Once again we were in Havana for the always entertaining 'Partagas Encuentro', where old friends meet and new ones are made. Many of the usual participants were there this year but it was very noticeably frequented by many new ones as well. The venue for this year's 'Bienvenida' was smartly chosen indoors as opposed to outdoors as it had been the previous two years. In 2013 it took place in the Plaza de La Catedral and we were very fortunate to have caught a perfect night. That was probably the best I had been to thus far, as atmosphere went. Last year it was at the Plaza de Armas and we weren't so lucky as it drizzled for most of the night making it more than a little uncomfortable. They were wise to have not chosen an outdoor venue this year, it rained for most of the night.
The place was at the Hotel Nacional, with everyone's favourite patio, in the 'Salon 1930'. The room was nicely decorated and most importantly, the smoke didn't linger. The dinner was a 3 course meal with the appetizer, smoked salmon, being the best part in my opinion. The main course, roast beef of some kind, tasted ok but as usual was over cooked. The dessert was a flan that wasn't bad but was missing something. It didn't matter, it never does, I personally go there to have an opportunity to smoke cigars with friends and I did plenty of that. They had the usual local entertainment....dancers and singers, as well as the longest ash contest which was expanded this year, or so it seemed to me. It used to be the usual smaller group of participants but there appeared to be many more this year and not many from the previous years. Everything went smoothly and ended at a not to late hour which allowed us to move to the hotel's patio for a nightcap and another cigar. Cuba has been experiencing unusually warm weather over the last few years and they haven't felt a winter in a long time, this year was no exception. The patio was unbearably humid and hot, so we opted to end the night at the bar which was air-conditioned.
In conclusion, the people at Partagas didn't disappoint us, everyone went away happy, myself included. Besides the several cigars that were handed out to us, they made sure we had everything we needed. They worked hard and deserve recognition for that. Thank You
The place was at the Hotel Nacional, with everyone's favourite patio, in the 'Salon 1930'. The room was nicely decorated and most importantly, the smoke didn't linger. The dinner was a 3 course meal with the appetizer, smoked salmon, being the best part in my opinion. The main course, roast beef of some kind, tasted ok but as usual was over cooked. The dessert was a flan that wasn't bad but was missing something. It didn't matter, it never does, I personally go there to have an opportunity to smoke cigars with friends and I did plenty of that. They had the usual local entertainment....dancers and singers, as well as the longest ash contest which was expanded this year, or so it seemed to me. It used to be the usual smaller group of participants but there appeared to be many more this year and not many from the previous years. Everything went smoothly and ended at a not to late hour which allowed us to move to the hotel's patio for a nightcap and another cigar. Cuba has been experiencing unusually warm weather over the last few years and they haven't felt a winter in a long time, this year was no exception. The patio was unbearably humid and hot, so we opted to end the night at the bar which was air-conditioned.
In conclusion, the people at Partagas didn't disappoint us, everyone went away happy, myself included. Besides the several cigars that were handed out to us, they made sure we had everything we needed. They worked hard and deserve recognition for that. Thank You
Good times..... :0)
ReplyDeleteGreat hanging out at the Friday dinner
ReplyDeleteLikewise
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