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NFR Cuba or New Orleans

Started by Southcoastffc, March 20, 2017, 07:43:28 PM

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Southcoastffc

I hope the well travelled of FoF can offer some good advice/opinion.  I'm thinking of taking a (probably 10 days or so) trip to either Cuba or New Orleans in early/mid October this year.  Anyone been to either/both and have suggestions as to whether it's a good time to go?  Music is an attraction for both places.  All sensible suggestions/ideas/comments welcome. Is 10 days about the right length of time? I don't particularly want to drive once there but don't rule it out completely.   Thanks in advance.
The world is made up of electrons, protons, neurons, possibly muons and, definitely, morons.

YankeeJim

The Big Easy is a great place. At least it was a hundred years ago when I went, LOL. Cuba is something new and I suspect if you get away from the normal socialist government need to control everything, you would likely find some real treasures. That's just a guess mind you.
Its not that I could and others couldn't.
Its that I did and others didn't.

Stoneleigh Loyalist

My personal choice would be Cuba, but then I have done an 18 day holiday there which toured all around the island.
For several years now people have been saying'Go to Cuba before it changes' and that is the case if you want to see it with its traditional character.
Don't go to one of the new All In resorts because you will see nothing of the real Cuba as they are not interested in letting you out!
We loved our experience.


Whitby Fulham

I went to Cuba on my Honeymoon, Havana is a amazing place and would recommend it. 

BlackShorts

Done both & both are great... Did NOLA during Mardis Gras so can only say that's the time to visit (Pancake Day to you).
Havana fantastic....shite food though.

BestOfBrede

Cuba I would say. Although New Orleans is somewhere I really want to visit, I have been advised that it should be a day or three rather than a week/2 week holiday as there's not much to keep you occupied for that long!
I've been to Cuba and it was fab, but just after we left a hurricane hit where we stayed and boy were we lucky! That was September 2012
Each to their own of course as some may like to eat/drink in the same type of establishment all the time. Must say though that, if I stay healthy (can move without aid!), then I will visit at some point!


Woolly Mammoth

#6
Quote from: Southcoastffc on March 20, 2017, 07:43:28 PM
I hope the well travelled of FoF can offer some good advice/opinion.  I'm thinking of taking a (probably 10 days or so) trip to either Cuba or New Orleans in early/mid October this year.  Anyone been to either/both and have suggestions as to whether it's a good time to go?  Music is an attraction for both places.  All sensible suggestions/ideas/comments welcome. Is 10 days about the right length of time? I don't particularly want to drive once there but don't rule it out completely.   Thanks in advance.

I recommend the Cuban Cigars from Havana, but try to avoid going the same time as Kim Jong-Un and Jeremy Corbyn.
Its not the man in the fight, it's the fight in the man.  🐘

Never forget your Roots.

Southcoastffc

Thanks for the sensible posts! (And then there was WM........ :022:)
The world is made up of electrons, protons, neurons, possibly muons and, definitely, morons.

Snibbo

I cycled across Cuba about 10 years ago.  Stayed mostly in casa particulares - like b&bs. Sensational. Wonderful staying with Cuban people rather than in badly run hotels. Habana Vieja is amazing.


ScalleysDad

As has been stated non government controlled Cuba is something else but at the same time going around the state controlled cigar outlets or a 'collective' farm is an experience. We did have to take some trips on a tourist bus which made me a bit uneasy, unnecessarily so really, as there we were in air conditioned luxury driving past packed, and I mean packed, artic truck trailers doubling up as buses and groups of workers and school kids walking miles to and from work or school.
wandering through a field of rusting bulldozers with the old communist hammer and sickle emblem just showing was strange but that was trumped by a line of disintegrating Mig fighters. Some of the town squares tell a story and of course montages of Castro and Guevara dominated walls and the sides of buildings. We stayed in place where the taxi drivers turned up later as the band and later still as the bar staff and even later still as the dance troupe. Mental.
Landscape is mostly gorgeous and the people we met were fabulous but there is an under current. The older generation wax lyrical about the revolution even though they are barely getting by but the younger generation hanker for change and are very keen to learn, talk about where you have come from and tell their own stories. If its not tourism as a career they want to be Doctors. English is quite wildly spoken except out in the sticks but going back to the line of Migs I was joined by a couple of old guys and we got along just by pointing at or kicking something and calling it a bearing housing or hose. Engineering like botany is an international language.
Havanna is very nice for half a day. I say that as if you look too deep it is quite sad and it will literally fall down one day. Worth seeing before Disney get hold of it though or the other main threat seems to be hordes of Canadian and Japanese tourists who seem to operate under a totally different set of rules. I quite liked Holguin, Vinales and Santiago de Cuba but again it might be worth grabbing the essence of the place, having a beer and moving on. I can't remember how many times I had pork and black beans but it is what it is. One constant was the sea was always flipping cold. 

Southcoastffc

Quote from: ScalleysDad on March 20, 2017, 09:53:35 PM
As has been stated non government controlled Cuba is something else but at the same time going around the state controlled cigar outlets or a 'collective' farm is an experience. We did have to take some trips on a tourist bus which made me a bit uneasy, unnecessarily so really, as there we were in air conditioned luxury driving past packed, and I mean packed, artic truck trailers doubling up as buses and groups of workers and school kids walking miles to and from work or school.
wandering through a field of rusting bulldozers with the old communist hammer and sickle emblem just showing was strange but that was trumped by a line of disintegrating Mig fighters. Some of the town squares tell a story and of course montages of Castro and Guevara dominated walls and the sides of buildings. We stayed in place where the taxi drivers turned up later as the band and later still as the bar staff and even later still as the dance troupe. Mental.
Landscape is mostly gorgeous and the people we met were fabulous but there is an under current. The older generation wax lyrical about the revolution even though they are barely getting by but the younger generation hanker for change and are very keen to learn, talk about where you have come from and tell their own stories. If its not tourism as a career they want to be Doctors. English is quite wildly spoken except out in the sticks but going back to the line of Migs I was joined by a couple of old guys and we got along just by pointing at or kicking something and calling it a bearing housing or hose. Engineering like botany is an international language.
Havanna is very nice for half a day. I say that as if you look too deep it is quite sad and it will literally fall down one day. Worth seeing before Disney get hold of it though or the other main threat seems to be hordes of Canadian and Japanese tourists who seem to operate under a totally different set of rules. I quite liked Holguin, Vinales and Santiago de Cuba but again it might be worth grabbing the essence of the place, having a beer and moving on. I can't remember how many times I had pork and black beans but it is what it is. One constant was the sea was always flipping cold. 
That's very interesting - may I ask how long ago you were there and did you hire a car and 'freewheel' as much as you were able to?  Your phrase 'essence of the place' is what I'm after in terms of Cuba as a whole. I'm not interested in luxury hotels, gated developments, white sand and blue seas - i want to have a beer with the locals, eat pork and beans and catch some music.
The world is made up of electrons, protons, neurons, possibly muons and, definitely, morons.

MJG

Was in New Orleans last November for 4 nights. Maybe a couple of more days needed to take most things in but found we saw and did most things that were available.
Food and music great and even took in  an NFL game.


Forever Fulham

I love New Orleans.  There's no city like it on earth.  World class restaurants.  Great live music.  Casinos.  Cool little stores, art galleries, housing.  Even the cemeteries are fascinating.  There are midnight tours of some cemeteries where they push that they are haunted.  Pork and crustaceans seem the staple diet, but look past that and you'll find some of the most delicious food on the planet.  Read Confederacy of Dunces before you go.

OdecaMynoT

Cuba would be my first choice from a musical perspective.

Read 'Looking For La Bomba'.  Written by an English wine journo who

goes to Cuba for a holiday, goes to see 'Los Fan Fan' and makes a vow to return,learn to play an instrument,

and play with a Cuban band..........all within a year.

D'er idee thic s'portin' Farlhum domajis d'er bloin iz two my moind obsquired.

rogerpbackinMidEastUS

#14
I was looking at a trip to Cuba this summer.
I was planning to drive down to Florida Keys and then get a ferry, but they haven't started yet.
Flights are very expensive, but will come down eventually.
From a personal perspective I would prefer Cuba as it's a 'new destination'
However I've always fancied going to New Orleans but am not convinced by what else it has to
offer more than the "Bourbon Street' area, although FF has painted an interesting picture but according
to a couple of friends down there it can bereally 'hot and sticky' in the summer, but can't compare the weather to Cuba
as I have no idea.
VERY DAFT AND A LOT DAFTER THAN I SEEM, SOMETIMES


Slaphead in Qatar

I went to Havana 10 years ago. Great place if you want to see a totally different type of country. Only thing I did not like was the food. You can see most of the good things in Havana in 5 days.

love4ffc

I have not been to New Orleans, yet.  I have gone scuba diving though of the coast of Cuba.  Gitmo to be exact and it was unspoiled and awesome.
Anyone can blend into the crowd.  How will you standout when it counts?



Holders

Cuba before it gets ruined. Some friends went there some years ago and said it was great - especially for music and dance.
Non sumus statione ferriviaria

kiwian

My daughter returns after a holiday in Cuba at the weekend, so I will find out if there is anything to add to what has been mentioned already.
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true?