Cam, I've actually been to Cuba a coupla times, the last time was 2003 I think. I already forget for sure, because I caught a last-minute deal to fill seats on a plane, flew on about the 27th of Dec, and was there over new years. Which I celebrated by smoking a cigar and having a shower whilst simultaneously washing some laundry. I get the feeling things have really changed over there. My 1st trip there a fella could still participate in the local economy with the peso. 3 years later, they were starting to transition to the peso convertible, and it was harder to get the same deal on things as the locals. Anyways I did more of a backpack kind of a trip, staying at casas particulares and roaming around as much as I could afford to. My second trip I ran out of money early and spent 9 days biking around Havana, mingling and trying not to get ripped off by the jineteros. The memories are pretty rich. It almost makes me want to work so hard that I could afford to go back again...
A note on the cigars... It really depends on what you're looking for in a cigar. I got a box of black market Cohiba Esplendidos for $15. Assuming they were authentic, they were worth (at the time) about $200/cigar in Florida (according to my cousins who live there). Anyways, they pretty much cured me of wanting to smoke cigars: Even the $25 cigars I could buy in the specialty shops in Winnipeg made me want to gag. Those were some nice cigars.
