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For more information, call: 800-539-7098 or visit:
www.centralholidays.comACCOMMODATIONS
City Nights Hotel
Varadero 3 Memories Varadero
Havana 4 Melia Cohiba
dispensary table (winner of a bronze medal in the Paris Exposition of
1900), together with tools used for the production of medicines. Next
visit the Ediciones Vigia to see how a book was made in years past and
then our journey continues to your hotel in Varadero. Enjoy a welcome
dinner at your hotel this evening. (L,D)
DAY 2
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VARADERO
A full agenda of exciting activities are planned for
you in coastal Varadero today beginning with a cultural exchange at the
Casa de la Cultura and the Danzón Club where you can learn some
Cuban dance moves. Continue to the Escuela de Artes Plásticas to tour
this art school with its director and have a chance to speak with
students and professors about the projects they are working on while
seeing them up close. Lunch this afternoon is hosted at the Xanadu
mansion (Casa Dupont) including a welcome drink at the rooftop bar of
the mansion with spectacular views over Varadero and the sea. A quick
10-minute drive lands us in the town of Cardenas where your cultural
Cuban experience continues including a visit to a rationing store, historic
tour and meeting with students at the Galería de Jóvenes Aficionados de
Cardenas. This evening your dinner is included at the hotel with plenty
of time to don your dancing shoes and salsa the night away in one of the
many area nightclubs and bars. (B,L,D)
DAY 3
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VARADERO
Explore Matanzas further, stopping first at the
music Conservatory and enjoying a live performance by students. Next,
visit La Finca Coincidencia – Coincidencia farm, where you will see the
array of native fruit varieties that the farmer and agriculturist with the
help and work of his family have taken great care in preserving. Founded
by Hector Correa in 1987, this is also the site of the area's first ceramics
workshop in Matanzas, blending art with nature. Here you will savor a
fresh farm-to-table lunch and engage in an interactive discussion with
the farmer and his crew. The day’s active adventures continue with an
enriching visit to a community project and dinner at your hotel in
Varadero this evening. (B,L,D)
DAY 4
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VARADERO
I
HAVANA
After breakfast at your hotel we depart
Varadero this morning and head to the capital, Havana. In this colorful
and storied city you will have the opportunity to discover old Havana, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site, and to explore its four main plazas. Here
you will learn about the challenges of renovating the city’s exquisite
historic buildings, and see some of the area’s elegant restorations as
you stroll the charming cobblestone streets. Enjoy a visit to a local
church and delve into a community project at Convento de Belén. Take
time to explore the area with plenty of choices for lunch on your own.
Next, head out to the ornate Vedado neighborhood and tour the Colón
Cemetery showcasing many elaborately sculpted memorials, including
some 500 chapels, mausoleums and family vaults. You will discover the
cemetery’s captivating history and folklore, and hear stories about the
many prominent people laid to rest here, including musicians,
filmmakers, writers, politicians, and major League baseball players. Visit
the tomb of La Milagrosa – the “miraculous one” visited by Cubans as a
pilgrimage site believed by many to have healing influences. Tonight,
savor the tantalizing Cuban cuisine at Paladar La Moneda Cubana and
then visit the Morro Castle for the nightly Cannon Ceremony. Later you
have the exclusive opportunity to join in an optional evening of
entertainment at La Zorra y el Cuervo one of the best known venues for
jazz in Havana that hosted such well-known jazz icons as Chucho Valdés
and George Benson. (B,D)
DAY 5
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HAVANA
Start your day with an enlightening tour of a Cuban
cigar factory where many of the world’s most revered cigars are made.
Visit the Parraga Day Care Center and have a personal exchange with
directors and staff. A trendy, bohemian-chic ambiance welcomes you at
Paladar Café Laurent for lunch in this privately owned restaurant. After
lunch, you will visit el Museo National de Bellas Artes -- the museum of
fine Arts, comprised of two buildings exhibiting inspired collections from
the colonial times up to contemporary works. The landmark Hotel
Nacional welcomes you for drinks in the “Bar de la Fama,” frequented
over its time-honored history by world-famous celebrities from Winston
Churchill and Frank Sinatra to John Wayne and countless others.
Moments to cherish continue with free time to enjoy the magic and
mystique of Cuba on your own this afternoon and evening. An ultra-
enriching optional excursion tonight offers you the exclusive opportunity
to discover Havana’s Fabrica de Arte Cubano, an independent project
and meeting place where the island’s avant-garde arts can be enjoyed,
with all kinds of arts – music, painting, dance, and more – featured
under one roof and offered at prices that make it accessible to the
majority of Cubans. (B,L)
DEPARTURE DATES
2017 - Dec. 10 & 24
2018 - Jan. 7; Feb. 4 & 18; Mar. 4 & 18; Apr. 1 & 29; May 13; Jun. 10 & 24;
Jul. 8 & 22; Aug. 5; Sep. 16 & 30; Oct. 14 & 28; Nov. 11 & 25;
Dec. 9, 23 & 30
(*)Prices are per person, based on double occupancy and a minimum of 18 full paying
passengers. Single supplements available on request.
Note: Price does not include round trip air fare to Havana. Scheduled round trip flights
are now available from your hometown to Havana. Call for further information.
DAY 6
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HAVANA
Power up with breakfast at your hotel then depart for
Pinar del Rio. Today's journey takes you to the eco-village of Las
Terrazas, a UNESCO Biosphere reserve and site of the earliest surviving
coffee plantations in Cuba. Tour this picturesque white-washed village
that overlooks a lake and features a community filled with art studios
and workshops, then visit a local clinic for a people-to-people
interchange. Enjoy lunch at Cafetal Buena Vista before heading back to
Havana. The capital city of this fascinating island nation beckons with
the afternoon and evening at leisure for you to explore and discover
Havana at your own pace. See the amazing sights, get to know the
locals, sample flavorful Cuban dishes at one of the many family owned
paladar restaurant, then venture along to check out the lively nightlife
at one of the many acclaimed music and dance performances such as
inspirations from The Buena Vista Social Club or a Cuban cabaret show
at the world-famous Tropicana. (B,L)
DAY 7
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HAVANA
This morning, your adventure starts with a visit to the
coastal village of Cojimar where you will take part in a lively exchange
with local fisherman. Then it’s on too Finca Vigia, Ernest Hemmingway's
winter home from 1939 to 1960. It was built in 1886 and now serves
as a museum where visitors can see his 9,000 volume library, living
quarters, his yacht “Pilar,”as well as the actual typewriter on which he
wrote some of his greatest works. Next, you will visit Finca Yoandra in
Havana to learn about their sustainable agriculture outreach project.
Sip on a Cuban cocktail while you tour the medicinal gardens and
interact with the representatives from community projects for children
and the elderly. Then, enjoy lunch at the finca’s privately owned
restaurant, or “paladar”, Il Divino. As the day continues, prepare to be
awed by the extraordinary, innovative percussion sounds during a
special dance performance by Habana Compas dance troop. Return to
the hotel and get ready for this evening's farewell celebration. Tonight
we will head out to Old Havana for dinner at Paladar La California, a
privately owned restaurant set in a beautiful Cuban home. (B,L,D)
DAY 8
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HAVANA TO USA
After breakfast this morning, you will be
transferred to the airport in Havana for your short return flight to the
USA with amazing memories from your City and the Sea people-to-
people experience in Cuba. (B)
(B) Breakfast - (L) Lunch - (D) Dinner
The included features for this program can be found on page 5. Tour
includes 18 meals: Breakfast daily, 6 lunches and 5 dinners with a
cocktail and wine.
Jose Marti and Liberty Statue, Matanzas