A travel vlog by Kara and Nate Buchanan documenting their first full day in Havana, Cuba, guided by a local named Cesar. The video covers arrival, a walking tour of Old Havana (Central Park, cathedral square), practical tips (internet access, dual currencies CUP vs CUC and their relative value), cultural context (Afro-Cuban/Santería influences, clothing traditions), sampling local food (ropa vieja, plantains, tamal), and an afternoon ride in a 1952 Ford Victoria visiting landmarks (Jesus Christ statue, Revolutionary Square, El Floridita). The hosts reflect on how much they learned and preview focusing on Cuban food the next day.
Chapters
This is how I've always pictured myself traveling in Cuba. Dreams are coming true right now.
Today is our first full day in Cuba. We got in late last night and we stayed with a local family who cooked us a beautiful breakfast this morning.
And today we're seeing Havana in the daylight for the first time. And we are going on a full day tour. So we're starting with the walking tour. We're going to see the town, then we're going to get some lunch, and then we're going to ride in a really cool car.
Is the capital, but it's also the most important financial center. The most.
Our tour just started. We're in Central park, which is between the old part of Havana, which is where we're staying, and the main part of the city. And my first impressions of Havana so far is that it's just as beautiful as I've always imagined. The big gorgeous buildings and the super cool cars. We're learning so much history and I'm so excited.
Okay, I want to introduce you to our guide for the day.
Hello, guys. I'm Cesar.
He's going to be showing us around Havana, his hometown. You grew up here?
Yes, I grew up here.
So if you want Internet while you're in Cuba, you're going to have to wait in this super long line that you see beside me. Cesar was telling me that the national sport, sport here in Cuba is technically baseball.
Yes.
But the Cubans say it's waiting in line. Of course. That's crazy. Like 45 minutes to get Internet. And then once you buy the card, you have to take it to a park where you can actually access the WI fi.
Okay, guys, well, this is a cup Q and peso. And this is the cuc. The very easiest way to make a difference between each of these builds is that this one has the face of the hero, Camilo Sinfo. The face of Camilo. And here we have the monument of Camilo Siompho. In this case, we have the bill of 3.3cup, 3Q1 pesos with the face of Che Guevara. And here, 3Cuc, 3Q1 convertible, and with the face of Che Guevara too. It is important to know the difference because this bill is 25 times less expensive than this one here. So it's a big difference. So now you really want to know which are you having?
Okay, so that seems like it could be a very common scam. Yes.
And for you, this is my gift. A bill of free cu paid.
Thank you.
So when I think of clothing in Cuba, I think of white pants, but I never knew why or where that started. And Caesar just told us.
Busy. So Cesar just told us that it was came from a religion. So Cuba was part of Spain for a long time, and they were Catholic. And this is the cathedral square with this beautiful church. And when people from Nigeria immigrated here, they brought this other religion, and it kind of morphed into this Catholic African religion that they call Afro Cuban or Santaria. And when you're converting into the religion, you have to wear all white for one year. And that is where the white pants tradition started. Who knew?
These are the traditional hats of Cuba.
Okay, I want one.
Three. So Havana was established in this spot under a saba tree. Now it's a monument, but this is a new baby saba tree. And it is a tradition to walk around it three times and make a wish and put some money down there, and then your wish will come true. And the lady that sits inside this building has tons of stories of people coming back saying their wishes came true. So we're going to try it.
This is a local bakery, and this is a price for bread that you can get. For one piece of bread, you can. You have to pay 5 cents, but 5 cents in Cuban peso. So that doesn't exist in dollar. The way we get this bread here is through a notebook. A notebook that regulates food. One of the few pros that still are regulated is bread.
Okay. We just did the math to convert it into dollars. And that means that one penny in that store back there will buy you five pieces of bread. Crazy.
So cool. I can't get over this.
So we walked into this restaurant. Then Caesar told us that it's actually someone's house on paper. So you're only allowed to have your own private business if it's out of your house. So the only way that you can, like, open your own restaurant is if you do it in your house. You're only allowed to have one house in Havana. So somebody has this as their house, and then they have to live, like, in the countryside. But it looks just like a normal restaurant. I ordered something. No, I said that wrong.
You can have one property in the city and a second property, as long as it's located in the countryside or in the beach.
What did I say?
You said that then you have to live in the countryside. No, no, no. You can live in the city. For example, we are together. So I have my house, you have your house. I will use my house for restaurant, and then I will live with you because we are Together. So we live in your house.
Okay. Yeah, that's what I meant.
I dis.
Anyways, I ordered a very typical dish called roja vieja.
Vieja. Rojavieja.
That's what I said.
Rojavieja. Which basically means. No, I'm nervous I'm gonna say it wrong. Old clothes, Right? And that's because it's shredded beef, and so it's like an old shredded shirt. And it came in a heart bowl. And I'm so exc.
That is amazing.
So tender. It has onions and bell peppers. Not super spicy, apparently. Caesar told us they don't have any spicy food here. It's not a thing, but it's very savory. Like, maybe some tomato sauce. It is delicious. And we got two other very local dishes. Fried plantains and tamal encuela. It's finally time.
It's pink.
We are spending the rest of the afternoon doing a classic Havana activity, riding around in this 1952 Ford Victoria. You can't come to Cuba and not do this.
Our first stop in the old car was at the Jesus Christ of Havana. And Cesar told us that the local joke was that it looks like in one hand he's holding a cigar, and in the other hand he has a mojito.
Our next stop is Revolutionary Square, which is a massive square in the middle of the city where, after the revolution, the government moved to. And here we're surrounded by a lot of very important historical figures in Cuban history. But I think all this would be much better explained by Caesar.
Here we have Che Guevara, one of the leaders of the Cuban revolution. He was from Argentina. Here we have Camilo Cienfuegos, another leader, but in this case, he was from Cuba, and he helped Fidel Castro to make the revolution happen. Here we have the Cuban Communist Party, the only party that we have in the island. This is the Jose Martin Memorial, and behind that tower, we have the palace of the government, where all the presidents who came in an official visit to Cuba, they have a meeting right there in Dublin.
We would love to fly our drone around here. However, this is one of, like, 700 no drone signs in this square. They really don't want you to fly it. So we're gonna be rule followers. We didn't even bring it on this trip.
Gracias. And we're back in the city.
Thank you, C. You're welcome.
It was such a good day.
I'm glad that you like it.
Wow. I cannot believe our first day in Cuba is already over. We have learned so much today.
Like a brain expanding amount to the point where my head is hurting right now.
Poor Caesar. I'm sure he is exhausted because we have been asking him questions since he picked us up at 9am this morning. We haven't stopped talking all day long.
Cuba is a super complicated country. Normally, we love to just, like, go out, wander around, and, you know, see what we can figure out. But here, I'm so glad that we had somebody that we could just ask so many questions. It helped us at least be able to peel back a couple of layers.
Today I just thought I knew about some of the Cuban history. I knew zero. We are loving Havana, and we get to be here tomorrow as well. Tomorrow we're focusing on the food.
I hate pigeons. I hate them.
Oh, they're so obnoxious. I don't want to get pooped on. They're crazy.
Well, I just stepped in poop. But I learned that apparently in Cuba, it means. Means that money is coming.
So.
Together, we're both getting rich.
We're gonna be rich.
It looked awkward how you entered.
Okay, guys, this is one of the landmarks of Havana, okay? This is El Floridita. Right now we have a sculpture of Erna Hemingway. And we also have a big cup that was against Guinness record of the biggest daiquiri ever made. This right here, Hemingway, he has the record of 14. This double shot of daiquiris, and it's like an urban legend that many people had died trying to be the record of Ernie Hammeker. If it's true or not, you have to figure out by yourself.
I'm the only one not wearing white. Yeah, that's true, y'.
