Archive of: Features

How to get there

It is illegal to travel to Cuba if you are an American, unless you have a Treasury Department license. This is not a Cuban law; the genesis of the prohibition is the U.S. trade embargo. Countless Americans access Cuba through Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas or other ports of entry, but American travelers can be prosecuted and fined (rarely if ever jailed) for violating the law. General travel licenses may be granted for a specific purpose.

story david bolling

Religion in Cuba

We wander up Obispo, a cobbled lane in Old Havana, festooned with holiday glitter. In late November, candy canes, noble firs and a trail of glowing rope lights cut a glowing path through the darkness. It’s Christmas in Cuba, a phenomenon allowed only since 1998. Fidel Castro abolished the holiday decades previous, forbidding any public recognition or celebration for 29 years.

story Emily Charrier-Botts | photos Claudia Corrales & David Bolling

A Musical Universe

From the Tropicana to Carlos Varela

story Emily Charrier-Botts

Old Havana

Old Havana, La Habana Vieja, is the heartbeat of the island. Bordered by a 600-year-old sea wall edging a boulevard known as the Malecon, the old city is a warren of narrow, cobbled streets 
anchored by crumbling baroque buildings that once sheltered explorers and expats.

story by Emily Charrier-Botts | photos by Arianne Suarez Lago

The Cult of Che

It is the most ubiquitous image in Cuba, on walls, billboards, coins, peso bills, T-shirts, stained glass, statues and endless posters. It is far more popular than any picture of Fidel, and it has long since escaped the artistic gravity of Cuba to become an international icon.

story david bolling | photos Arianne Suarez Lago and David Bolling

Cuban art

Cuba, it could be said, is one enormous canvas. Artists are everywhere and all over the map, geographically, politically, creatively. The place is an artistic cornucopia, a pulsating explosion of color and form. And, in a country full of paradox, one of the biggest surprises to an American in Cuba is how much critical, political opinion is reflected in artistic work, while the media is still effectively muzzled.

The Rise of Rum

Rum is on the rise, and that should bode well for Cuba, where ron is more than a drink—it’s part of the country’s cultural identity, the national elixir, a source of pride and an export goldmine.

story david bolling | photos robbi pengelly

Why 
Cuba?

The question is at once political, personal and cultural. It’s also musical, allegorical and often emotional. It’s as difficult to answer as Cuba is to define.

story david bolling | photos Arianne Suarez Lago and Claudia Corrales

Cigars

The literature of cigars is rife with cleverly caustic quotes, many of them misogynistic, perhaps because at the dawn of cigar consumption women were still a cultural minority.

story david bolling | photos robbi pengelly

John & Nancy at Hollywood & Vines

Symbiosis in the vineyard

story david bolling | photos robbi pengelly