Little Havana , Miami, where it reminded us of Cuba

 

Little Havana has always been on our list when we visit Miami.

Our hotel, located on SW 9th Ave,  is not too far from the famous Calle Ocho, where Little Havana is.

After the Fathers' Day's lunch, we strolled on Calle Ocho, 8th Street, but we were not impressed first as we didn't see many nice shops and restaurants.

However, things seemed to change when we reached a park dedicated to the remembrance of the Bay of Pigs Invasion in Cuba.

Miami is a majority Latino city - while 70% of its population is Hispanic, over 54% are of the city is made up of Cuban Americans.  

We could see and hear Spanish written and spoken everywhere in Miami.

Since it was Sunday, a lot of shops were closed. I found it quite surprising and unexpected as this was supposed a spot frequented by tourists.

As it rained intermittently throughout the whole afternoon,  we had to stop at a number of places to avoid getting soaked. 

We went into a cigar and coffee place decorated with old prints and furniture looking like some old cigar shops in Cuba. 

We ordered some coffee, relaxed and soaked up the Cuban atmosphere there. 

This store/ restaurant brought back a lot of memories of our visit to Cuba.

This Cuban cafe not only served Cuban coffee; visitors could also learn about Cuba cigar making from its displays at the front part of the restaurant.

 In the back part of the cafe, we admired art work, books, pictures and other items related to Cuban

culture.

This Cuban cafe provided a nice spacious place for its customers to enjoy its beverages and smoke a cigar or two in a Cuban atmosphere.

This was the section of Little Havana where we found a lot of nice restaurants serving Cuban, Columbian and Salvadorian cuisines.  A few restaurants had a live band playing Cuban music with patrons dancing inside and outside of the restaurants. Very lively atmosphere indeed!  

E.'s friend in Miami recommended us to go somewhere for dinner but it didn't have an outdoor dining space. We went back to Little Havana with a sidewalk dining space for some tapas! We didn't even try the tapas bar in Spain but we got to do it in Little Havana in Miami, how about that?

We were sitting at different tables a little far apart so we didn't talk much to E. However, we enjoyed the lovely and lively Cuban feel and music while watching people dancing on the sidewalk outside the restaurant. What a fun loving bunch!

RT

Day 2,  Little Havana, Miami