita) and the Saint Francis of Assisi Square, which was a key port in previous centuries.

We stopped for a filling meal for lunch and returned back to walking around the city. This was probably the best bit, just being able to wonder around and admire the incredible architecture in the city: from the art nouveau and art deco-style buildings to those even older, which often had Moorish and Spanish influences attached to them.

We were also able to peek into old, but beautiful, hotels. Some had more traditional elements, such as a courtyard in the middle, and others were more grand with large stained-glass windows in the roof.

After a little bit more sightseeing, we hopped back into the car to end the day. We weren't done quite yet, though. One of the things we felt like we were missing out on during our time in Varadero was a good mojito so we asked our driver if he knew a good place. So he drove us for half an hour to what seemed like the middle of nowhere, and slap bang on the side of the motorway, to a place in Matanzas where they exclusively served "the best pina coladas".

And you know what, they were right. Ours came served in pineapples (and without alcohol) and were incredible. It was surreal being in some kind of service station and having literally the best drink ever.

As we were only able to spend a day there, we really only saw Havana as tourists and got a really small insight into the capital. Maybe one day we'll go back and experience the true culture of the city.

Tips

• We went to Havana with Cuban Connection. Highly recommend!

• If you can, spend at least 2-3 days in Havana to explore some of the areas off-the-beaten track.

• If any of the staff in the cigar factory offer you cigars on the sly, don't buy them! They're normally made from the ends and left-over bits of the tobacco leaves.