nino

Oooops, right you are, checked it - Apols if they are.- To be honest it looks more like meat to me ( and my wife ... 🙂 ), never seen Knödel on top of Sauerkraut .... 🙂

Nope Well - It's fried onions with Bratkartoffeln ( fried potatoes ) what you are looking at, par for the course in the Rhineland area - Not Sauerkraut at all ...

And ugly as hell ... Loads of Italians in Guanabo looking for ... chocolate I have a Cuban friend has a beach house nearby, he complains it's the only place in Cuba where he finds more Italians than Cubans in the bread line ... Only good place is a very good Italian ( what else ) restaurant "Piccolo". Forget the beach restaurant "El Mare" - good location terrible food & service.

Great Post @Ryan !! Now, the Nacional Sandwich is not about Haute Cuisine but about quality - you should try the one at Espacios ( Raul introduced it after much begging from me and even included my extra topping : fried egg ) but it only comes in a big size for 4 people. But at 10 CUC very affordable ! My recipe for a quick step to the loo is strong Cuban coffee and a morning cigar before breakfast ... 🙂

Maybe because it's true ... ?

This is the best account I've read of QF72 - save for the actual incident report. It comes from the Captain himself. https://www.smh.com.au/national/i-ve-become-very-isolated-the-aftermath-of-near-doomed-qf72-20190514-p51n7q.html

Germany has state smoking laws - not federal ones. So my state, Rheinland Pfalz near Frankfurt ( which is state of Hessen and totally different ) has no problem with you smoking inside a non-food serving Bar ( or just Snacks ). Smoking outside no problem anywhere in Germany.

My guess is : It will be just short lines .... 🙂 Everything & Anything of interest will have been vacuum cleaned by the merchants and Festival visitors or kept for them ...

^^^^ This - I absolutely agree with you Yep 100% agree with that statement - Can't for the life of me understand the praise that Hotel Sandwich gets when it's stale bread, chemical ham & cheese and totally overprized .... So many better places for a good one - but maybe then you'd have to get out of the Hotel comfort zone and actually be in .... Cuba - que horror !!

Reading the comments it might seem controversial - but I agree in that you cannot make yourself a "Cigar Sommelier" in 20 hours just paying the fees and getting a "Diploma" ... Looks and smells like a scam ... https://ministryofcigars.com/certified-cigar-sommelier-scam/?fbclid=IwAR0OFRoS3krNYvFGE8BAQxTujrZ7GFVfP1PVWSA5JDSOjINR_DUpksC6D7g Certified Cigar Sommelier Scam Sep 15, 2019 | 8 comments Certified Cigar Sommelier Scam. The other day, we read about a Cigar Sommelier Certificate and people proudly claim that they are now an official Cigar Sommelier. It’s by a company called The International Association of Cigar Sommeliers, founded by the Cuban Yamir Pelegrino who calls himself ‘sommelier of the stars’. Habanos sommelier The cigar sommelier term became popular due to Habanos. Habanos introduced a sommelier competition as part of the Habanos festival. The competition was born out of the need to tell the true story of the cigar. And the competition made sure only the best of the best would compete and earn the prestigious title of Habanos sommelier. A deep knowledge of the Cuban cigars, each vitola, blend profile, history and perfect pairings is needed to participate and stand a chance at the stage. It takes years of smoking and pairing, years of listening to and learning from masters in their craft. And then you can compete for that tile. Even Habanos doesn’t offer courses to become a sommelier. They do offer courses to learn about Cuban cigars through the Habanos Academy. But not anymore. For a few hundred American dollars and a few hours of your time you can call yourself a certified international cigar sommelier. And it’s appalling. An insult to every single expert in the world. A degradation of the world sommelier and a slap in the face to everyone in the cigar industry. A few hours of your time and a few hundred dollars doesn’t make you an expert, a sommelier. It makes you a gullible victim of a scammer. Nothing more and nothing less. A naive victim of a scam. Years of knowledge Tobacco and cigars are a complicated matter. Thousands of components need to come together. From the soil, the seed, the conditions to the blend, the vitola and the pairings. You can spend your whole life in the cigar industry and only have scratched the surface. Ask people who aren’t born in the industry but are now renowned brand owners like Pete Johnson and Litto Gomez. In the Handrolled documentary, both are modest. Johnson says that he’s in no way a master. And Gomez recalls his first steps in the industry, he compared learning about tobacco by drinking water from a fireman’s hose. There’s so much information yet you can only drink so little at a time. Another example is Rocky Patel, who worked the fields and factories for years, making thousands of blends before he dared to put his name on a cigar. It simply takes that long to learn the complicated matters of tobacco. It is simply impossible to learn in a few hours, for a few hundred dollars. Of course, people learning more about tobacco and what it takes to make a great cigar is fantastic. But don’t line the pockets of a scammer. Buy a ticket to Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras or the Dominican Republic. Join the group tours that many factories are having every year. You will learn much more, you’ll have more fun and a first hand experience on tobacco plantations and in cigar factories. You can touch the tobacco, smell the fermentation rooms, and if you’re lucky even try to roll your cigar. Instead of a useless, meaningless certificate that isn’t accepted anywhere, you’ll have a stamp in your passport and priceless memories. Don’t fall for this Certified Cigar Sommelier scam. Photo credit: Casey Aldulaimi/XS Cigars

In AMS also make sure to visit the LCDH Almere, a short train ride away, great people ! Cologne : LCDH Peter Heinrichs - best place. As already mentioned : Koblenz is a good and large place, 3 stories. If you drive and have 3-4 days in each city, visit also the small & cozy LCDH Kaiserslautern and the one in Saarbrücken - both are good, cozy and run by great people.

@ATGroom Alex, I can't tell you as I have not seen the new release box ... I would assume I could, but haven't seen the new one yet.

@El Presidente No idea, really - only would go to Dortmund for the good old Borussia - never for cigars. Would suggest Tats, Nicarao and Pepin Garcia. Would have suggested you come to our pharmacy cigar event and meet nice FoH lady members and pick up some Aspirins, but you'll be too busy. See you enjoy a good Curry Wurst - it will talk back to you for 3 weeks and it's a nice & cheap souvenir, ask for it with Pommes Rot-Weiss on the side to make it memorable .... 🙂

Yes - 2008 FdH. No - we were like 6 to 700 back then, nice, cozy and cheap compared to today .... IMHO - the new box is a rehash - marketing - nothing to do with OR. My 0,2 Cuban Pesos.

@Blackham Have been very close to it but never been to the Rock. 1) But, AFAIK there is only one place to buy and that is Stagnettos LCDH - you might have other cigs and cigar shops - me personally would only buy there. Great folks. 2) Yep, like Andorra, I'd park the car at La Linea - the border - and walk/bus across and do like 5 trips if need be. Algeciras is nearby hotel wise. 3 & 4 ) No idea but for the Rock apes ... 🙂 You might want to contact Stagnettos and get some better details to your questions - they are extremely helpful people. Have a good trip