Amelia and José had a forbidden love.  Amelia was from a proper, rich family and José was a poor man. Against her parents’ wishes they were wed. They had a short time of happiness until Amelia died in 1901 during childbirth, and unfortunately their child died as well. To spite her parents, José built a small, poor tomb for her and the child rather than allow her internment in her family’s tomb.

Every day for 41 years he would come, up to several times a day, to visit her.  In all that time it is said he never missed a day.  He would bring her flowers and take hold of one of the four rings on the lid of her tomb and knock.  Wanting to keep her in his sight for as long as possible, he would retreat backwards from her grave.

Fourteen years later his father died, and the tomb was reopened to inter his body. The family paid to see Amelia one more time only to discover that her body had not decomposed, a holy sign in the Catholic faith. Not only that but the baby’s body, which had been reportedly buried at her feet, was now in her arms.

Amelia quickly became known as a local saint (not officially recognized by the Church), and over the years many people have traveled from all over the world to visit her grave, leave her flowers, pray for a greatly desired outcome (, especially those praying to have a child), knock on her tomb, and walk away backwards.  In fact cemetery officials estimate she receives approximately 150 visits a day.

Her grave, in spite of its less grand stature, is easily identified by a statue of a woman holding a babe in her arms standing next to a cross. Hers is also the only tomb in the 56-hectare cemetery that is consistently covered by flowers.  Behind her grave you will find probably hundreds of small plaques left behind by the faithful who have come to pray for their own miracle and returned to give their thanks after their prayer was answered.

The cemetery is open all day long, and often the friendly guards will give you a free tour. The office has a map and detailed guide you can purchase if you’d like.  Admission for foreign visitors (other than those who have family buried here) is 5 CUC. If no one is at the entrance, go ahead and start walking around.  You’ll soon find a guard asking for your ticket, and you can buy one from him if needed.

You can find their shared tomb in the Necropolís in Havana, Cuba, which is readily accessible via the tourist bus route T-1.

Local saint, miraculous or not, it’s a sweet story about love few in this world will ever know, and for that alone it’s worth it to come see their grave and pay La Milagrosa a visit.

Have you been to the Necropolis in Havana?

The easiest way of getting around is flying, but that isn’t as cheap, most times, as the buses.  Tourists cannot use the peso buses and are restricted to the very reliable, dependable, and air-conditioned Viazul buses.  Unfortunately, those wonderful attributes also equal higher prices.  For comparison’s sake a hour bus ride to a nearby area of interest in Mexico will generally cost around 30 MXN (about 2.50 USD) one way.  In Cuba that same bus trip will cost you 15 CUC.  That’s $2.50 versus $15.  Big difference, especially if you’re doing a roundtrip.  Getting between cities is a little better, and sometimes you can hire a cab for a bit less, but plan on spending quite a bit to explore Cuba.  Outside Havana lodging and food are similarly priced with the all-inclusive resorts being naturally more expensive (but cheaper than in many resort areas elsewhere).

If you do wish to fly, most of the local aviation companies have their offices located in Havana at Calle 23 just up from the malecón.  Bring some patience, a snack, and some more patience.  The normal system of waiting is to arrive and call out “¿Último?”  Someone will hopefully answer “Yo!” and that means you’re behind that person.  This works for pretty much every line in all of Cuba.  Except for the air travel offices.  Most likely you’ll be instructed to take a number.  This is usually a worthless exercise, but go ahead and take the number and then keep an eye on who arrives after you.  You’ll pretty much just have to jump up and sit down when the next agent becomes available.  If anyone complains, pretend you don’t speak Spanish (if you do) and carry on.  If you’re staying in one of the fancier hotels, many times they have a travel office that can assist you without near the hassle.  Try to avoid visiting the offices between 12-2:30 when chaotic lunch breaks are common.

Havana is a remarkable place and can keep you VERY busy between museums, buildings with outstanding architecture, a plethora of restaurants, and more than enough people watching to keep you busy for a very long time, so as I said before make sure to allow yourself plenty of time here.  To get around Cuba there are taxis that charge about 0.50 CUC per km (if they don’t use the meter, their tip is included in whatever fee you agree on) and the bus system.  If you plan on grabbing the local bus, know it is not like many Latino countries where you can flag a bus down anywhere along its route.  You will need to find a proper bus stop.  The buses are very hot and crowded and dirt cheap (about 40 cents to go very long distances).  If you ride the bus, be wary of pickpockets.  The close quarters are too much temptation for some thieves.  If you are planning on seeing many of the big tourist attractions, you may want to consider taking the tourist buses.  Route T-1 will take you through most of Havana and passes by the largest sites.  It costs 5 CUC per person and you can hop off and on all day long from about 9 AM to 6:30 PM.  It is air-conditioned indoors and has an open deck on top.  The T-3 bus goes to the Playas del Este, costs 3 CUC, and has the same time schedule as the other bus.  It is air-conditioned as well.  You can catch both buses at any bus stop along their route (look for the bus stop that shows a picture of a bus and says tourist on it) and buy your ticket from the driver’s assistant if you don’t already have one.  Alternatively, you can catch them in front of the Parque Central in Old Havana.

There are also bici-taxis (bicycle taxis) and Coco taxis.  These are generally only peso fares, and therefore aren’t supposed to pick up tourists.  However, for some of them it’s worth the risk to offer you a ride and charge you 1-2 CUC.  Don’t worry about getting trouble, though.  The onus is on them, and they’ll get fined if a police officer sees them and feels the itch.  It doesn’t seem to be a big deal since there are often bici drivers who will offer you a ride right in front of the cop standing on the corner, and they aren’t quiet about it.  Coco taxis look like a 3-wheeled motorcycle with an open shell on the back.  If you try to flag them down and they seem to ignore you, see the above.  You will also find horse-drawn carriages.  These can be fun to take and are priced reasonably.  Always haggle with any fare you’re quoted by them, and the tip is included; however, feel free to add another 1-2 CUC as a tip if you were charged 5 CUC or more.

In the next article on Cuba, we’ll get a little more personal and talk about some of the places to see, etc.

Lodging: Cuba isn’t a country you go to on a tight budget.  Many people like to Couchsurf when they travel to save money.  Unfortunately, that practice is illegal in Cuba (unless you’re a family member, they cannot invite you to stay in their home), and you can only stay in properly licensed facilities.  However, your cheapest legal option most likely is to stay in a casa particular.  These are private homes that are licensed to offer you lodging.  In Havana, and most places within Cuba, it is almost impossible to find one for less than 25 CUC.  Mostly this is because the government charges the host 200 CUC per month whether or not they have guests.  They are inspected fairly often, are usually very clean, private, and comfortable. Many of the casas particulares will offer breakfast and/or dinner for a small fee (3 CUC for breakfast, 6 for dinner), and rarely it may be included in the total fee.  If your host won’t budge on the price they aren’t trying to be difficult.  Keep in mind that they have to pay 200 CUC a month, and most nonprofessionals earn about 15 CUC for month at their jobs.  In Havana these are mostly in apartment buildings which give you a very nice feel of daily Cuban life.  In other areas on the island, you may find yourself in larger homes.

The blue symbol means this is the site of a licensed casa particular

There are plenty of hotels as well.  Most are quite large and more expensive; however, there are smaller choices.  If you’re into the all-inclusive type establishments, then you may enjoy the beach paradise of Varadero which has many rooms for as low as 75 CUC during the low season.  If you stay in Old Havana, the Hotel Seville and Hotel Parque Central have excellent customer service and amenities as well as multilingual staff.

Food: It is difficult to find traditional Cuban food.  The modern typical diet includes lots and lots and lots of pizza.   Breakfast is not a big deal in Cuba. Usually people will eat some bread and have coffee.  “We Cubans have grown out of the habit of eating breakfast because of lack of food.”  However, you can find more filling choices for cheap at the peso shops.  These are individuals who serve food and drink from a small window or patio of their home, and you can pay in Cuban pesos.  A common item offered is pan con tortilla (an egg sandwich).  If you’re used to the Mexican tortilla, keep in mind that in Cuba it’s a fried egg.  Two pan con tortilla and 2 juices will cost you a whopping 30 cents USD.   It is difficult to rely on the peso shops for every meal. For one thing the items are very small, more like a snack.  Pizzas tend to be more filling, though, and you can often get an individual-sized pizza at a peso shop for around 15 CUP (~60 cents USD).  Restaurants tend to run out of items, especially later in the evening, so you’ll save yourself time if you ask them if they have everything.  If they’ve run out of something, you’ll save time by finding out what they actually have rather than having to change your selection 5 times.   Portion sizes are larger in restaurants, and the quality of food is much better.  You can keep to a tighter budget more easily by eating at least 2 of your daily meals at the peso shops.   On average you can expect to spend about 9 CUC for an average restaurant meal for 2 people, including soda or water as drinks.  Naturally there are more expensive places to eat as well.  Almost every place has their menu available outside the restaurant so you can easily check out prices; however, you can also walk in and request to see “la carta.”

Peso shop menu

Other cheaper restaurant options include paladares which are small, individually owned restaurants most often found in neighborhood areas.  Quality of food varies widely, but portion sizes also tend to be larger, and sitting space is much more . . . shall we say cozy?

Modern Cuban food tends to be fairly bland, and it’s hard to find places serving more traditional plates.  International cuisine is becoming more and more common.  Cubans are rumored to eat more pizza than Italians and Americans, and I’m inclined to believe that is true.  If you enjoy ice cream, you’ll be happy to know it’s one of the inexpensive treats available.

Internet: If you need access to the Internet, you’ll have to pay quite a bit.  Cubans are restricted in their use of the Internet and must be supervised, unless it’s part of their job or education, so it’s priced accordingly.  Most Cubans only have access to some official sites and email.  There are many Internet centers, at least in Havana.  There are also long lines unless you go inside the hotels.  The nice thing about the hotel Internet is that they tend to be air-conditioned and comfortable.  You don’t have to be a guest of the hotel to use their computers or WiFi.  It will cost you 6 CUC an hour, and wireless will set you back 8.  If you go to a hotel, which I highly recommend, just go to the reception desk and ask for an Internet card.  They’ll give you scratch-off tickets.  There are only 7 hotels on the entire island offering WiFi, and 6 of them are in Havana.  If you want to buy more time than 1-hour cards, you’re forced to stand outside in the lines at an Etecsa booth.  Like many less-developed countries the technology is older, slow, and fickle.  Hotel Parque Central has excellent WiFi, however.  If you go there and are from North America, you’ll probably need to bring an adapter.  Many places in Cuba use the same outlets and voltage as North American countries, but for some reason this hotel is set up on a European system.

Getting there: Many countries offer flights to Cuba.  It is legal from the US if you have a special license. Popular choices for North Americans are via Canada and Mexico, particularly Cancun where is costs about $350 per person roundtrip.  If you fly out of Cancun, prepare to pay some money.  The airport exit tax is 250 MXN (~21 USD) per person.  If you go through a travel agency, often your ticket purchase will include the cost of the exit tax as well as the Cuban tourist card.  If it didn’t you can often purchase them at the ticket counter.  They are also available for sale next to the Cubana Airlines window across from the ticket counters.  The tourist card also costs 250 MXN per person.  In March 2010 Cuba enacted a law requiring foreigners visiting Cuba to have medical insurance that will cover care while in Cuba, otherwise you have to purchase it, which you can do in the Havana Airport (typically $2 per person per day); however, it would appear that this is policy is very loosely enforced. Be advised that no US insurance company will reimburse for healthcare costs related to travel to Cuba. It is also very difficult to purchase airfare to Cuba for Americans using a credit card since no US bank will authorize funds due to the embargo.  Reportedly some people have gotten around that by using travel sites such as Dohop.com which allow users to search international carriers and travel sites such as Spain-based TravelGenio.com. Some people who have used TravelGenio.com have reported getting an email asking them to further authorize the transaction by clicking on the enclosed link.  Apparently following that link is vital, easy, and will result in confirmed reservations. If flying Cubana Airlines, the reservation is listed as confirmed in their site immediately in spite of this process. Another popular Mexican carrier is AeroMexico. They charge foreigners an extra $22 per person.  Going through a travel agent typically results in a cost of $200-300 more than doing it yourself online via the sites mentioned above.

Due to the sensitive trade issues, Cuban officials do not stamp passports unless you specifically request it. Instead they will stamp the tourist card upon entry and, like Mexico, they keep the tourist card as evidence of your departure from the country.  If your visit is licensed, feel free to request the passport stamp; however, you are probably better off not doing so since you might need to provide additional documentation in the future to prove your visit had been authorized.

Entering Cuba is pretty straight-forward and relatively easy, especially if you are a citizen of a North American country. Finding English speakers is a bit challenging at times, even in the airport, but you can still make do.  You will be photographed both on entry and exit.

Money: Immediately outside the terminal you will find plenty of exchange booths. It is unwise to bring American dollars or coins regardless of what monetary system they belong to. No exchange or bank will convert coinage to CUC, so bring only bills of whatever denomination you plan on converting.  American dollars are taxed when converting to the Cuban convertible peso (CUC, pronounced like “kook”) so a person will only get 87 cents per 1 dollar (100 USD = 87 CUC).   There are 2 types of money used in Cuba.  The CUC is king and is relatively the same as 1 USD which makes things easy. However, the biggest bang for your buck is to buy using the moneda nacional, or Cuban peso.  Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of places outside of the peso shops (more on these later) where a foreign tourist can do that.  It is generally recommended to not change money into the peso as you can pay peso shops with CUC and get the peso in change. The strongest and most widely used foreign currency in Cuba appears to be the Euro. However, it is reportedly easy to exchange the Mexican peso for CUC in Cuba, and the exchange rate is relatively the same as converting USD to the Mexican peso.  As you can see in the picture below, the CUC and the CUP are VERY similar and easy to get confused if you’re carrying both denominations. Stick with the CUC.

Also be advised that many people from many different countries have had issues getting ATM cards and credit cards to work in Cuba, so if you’re going you really should bring all the money you’ll need.  You can use traveler’s checks as well, but they usually have to be cashed in banks, and going to a Cuban bank can be an adventure all on its own (plan for at least 1-1/2 hours during “nonbusy” times).  Larger state-owned restaurants, hotels, and similar places will accept your traveler’s check.  It is best to ask beforehand, however, before sitting down and placing your order.

Next post will take on lodging, cost of food and transportation within Cuba, and Internet-related issues. If you have specific questions that haven’t been answered by any of the posts, please feel free to use our contact form to email me or leave a comment here, and I’ll try to answer them for you or direct you to a source that seems reliable.