Page 50 - Off The Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 2 of 2)

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SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES Salsa in Havana FORGET TANGO IN

BUENOS AIRES?

THE BUILD-UP The capital of Argentina has
plenty of European sophistication and style,
and tango, the melancholic dance that evolved
in the brothels of 19th-century Buenos Aires,
draws many visitors to the city. Several first-
vs Tango in Buenos Aires
evening, dancers perform in the streets of San
Telmo and many studios teach you the moves.

THE LETDOWN Tango in Buenos Aires feels
Tango in Buenos Aires pales in comparison to the spicy-hot salsa popular in Havana, class restaurants host tango shows in the
like a well-worn cliché. The dance form’s
with an evocative colonial ambience and vivacious nightlife as the perfect backdrop explosion of popularity has resulted in a flood
of foreigners. The barrio (quarter) of San Telmo
gets crowded with gawking tourists, especially
recent salsa craze that’s both energetic and when cruise ships are in town. And dance
NEED TO KNOW studios are often packed with tourists on
innovative. Buenos Aires and tango seem tame in
LOCATION Havana is on the comparison. If salsa whets your appetite for dance, learn-to-dance package vacations.
northern coast of western Cuba, 6 4 "
90 miles (150 km) south of Key why not also try rumba, the African soul of Cuban GOING ANYWAY? When you’re done
West, Florida #")"."4 music. Its dance rhythms can be either sensual and
)"7"/" watching public tango in San Telmo, just pick
POPULATION 2.1 million dynamic, or slow and sad.
4BOUB $MBSB up a free copy of El Tangauta for a listing of
VISITORS PER YEAR 1JOBS And who better to teach you the complicated
800,000 EFM 3JP $6#" tango clubs. Take time to browse the barrio’s
-BT 5VOBT steps than Cubans themselves, deemed the antiques markets. In summer, sit out the midday
DAYTIME
TEMPERATURES $BSJCCFBO 4 FB world’s finest dancers? Several hotels in Havana heat in one of the city’s shady parks.
Jan: 72°F (22°C); Apr: 76°F +"."*$" offer classes, as do local troupes and freelancing
(25°C); Jul: 82°F (28°C); Oct: 79°F (26°C)
tutors. You can also sign up for package tours that
teach you how to swivel your hips like the Cubans.
Lovers of Latin music and dance could be forgiven After class, you can sip mojitos and smoke fine
for thinking that Buenos Aires, with its passion for cigars in bars such as El Floridita and La Bodeguita
tango, is unrivaled as a place to learn dance. But del Medio. Then, you can up the ante and let your
anyone who has spent time in Havana would beg hair down dancing on stage at famously colorful
to differ – Cuba’s capital city is considered to be cabarets, such as the Tropicana.
the global destination for Afro-Latin dance. Add to that the city’s simmering pre-
From the sentimental son to sizzling salsa, revolutionary allure. Habana Vieja (Old Havana) is ABOVE A crush of people watching a couple performing the
music and dance are the pulsating undercurrents a treasure-trove of magnificent colonial buildings, tango on a San Telmo street
to Cuban life. Everywhere you go in Havana, you many of which have recently emerged from
are surrounded by melodious rhythms. The soft restoration as hotels, restaurants, and museums.
notes of Spanish guitars echo along cobbled Dance classes are taught in Vedado, an early 20th-
streets full of the romance of history, while the century district imbued with effusive Art Deco,
throbbing beat of brassy salsa tunes rises above Beaux Arts, and Modernist structures with a tropical
the wheezing of patched-up cars from the 1950s twist. Most of the venues, hardly changed since the
clattering past centuries-old cathedrals and castles. 1950s, offer a glimpse of a once-gilded era.
The Cuban love of salsa reflects an instinct for
gaiety that turns material adversity on its head. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Couples dance in the street to overtly sexual
numbers and by night, younger Cubans flood the Getting There and Around gets packed. The area is unsafe
Havana’s José Martí International to walk at night, so take a taxi.
city’s nightclubs. Women are whisked onto the
Airport on the outskirts of Where to Stay
dance floor and whirled around to thrilling timba, a Havana is served by flights from The atmospheric Hotel Raquel,
Europe, Canada, and Latin (Calles Amargura and San
America. The city has an efficient Ignacio; tel. +53 786 08280;
and inexpensive, albeit crowded, www.habaguanexhotels.com)
bus system. Taxis are plentiful, is an Art Deco masterpiece.
although the main tourist spots
When to Go
can be explored on foot.
Oct–Apr are the coolest months;
Where to Eat summer can be stiflingly hot.
Dining is not a strong point, and
the best bargains are in paladares Budget per Day for Two
(private restaurants). The best of US$170 for food, travel,
these is La Guarida (Concordia and accommodations.
418; tel. +53 786 37351; Website
www.laguarida.com), which www.salsa-in-cuba.com
ABOVE Musicians on the street playing guitars, Habana Vieja

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