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grandmeaulne
I booked Air Transat from Montreal. $400 return but we land in Varadero, a 90-minute bus ride from Havana.

Last time I went to varadero I had a taxi one way and the Viazul bus back. It takes 3 hours by taxi and a little more by bus. Remember these cars are Lada and such, and the roads are so so.

[www.viazul.com]

Bjornulf

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daniel t

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grandmeaulne
I booked Air Transat from Montreal. $400 return but we land in Varadero, a 90-minute bus ride from Havana.

I guess you're from Montréal. I'm from Chicoutimi and I'll be in Varadero from the 23rd to the 30th. I'd like to, and I'll try, to go to the show.

Daniel

My advise is to avoid Varadero if you can.. Varedo is not Cuba, it's a place invented to put tourist aside from the Cubans, and kill the time on the beach with "All you can eat and drink" plans... Depressing... If you stay 7 days, try again to find place in La Habana.

According to this the capacity is only 50,000. I hope they missed a zero!

[en.granma.cu]

I am thinking that the 50,000 number refers to the stadium, not the field.

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joshbg2k

I am thinking that the 50,000 number refers to the stadium, not the field.

Which stadium?

The 'Coliseo de la Ciudad Deportiva' (Arena) has the capacity of only 15,000 spectators and the field has the same area as the Goffert Park in Nijmegen, Netherlands (45,000 spectators) - [www.iorr.org] .

[en.granma.cu] might have right with 50,000 spectators.

Irix,

How do you know they are only going to use that encircled area on the map? If it`s possible to take away the tiny stands at that old baseball stadium, they can use an area almost twice as big by the looks of it.
And btw: They sold a total of 124,665 tickets for the two Voodoo Lounge shows according to the official numbers from the box office - which means 62,332 per show.

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The Worst.

Irix, How do you know they are only going to use that encircled area on the map?

You're right - it's hard to tell from the satellite pictures if the tiny stands are removable. But with the double size of the area it would be nevertheless "only" 100,000 spectators. BV stated a capacity of 45,000 for the Goffert Park in Nijmegen, 8-Jun-2007 - [www.iorr.org] . Dunno the real sales figures.

On August 13-14, 1990 in East-Berlin there were 50,000 (paying) spectators each and in Prague on August 18, 1990 up to 100,000 spectators - the first RS-concerts in the former Eastern Bloc after the fall of the Iron Curtain.

This lack imprecision about numbers... Guess it's both a lack of data and a lack of transparency... .. Managing an effect of surprise, maybe... But it's not good to have this floating amplitude - 50,000? 100,000? or Rio-like, i.e, 1-2 million?

How will they manage that imprecision in term of basic services, crowd -

For Pope Francis, estimations were about 300 000 for the mass.

Cuba travel is 90% charter tourism to Varadero, Cayo Coco and numerous other All Inclusive places. When one of the many hurricanes they get took down something like 10% of everything, just a few years ago, that was a major threat to their economy. Their first priority was to repair the resorts so that the money they need to run the company, comming from the tourists, would not stop. Then later on houses for people, roads for people etc.

Nothing wronmg with going for a week or two to a Cuban beach and drink Mojito all day, have papaya mango, and fresh fish, and a selection of five different cakes for every meal including breakfast. I have done it myself, both at Varadero (3 days) and at Ancon Beach Trinidad (a couple of times).

But the real Cuba which is beyond drinking Mojito is of course Havana, Vinales, santiago de Cuba, Camagüey, Trinidad, and so on, and so on. But life is limited. Who has got the time to travel Cuba in weeks? Certainly not me.

I would recommend Havana as a start. Walk Malecon. Buy icecream at Coppelia. Visit Inglaterre and Anbos Mundos. See how they hand roll the Cohiba sigars. There is enough to do in Havana for a week or two at least.

And then there is a show on Friday March 25, by the way, in case you plan to travel to Cuba this month...

There should be space for everyone. No worries. I expect may be half a million or more locals from Cuba, plus a few tourists, not many really. It will be a real Cuban show, no VIP section, just a great open-air show with the greatset band on the planet.

Did I mention I am a big fan of Cuba? Been so since april 2000. The Stones play for people not for politics. In many ways I saw a lot of the Colonial Spanish i.e. Cuban achitectures in Lima Peru. The untouched classic hundreds years old way of building churches, theatres, squares, parks and so on. People do need something to rest the eyes on. A tour finishing in Cuba seems more and more natural as I travel through South America.

The Rolling Stones in Cuba
[stoneslife.org]

Bjornulf

Thanks for this, bv. These are the sorts of things I am trying to find out now: things to do in Havana and surrounding areas. You mentioned that Trinidad is quite beautiful, how long would a bus ride to Trinidad take?

The stage in Havana is being built:



[www.cubadebate.cu]

Three weeks before The Show? Wow....

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hockenheim95

Three weeks before The Show?

Who knows how long it takes ....

This article, written by the same person as the one I posted earlier, says over 400,000 expected.

It is very typical in Cuba for there to be a lot of confusion about things.....anyone who's spent much time there will know what I mean.

In my experience, things either go really well or really poorly....I would hope with the band's management involved and with such a spotlight on this event it will go well....but that remains to be seen.

[www.granma.cu]

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tryinginvain
This article, written by the same person as the one I posted earlier, says over 400,000 expected.

It is very typical in Cuba for there to be a lot of confusion about things.....anyone who's spent much time there will know what I mean.

In my experience, things either go really well or really poorly....I would hope with the band's management involved and with such a spotlight on this event it will go well....but that remains to be seen.

[www.granma.cu]

AEG has a whole team out of Los Angeles working on this, it will be professional from a production and planning standpoint.

Hello,

I'm a bit sad but I have to cancel my plans to go to Havana to see the Stones. As I mentioned the other day, I'll be in Varadero for the entire week with a group of students and I don't want to take a chance that something might happen to me in Havana (accident, delay, problems to come back, etc...) and I would receive a severe blame from my employers, my school's principal, and the schoolboard. I feel that it would be a lack of professionalism for me to go. My duty is to be with the students, as their parents expect me to do. Yes, there are 3 other adults accompanying this group but I don't want to put an extra burden on their shoulders.

Have fun in Havana and please share your experience here after the show.

Daniel

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daniel t
Hello,

I'm a bit sad but I have to cancel my plans to go to Havana to see the Stones. As I mentioned the other day, I'll be in Varadero for the entire week with a group of students and I don't want to take a chance that something might happen to me in Havana (accident, delay, problems to come back, etc...) and I would receive a severe blame from my employers, my school's principal, and the schoolboard. I feel that it would be a lack of professionalism for me to go. My duty is to be with the students, as their parents expect me to do. Yes, there are 3 other adults accompanying this group but I don't want to put an extra burden on their shoulders.

Have fun in Havana and please share your experience here after the show.

Daniel

Business before pleasure. Hate that it won't work out for you to catch the Stones, Daniel, but I admire your keeping your priorities in place.

Peace,
Mr DJA

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daniel t
Hello,

I'm a bit sad but I have to cancel my plans to go to Havana to see the Stones

Daniel,

While I certainly understand your noble stance, I kindly ask you to reconsider.

I think you should present your case to the school board with plans to take THE ENTIRE GROUP to the concert.
Just think of the cultural enrichment of the adventure.

If my kid was going with you and your fellow educators, I would be mighty impressed and thrilled at the thought of a side-trip to see THE ROLLING STONES.

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daniel t
Hello,

I'm a bit sad but I have to cancel my plans to go to Havana to see the Stones. As I mentioned the other day, I'll be in Varadero for the entire week with a group of students and I don't want to take a chance that something might happen to me in Havana (accident, delay, problems to come back, etc...) and I would receive a severe blame from my employers, my school's principal, and the schoolboard. I feel that it would be a lack of professionalism for me to go. My duty is to be with the students, as their parents expect me to do. Yes, there are 3 other adults accompanying this group but I don't want to put an extra burden on their shoulders.

Have fun in Havana and please share your experience here after the show.

Daniel

My advise is you take your decision there, when you have a better understanding....

PS: maybe your students will be very happy to have less chaperoning, if you follow me.. How old are they?

Hahahahah If the students are happy to have less chaperoning... That'll only worry me even more. They are 17-18 years old, perfect age to get in trouble.
No, I've taken my decision and sherish the memories of my 9 previous concerts with the Stones.

Daniel

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Kurt

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daniel t
Hello,

I'm a bit sad but I have to cancel my plans to go to Havana to see the Stones

Daniel,

While I certainly understand your noble stance, I kindly ask you to reconsider.

I think you should present your case to the school board with plans to take THE ENTIRE GROUP to the concert.
Just think of the cultural enrichment of the adventure.

If my kid was going with you and your fellow educators, I would be mighty impressed and thrilled at the thought of a side-trip to see THE ROLLING STONES.

Almost impossible, as we have many activities already booked in Varadero and not refundable + Our budget would not allow to find rooms for 30 people in Havana.

My 3 other colleagues are not fans of the Stones and they told me they aren't particularly fans of hundreds of thousand people crowds, so.....

The more I think about it, the more it is complicated to organise.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-03-09 01:19 by daniel t.

Right. There is so much to do and see in Havanna alone. the beaches to the east, playa del este, seem worth visiting if you want to get out of town and not drive too far. Trinidad should be really great as I`m told by everyone who`s been to Cuba, but it`s 350 km. There`s some sort of highway, but you need a good new car.
-Glad that I latched on to this thing early - flying in March 10, and will be in Habana vieja until April 4, Hotel Marques de Prado Armeno. Hope for internet access there, to see where some of you crazies are probably gathering before the show...

Do people have a problem laying on a Carribean beach all day eating and drinking?
Sounds like bloody heaven.

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LovingCupola
Thanks for this, bv. These are the sorts of things I am trying to find out now: things to do in Havana and surrounding areas. You mentioned that Trinidad is quite beautiful, how long would a bus ride to Trinidad take?

You need 2-3 extra days to go to Trinidad. If you take Viazul, which is great air-conditioned buses (bring extra cloths, it is cold on the bus!), you may see the time tables here, the bus takes 7 hours and leaves three times per day, cost usd 25.

[www.viazul.com]

Stay at one of the nice hotels in Ancon, like Hotel Ancon, the one on Ancon Beach, 11 km from Trinidad (7 miles). They are cheap, and you are on the caribbean ocean.

The bus ride is a ride through the history. You will see horses on the roads with a carriage, people selling bananas, the nice city Cienfuegos and so on.

Bjornulf

I just did the resort thing. Now going back for the culture and the Stones

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grandmeaulne
I just did the resort thing. Now going back for the culture and the Stones

*I didn't mean to sound judgmental w/ my previous comment, rather in need of some R&R myself- perhaps I can drive to the closest lake on Friday 25th, stick my feet in the water, periscope, and pretend I'm there.
Please those that do experience the Stones in Cuba report back :-)

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daniel t

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Kurt

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daniel t
Hello,

I'm a bit sad but I have to cancel my plans to go to Havana to see the Stones

Daniel,

While I certainly understand your noble stance, I kindly ask you to reconsider.

I think you should present your case to the school board with plans to take THE ENTIRE GROUP to the concert.
Just think of the cultural enrichment of the adventure.

If my kid was going with you and your fellow educators, I would be mighty impressed and thrilled at the thought of a side-trip to see THE ROLLING STONES.

Almost impossible, as we have many activities already booked in Varadero and not refundable + Our budget would not allow to find rooms for 30 people in Havana.

My 3 other colleagues are not fans of the Stones and they told me they aren't particularly fans of hundreds of thousand people crowds, so.....

The more I think about it, the more it is complicated to organise.

I do amdmire your stance, but if i was one of your colleagues and for the sake of say a day and half would be persuading you to go. It probably be the first and last time for Cuba.

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The Joker

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daniel t
Hello,

I'm a bit sad but I have to cancel my plans to go to Havana to see the Stones. As I mentioned the other day, I'll be in Varadero for the entire week with a group of students and I don't want to take a chance that something might happen to me in Havana (accident, delay, problems to come back, etc...) and I would receive a severe blame from my employers, my school's principal, and the schoolboard. I feel that it would be a lack of professionalism for me to go. My duty is to be with the students, as their parents expect me to do. Yes, there are 3 other adults accompanying this group but I don't want to put an extra burden on their shoulders.

Have fun in Havana and please share your experience here after the show.

Daniel

My advise is you take your decision there, when you have a better understanding....

PS: maybe your students will be very happy to have less chaperoning, if you follow me.. How old are they?

It's a free concert. Take them with you...like School of Rock.

I wasn't going to bother , and watch and listen to the gig afar from UK or Spain.

After seeing your comments about being a big outdoor thing BV, it has got me thinking again to look at the flights and won't need a gig ticket.

Sounds good.

Construction of the stage is on you tube [www.youtube.com]