May 4, 2015 at 4:49 p.m.
Lifting the embargo
Northwoods couple travels to Cuba
Lifting the embargo
This March, Sonny Paszak and Judy Helmrich decided that was enough of that.
Traveling with another Rhinelander man, the couple decided to finally turn a lifelong dream into a reality and visit Cuba.
"I always wanted to go to Cuba," Paszak said. "Tim Musson and I are good friends. About three months before Christmas, we were talking about Cuba and he mentioned he was going in March."
Helmrich said the timing was so right, it was almost spooky.
"It was incredible because the two of us talked about going to Cuba on Dec. 8, and just a few days later, President Obama is on television talking about lifting the embargo," she said.
President Obama introduced "The Cuban Thaw" on Dec. 17, 2014.
The goal of the "thaw" is to reestablish diplomatic relations with Cuba.
The political rapprochement strengthened the resolve of Paszak and Helmrich. They started with preparations immediately.
"We booked (the trip) through Canada, but the first time we tried to book it, everything was overbooked," Paszak said. "The people from Canada have been going there for years. People from here think there's something scary about it, but that's not the case."
For Americans, it may seem strange to think of booming resorts in Cuba, but Paszak said it turned out to be a popular destination for people around the globe.
"The reason everything is full there is because so many people from Europe are going there," he said. "We met people from all over the world there. Some from Canada, but also from Germany, some young guys from Venezuala, Argentina, Brussels, and just before we left, a girl from China came in."
When the pair arrived in Cuba, they found a small, simple resort waiting for them, but Paszak said it was packed.
"We got in at about 11 p.m.," he said. "We didn't realize Tim had sent a cab for us. It was a really nice place. It was small, with only 143 rooms and they were all filled."
After settling in, they set out to explore and take in the real Cuba. Paszak said he was interested in learning what life is like for the locals.
"The people are very poor there," he said. "They make $10 a month. They do have their medical care paid for, but that's it."
Helmrich was more interested in the cars. Everywhere she looked there was a blast from the past.
"Their cars are 95 percent old and I loved it," she said. "They're from our older generation, especially the '50, '51 and '52 Chevrolets in Havana, painted up in bright colors. It was very cool. When we went into town, we'd go in one of those old cars and come back in a horse and buggy, which was neat."
The two were also enamored with the food. Helmrich said it was unlike anything they'd experienced before.
"The food was very good," she said. "There were a lot of small, private restaurants instead of big restaurants. They're all run by families and were all very nice. They serve food on a skewer and you could put anything you wanted on it."
Before long, they were fast friends with the locals and even got an insider's tour of the area.
"One of the bartenders took us out on a tour one day in his old Mercedes, which was great," Helmrich said. "He has it painted this really cool purple color with big pipes on the back."
Their United States citizenship made them standout to an extent, especially among the other guests, so Paszak decided to have a little fun with it.
"We were all sitting by the beach bar and we started talking about what everyone did back home," he said. "They asked me what I did and I told them I was a CIA agent."
The joke went over in a big way, but at its core, it poked at the fact that they were, in fact, the only Americans there. They stood out, and that was never more apparent than when they couple traveled to Havana, Cuba's capital, near the end of their trip. Even surrounded by Americana, they still stood out.
"In Havana, we went through the National Hotel and they had a picture of Frank Sinatra and all the movie stars and mafia that used to go there," Helmrich said. "It's really exceptional. There was someone there taking pictures, but he wouldn't take our picture because we were from the United States and they don't allow that. That's Cuba. Out of all the places we went, we never found a single person from the United States. Not one."
Andy Hildebrand may be reached at [email protected].
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