Itinerary

Itinerary subject to change; venues are tentative and may be replaced with alternatives

Sunday, March 20: Miami to Havana

Upon arrival in Miami, collect your luggage and check in at the charter desk at Miami International Airport.

Meals provided: welcome dinner

Depart Miami on a charter flight to Havana (flight times not yet available).
Upon arrival at the airport, meet your local English-speaking tour manager, transfer to your deluxe hotel, and check in.
Tour the Avenida de los Presidentes to Revolution Square, and from the Malecon and Prado to colonial Old Havana.
Welcome drinks at the elegantly historic Hotel Nacional. Since opening in 1930 the hotel has been considered a symbol of Cuba’s history, culture, and identity. Together with Havana’s Old Town (La Habana Vieja), the hotel has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982. It has attracted a large number of famous visitors, including the likes of Winston Churchill, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, and Johnny Weismuller.
Welcome dinner with local music
Overnight in Havana

Meals provided: breakfast, lunch

Breakfast at the hotel
Drive to Matanzas (approx. 1.5 hours) and visit the Escuela Profesional de Artes de Matanzas for an exchange with their students, followed by a drumming workshop led by one of Matanzas’ top percussion ensembles. You will have an opportunity to meet the local musicians.
Visit the historic Dupont Xanadu Mansion, built in the 1920s by U.S. millionaire Irénée du Pont, complete with a nine-hole course and overlooking one of the most beautiful beaches of the world.
Attend a concert by St. Olaf Jazz at the Teatro Velasco, opened by the Cuban trumpeter Rodolfo Jorge Horta Hernandez and the Banda Provincial de la Ciudad de Matanzas.
Return to Havana
Dinner on your own
Overnight in Havana

Meals provided: breakfast, lunch

Breakfast at the hotel
Visit Cuba’s premiere magnet high school for the performing arts to meet their students and professors and attend an informal joint concert by St. Olaf Jazz and the students.
Lunch in Old Havana at Café Taberna Benny More; entertainment by local dancers
Guided walking tour of Habana Vieja (Old Habana), including Capitolio, Prado, the Bacardi Building, Calle Obispo, Cathedral Square, Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, El Templete, Castillo de la Real Fuerza, and Plaza Vieja. Meet with a representative of the city history office who will discuss the current restoration project.
Visit Hemingway’s former residence, Finca Villa Vigía — a museum that also includes Hemingway’s yacht. Continue on to the fishermen’s village of Cojímar, the background for Hemingway’s Nobel prize–winning novel The Old Man and the Sea. Finally you will visit one of Hemingway’s favorite haunts, “La Floridita.”
Dinner on your own
Overnight in Havana

Meals provided: breakfast, dinner

Breakfast at the hotel
Attend a master class and informal concert by St. Olaf Jazz at the Teatro Mella with Cuban jazz artist Joaquin Betancourt and his La Jóven Jazz Band.
Lunch on your own
Visit the home and studio of José Fuster — the “Picasso of Cuba” whose works span ceramics, painting, drawing, engraving, and graphic design. Over 10 years Fuster rebuilt and decorated his fishing neighborhood of Jaimanitas — now a unique work of public art featuring more than 80 houses with ornate murals and domes that Fuster created to suit the personalities of his neighbors.
Return to hotel
Depart the hotel in vintage cars for a one-hour drive to see famous Havana sites, followed by dinner— hosted by President David R. Anderson ’74 and Priscilla Paton — at a privately owned residential paladar.
Dinner included
Attend to the Havana Café show — a lively venue with 50s-era décor and live performances by a big band and dancers.
Overnight in Havana

Meals provided: breakfast, dinner

Breakfast at the hotel
Board the bus and depart for a lecture about Cuba’s most famous products, including rum and cigars, and visit Fábrica de Tabacos Partagas, where you will have the opportunity to meet the factory workers.
Lunch on your own
Visit a dance school to meet students and learn about music education in Cuba, and enjoy lessons in salsa, casino, rumba, and the cha cha cha.
Attend a St. Olaf Jazz concert at Teatro Avenida, which will open with a performance by Joaquin Betancourt and his La Jóven Jazz Band.
Enjoy a farewell dinner with a jam session featuring St. Olaf Jazz members and various Cuban musicians who have collaborated with the band throughout the week.
Overnight in Havana

Meal provided: breakfast