Q. I love your “Everyday People” column, it literally reminds me of the lyrics from the Sly & The Family Stone’s classic “Everyday People” – “I am no better and neither are you, we’re all the same, whatever we do, You love me, you hate me. You know me and then. You can’t figure out the bag I’m in”. What inspired you to start that interview project and what have you learned through these interviews with random people? Firstly, thanks so much for asking me to do this interview, Chin […]

The post Christopher Birt, Actor and Traveler appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.

This popular restaurant is located 5 blocks in from the Bahia de la Habana (harbor) on Concordia Street. Like other restaurants in Havana, a small sign is the only notice of its existence. Or maybe you will spot someone waiting on the first floor and upon inquiry, you will be directed up stairs. There are no signs for the restaurant once you enter this ancient looking building dating from the early 1900s – like other parts of Havana entering the building is like walking back in time – a period […]

The post Guarida Paladar Restaurant, Havana – Cuba, March 2022 appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.

I landed in Ulanbaatar in the very early am. My pre-arranged ride was not waiting at airport so I found a taxi who promptly delivered me to my guest house, 20 mins to town w/o traffic. Two story guesthouse. I ended up on the second floor – frustrated because the inside door to the guesthouse was locked and it was 430am. Knocking over and over again resulted in no action from within. I began to prep a rudimentary sleeping arrangement in the hallway when some bleary eyed chap opened and […]

The post Impressions: Ulanbaatar, Mongolia appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.

Needing the spirit and calming influence of the countryside, I left Havana pinched between the driver and an accompanying passenger in the front seat of a green 1950s Chevrolet. Beautiful from the outside but quite uncomfortable on the inside – 6 or 7 of us were crammed like sardines in a tin can. Hard seats, no air conditioning, a middle front seat on the ‘hump’ with no leg room whatsoever and a suspect suspension system all made for an uncomfortable nearly 3-hour journey. Fortunately I discovered a ‘new’ air conditioned […]

The post Leisure Time in Vinales, Cuba appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.

I learned that it takes a few days to warm to Cuba – but when you do, its alluring embrace grabs you with all it has and doesn’t let go. The colorfully dressed person in front of me boarded the plane without any shoes and left the plane without any shoes. Never seen that before. Following a very quick wait in customs, I then caught a taxi to Havana for 30 CUC, the Cuban currency (the airport is about 30-45 minutes from the center of the city). About half way […]

The post Introduction to Havana appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.

This colorful photo rich coffee table book on the cars of Cuba should be in the hands of any classic car enthusiast. Havana is a city known for featuring thousands of cars dating from prior to 1959. Locals continue to use these old cars (although there are newer cars are on the Cuban roads these days, it is currently prohibitively expensive to import new cars because of the high luxury tax) and perhaps a disappointment to collectors, there is a ban on exporting vintage cars. This book captures the both […]

The post Cuba Cars by Harri Morick & Rainer Floer appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.

Our introduction to Curaçao wasn’t an awe inspiring inspirational place of stunning natural beauty (for instance a secluded white sand beach framed by a crescent shoreline and aquamarine waters). Rather it was in a rough part of Willemstad, the capital city. A friend and I found ourselves wandering around the dark streets late at night in search of food in a neighborhood near our hostel. We passed walls topped with razor sharp barbed wire – long menacing shards of steel that make regular barb wire look like something you would […]

The post Curacao, One of my Favorite Islands in the Caribbean appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.

It’s a beautiful resort but it’s not Cuba. More tourists are found here than Cubans. It’s only a showplace for tourists”, the young Cuban lady guide explained, as she began to give us an overview of Varadero. Her words, more than volumes of reporters’ stories, sum up what the local Cubans think of Varadero – the country’s top tourist attraction. Everything in this resort of some 20,000 inhabitants is geared toward foreign visitors who are offered some of the finest tourist facilities to be found anywhere – a world that […]

The post Varadero, Cuba’s Pampered Tourist Siren appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.

In between our two ports of call, Havana and Santiago de Cuba, we had another day at sea. This is a great opportunity for passengers to relax and reinvigorate for the next port.  We participated in an Introduction to Santiago de Cuba seminar.  While I didn’t learn that much about the city, I realized there would be plenty of that the following day in Santiago de Cuba, and instead we simply got an overview of what to expect from the day ahead.  The cruise hosted a BBQ for lunch.  The […]

The post Part Three: Sweet, Sweet Santiago de Cuba appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.

On day three of the Fathom Impact + Travel cruise on the Adonia, we excitedly woke up to peer outside our portal window and see the vibrant colors of Havana. Once the astonishment of being there finally set in, we boarded our bus and embarked on my first true introduction to the country of Cuba. Our first stop was to Cemetery Colon. The cemetery is named after Christopher Columbus, who ‘discovered’ Cuba, however he is not buried here.  The cemetery is crowded, with burial plots above ground.  It looks like […]

The post Part Two: Viva Havana! appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.

For the past 50+ years, the idea of traveling to Cuba on an American cruise line has been unfathomable. Then, in May of 2016, that idea became a reality – it became fathomable.  Justifiably so, the first cruise line granted access into Cuba’s mesmerizing culture is named Fathom. Fathom Impact + Travel, a subsidiary company of Carnival Cruise lines, was created in 2012 and been in business since 2014.  Fathom Impact + Travel is the answer to the belief that there is a demographic of travelers that is currently not attracted to cruising.  […]

The post Part One: Introduction to Cuba appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.

Everything Cuba is on the tips of traveler’s tongues from the states these days with the thawing of decades of strained relations. Photographer Jay Seldin’s timely book of black and white photography documents an intimate look into the lives of Cubans. Cuba is cursorily known for vintage cars, futbol, older buildings, images of Castro and Che but his photographs in this book are exclusively of the Cuban people. They represent young and old; their are no words at the core of the book – rather the stories are told in […]

The post The Cubans by Jay Seldin appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.

As the diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba strengthen, Americans are beginning to flock to the country to get a glimpse of the beauty that Ernest Hemingway famously described. We weren’t any different. Once we arrived, we wanted to make sure that we didn’t stay in hotels to get a better feel for the local lifestyle. We walked around for nearly 3 hours through the neighborhoods, knocking on doors, and asking for an open room with our limited Spanish. If you’re the type to stress over where you will stay before arriving, I’d suggest booking at […]

The post Staying With the Locals in Cuba appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.

What’s one of my favorite parts about traveling? Street food. It’s one of the best ways to deliciously see what locals eat in their daily lives (plus it’s always best budget option). Like most countries, street food is available all over Cuba, sold from stands, windows, wheelbarrows and carts. Now, before I arrived in Cuba, I already had my doubts on the food because of what other travelers have said in the past. So I didn’t arrive with high expectations for the fear of being heavily let down. There was […]

The post Street Foods Of Cuba appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.

Surf junkies travel the world to ride the perfect wave. A few countries have the reputation for being a real paradise for surfers – Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Australia, South Africa, Hawaii. Others, such as Cuba and Uruguay, are becoming more popular destinations to surf. However, not many know that at the very heart of the Mediterranean there’s an island that is rich in lush nature, mountains, beautiful small cities, unique archeological sites, great hiking trails and – yes – fantastic beaches which are often hit by great waves that are […]

The post 11 surfers’ paradise spots in Sardinia to be visited as soon as possible appeared first on Dave's Travel Corner.