DRIFT Travel Spring 2022

In my boutique hotel suite tucked
away in one of the residential
streets, I'm surrounded by the
hum of Havana life. I wake every
morning to roosters crowing and
mothers getting children off to
school and fall asleep each evening
to the sound of a dozen different
television sets floating in through
my open balcony windows.
The following day I’m back exploring
the streets of Old Havana. In
addition to walking, another great
way to see the sights is to jump in
the back of one the cities’ colorful
three-wheeled taxi cycles. “How’s
your stay in Havana so far,” Gustavo
my cigar-puffing driver asks me,
as we head off past the grand steps
of the Capitolio Nacional with its
dominating dome that cost USD
$17 million to build in 1926, then
throw a left into the back streets of
Old Havana. At the speed of peddle
power, we pass by the popular
lunchtime haunt of Café de Paris
and the cool neo-deco atmosphere
of Café Del Oriente, just two other
great venues to pursue the hedonistic
delights of sampling various cocktails
while savoring on the palate the
rich coffee-laden, spicy overtones
of a hand-rolled Cuban cigar...
TRAVEL OFTEN . LIVE WELL . 11