CUBANS CALL IT BÉISBOL...


The game long known as America’s “National Pastime” – baseball – is also Cuba’s national sport. After sailors and returning students brought it over from the U.S. during the 1860s, “béisbol” quickly grew to become the island’s most popular sport. Banned by colonial authorities for replacing bullfighting, baseball became symbolic of freedom and national pride during Cuba’s struggle for independence from Spain at the turn of the 20th century. Cuba’s league system went officially amateur after the Cuban Revolution, with top players representing the country on the Cuban national team. But since the 1990s, scores of Cuban-born players have played in the Major Leagues – including current stars like José Abreu, Alexei Ramírez and Yoenis Cespedes. Learn just how passionate Cubans can be about their national game when you meet baseball folk ranging from Little League-level players and coaches to former members of Cuban professional and national teams.


Get to know the Habaneros (and Habaneras)... from booksellers in the square to members of the Habana Compás cultural arts group


4. CUBAN BASEBALL, CRAFTS AND MORE Today’s People-to-People exchange in Havana begins with a close-up look at a cultural passion shared by Cubans and Americans alike – the game of baseball, introduced to the country by Cuban students returning home from U.S. colleges in the 1860s, and the country’s most popular sport ever since. After a morning discussion about the nature, history and traditions of baseball in Cuba with a highly regarded Cuban ballplayer at your hotel, head out to meet with the players, coaches and parents of a local Little League-level baseball team in Havana. Then have lunch at a local restaurant overlooking the Malecón, Havana’s iconic coastal roadway stretching along the harbor, joined by a retired Cuban professional ballplayer. This afternoon, you can spend some free time relaxing as you please at your hotel, or join us for a visit to Havana’s bustling San José crafts market – the city’s main enclosed local arts and crafts market and cultural fair, housed in the historic, recently restored and renovated San José warehouses, originally built in the 1880s – on the Avenida del Puerto. Enjoy dinner tonight at a Havana paladar, one of Cuba’s many private small restaurants converted from private homes, individually owned and operated under a license from the Cuban government. Meals BLD


18


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24