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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 50 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Cuba
Pope John Paul II. The Pope's visit opened the way for the Cuban people to openly celebrate Christmas for the first time in many years.
Varadero. Varadero is famous for its white sandy beaches.
Santiago de Cuba. Santiago de Cuba is on the southeastern coast. A popular tourist city, it is near San Juan Hill where Teddy Roosevelt led his famous charge.
Yes . There is an active Chinese community in Havana. Chinatown is the home of many fine Chinese eateries.
| What Havana suburb was reportedly the inspiration for Ernest Hemingway's 'The Old Man and the Sea'? | Cuba, The Island Nation
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Pinar Del Rio. Pinar del Rio raises about 70% of the tobacco used to manufacture Cuban cigars. Tourism is also big business as people travel here to visit the many caves in the area as well as the beautiful mountains and valleys.
Cuban Trogon. The Trogon's feathers are the same color as Cuba's red, white and blue flag.
Maine. The sinking on the Maine on February 15, 1898, led to the beginning of the Spanish-American War. Almost 275 men died as a result of the explosion. Although no one knows the exact cause of the explosion the ship's sinking led to many Americans calling for going to war with Spain.
1961. The Bay of Pigs invasion was in 1961. April 17th, 1961 to be exact. The pre-emptive airstrikes on Santiago de Cuba were flown on 15 April, 1961 by Gonzalo Herrera and Angel Lopez. See the book Operacion Puma by Eduardo Ferrer for more details.
15. Pinar del Rio, La Habana, Ciudad de la Habana, Cienfuegos, Camaquey, Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Guantanamo, Villa Clara, Holquin, Ciego de Avila are the provinces. The Isle of Youth is considered a special municipality.
The province of Artemisa was added in 2010.
Havana. Havana is also the largest city in the Caribbean with a population of two million.
| What is the name of the prominent hotel on Parque Cespedes in Santiago de Cuba (next to the Cathedral)? | Facts About Cuba
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Casa Granda. The correct name is 'Casa Granda', as can be seen on the sign at the corner and on the official web site. Interestingly, a Google search for 'casa grande santiago de cuba' yields about 20 times as many results as for the correct 'casa granda santiago de cuba'. Las Americas and Santiago are both hotels in Santiago de Cuba, but both off the city center.
Havana Club. Havana Club (I recommend the Anejo Reserva) is the most widely drunk rum in Cuba. Bacardi was founded in Cuba in 1862 in Santiago de Cuba, but left the island for Bermuda after the Revolution confiscated its assets. Paticruzado ('crossed legs') is a rum found mainly in the Oriente, but it's not the most popular brand. Cristal IS the most popular, but beer.
Timba. Son, while Cuban and certainly en vogue again, is anything but modern. Bolero is a slow dance while it can feel hot to get that close to your partner, it's been around for a while. Merengue is hot, but from the Dominican Republic.
Tout. While 'jinetera' ('jockey') means a woman or girl who could with a narrow mind be called a prostitute, the male term is used for the kids who on the street try to sell you everything from cigars to their sister. A male prostitute is a 'pinguero' or 'chulo'.
| What is the (in their eyes) derogatory term people from Havana call those from the Oriente (the south-east of the island, around Santiago)? | Facts About Cuba
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Palestinos (Palestinians). Mulato is the word for brown-skinned Cubans, whom you'll find everywhere in Cuba. Sudaca is the name given to South American immigrants in Spain. It's mainly used as a derogatory term (SUD AmeriCAno). Ranas is simply my invention.
Camello (Camel). They're called Camello because of the hump in the middle, making getting in easier. Cocodrilo is what Cubans call their island due to its shape. Tocororo is Cuba's national bird, since its feathers reflect the red, white and blue of the national flag. Elephant is just an invention of mine, although Camellos are pretty large and impressive.
La Habana. 'Havana' is the English version, 'Havanna' the German one and Santiago de Cuba is not the capital, although it used to be. La Habana is always used with the article, much like 'Den Haag' in the Netherlands.
Asere. 'Amigo' is just plain Spanish, 'Che' is what everybody calls everybody else in Argentina and 'Companero', while used in Cuba, means 'comrade' and is not widely used in the meaning of 'friend'.
El Cocodrilo (The Crocodile). Sometimes it is also called 'the laughing crocodile'. I suspect the mouth is on the western side, just south of Havana.
| Let's wrap things up with a bit of history. Where did Fulgencio Batista, the dictator toppled by Castro's revolution in 1959, NOT flee to? | A Lo Cubano
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The United States. After Castro took over Havana on January 1st, 1959, Batista took to the Dominican Republic. Later, he moved to Madeira, Portugal, and eventually to Spain, where he died in 1973.
| Why are there so many US cars from the 1950s in Cuba? | A Lo Cubano
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Because they are the only ones people may legally own. All the more modern Lada and Hyundai cars you see in Cuba are state owned. Only pre-1959 cars seized from their original owners can be privately held and resold. Many of them have Russian truck engines under the hood while others are held together by chicken wire and duct tape.
| What can be a nuisance when you go out with your Cuban friends? | A Lo Cubano
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Cubans are not allowed into some hotels and bars for tourists. It really does take some persuading power if you want to get your Cuban friends to accompany you into your hotel or into a tourist bar. If you keep asking for supervisors, you might wear their defenses thin or end up at the manager, whose word is final. Don't try to bribe. All other answers are plain fiction.
| Which statement about Baracoa, the town on the south-east tip of the island, is false? | A Lo Cubano
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Baracoa is home to Cuba's largest movie theater. The only movie theater in Baracoa is a TV set in a hotel lobby. All other statements are true. When the Cacique Indian Hatuey, who is commemorated by a statue in Baracoa, and a beer brand, was captured by the Spanish, he was given the choice to live under Spanish rule (heaven) or being burned at the stake (hell). He chose the latter.
| Where did Ernest Hemingway have his beloved Mojito? | A Lo Cubano
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In La Bodeguita del Medio. Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Havana in the 1930s, wrote: 'Mi Mojito en La Bodeguita, mi Daiquiri en El Floridita'. These were the two bars he used to oscillate between. His novel 'The Old Man And The Sea' was inspired by the fishing village of Cojimar, east of Havana.
| What do the locals call 23rd Street (calle 23) in Havana? | A Lo Cubano
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La Rampa. La Rampa has become famous even to people who've never been there through the 1993 Cuban movie 'Fresa y Chocolate'. A central venue of this love story of two men is the Coppelia ice cream parlor right on calle 23. The Malecon is the run-down beach promenade all along the waterfront of Havana. El Prado is the old name of Habana Vieja's Paseo de Marti, perpendicular to the Malecon. Vedado is the name of the district the Rampa is in.
Because it is a scaled-down replica of the Capitol in Washington, D.C.. The Capitolio, built in 1929, was modeled after its US counterpart. All other answers are mere figments of my imagination.
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