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UFO 1986 PHOENIX ARIZONA !! CIGAR SHAPE

Whether you want to enjoy the highlights of Havana, relax in five star accommodation on the coast, or escape to a secluded part of the island, there’s bound to be a Cuba hotel that’s perfect for you. Here are four of the country’s very best.

The Best Cuba Hotels for 4 Different Cuban Holidays

There are few places that can offer such a diverse range of holiday experiences as Cuba. You can relax in some of the finest all inclusive beach resorts in the world, live it up in cosmopolitan and historical Havana, escape to one of the lesser known historical cities, or find your own deserted getaway in the mountains or on the coast. Whatever kind of holiday you want to have, choosing which one of the many Cuba hotels to stay in is always going to be a hard choice.

Here are some of the best Cuba hotels for four different kinds of holiday…

For five star luxury…

The very finest Cuba hotels are naturally located in Havana, the Cuban capital, and in this city you really are spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting your accommodation! For sheer grandeur and luxury, however, there is one hotel that stands out from the crowd – The Saratoga. This five star hotel was built in the 1930’s and is a classic example of neo-colonial architecture at its most stunning. With elegantly decorated rooms and spectacular panoramic views of the port and Havana’s Old Town, it’s hard to beat the Saratoga if you want the grandest accommodation on the island.

For a secluded getaway…

Sometimes you just want to get away from it all, and Cuba offers plenty of opportunities to find a peaceful retreat away from the crowds. Travel to the northern province of Pinar del Rio, and you’ll discover a part of Cuba that is a world away from the major cities and frenetic beach resorts. This part of the country is dedicated to tobacco growing for the famous Cuban cigars, and the beautiful countryside is ideal for hiking and horse riding. La Moka in Las Terrazas is the ideal base for a holiday in Pinar del Rio, a small hotel in a secluded location that is the perfect place to relax.

For a bustling beach holiday…

If you like a beach holiday that is filled with life, colour, and plenty of things to keep you occupied, Guardalavaca is the place to be. The biggest and most developed of Cuba’s beach resorts, Guardalavaca is also home to some superb hotels. For a place that is the life and soul of the party, the Playa Pesquero hotel is hard to beat. With facilities that include a swim up bar, six restaurants, numerous bars and the glorious Pesquero beach just a moment away, it is the biggest and perhaps the best hotel in Guardalavaca.

For a peaceful urban break…

Havana is often regarded as Cuba’s star attraction, but it is far from the only place to stay on the island. For somewhere a little less touristed but with just as much to see, head over to Trinidad. This town has the finest examples of colonial architecture on the island, and has even been awarded UNESCO World Heritage status for its remarkable buildings.

If you want to stay at the finest hotel in town, choose the Grand Hotel Trinidad. With its attentive service, high quality accommodation and ideal location in the heart of the Old Town, this five star boutique hotel truly stands out from the crowd, and is one of the best Cuba hotels.

About the Author:

Emma Lelliott is the general manager of Captivating Cuba, an independent specialist in luxury holidays to Cuba. With offices in Havana and the UK, Captivating Cuba can tailor-make your holiday to a choice of
Cuba hotels
.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – The Best Cuba Hotels For 4 Different Cuban Holidays

Cuban Cigar Review – Trinidad Robusto T

Everyone knows that Cuban cigars are the most coveted cigars, renown worldwide for their smoothness and rich flavors. Indeed, Cuban cigars are so prized that many illegitimate dealers have been known to sell fake Cubans to unsuspecting cigar smokers. How do you tell if what you have is a fake or the real thing? First, make certain that you purchase your cigars from a legitimate dealer. Buying from your local tobacconist or a reputable mail order business can protect you from forking your money over for a box of fake cigars.

If you have an opportunity to purchase a box of purported Cuban cigars, but have your doubts, take the time to examine the box before purchasing it. Here are a few tips to help you spot the fakes from the real thing.

The most important thing to examine is the box. Authentic Cuban cigars will contain a green and white warranty seal on the left front side of the box. The seal will contain an insignia that has a picture of a shield and a hat. On the upper right hand corner of the box, you should find a white sticker that is placed diagonally with the word ‘Habanos’ printed on it. The overall appearance of the box should be neat and clean. If the box appears damaged, smudged, frayed, or marked, avoid it. If the color of the box is dull, don’t buy it. Even if the cigars are the real things, their quality may have suffered in transport. If you are in the market for Cohiba, Trinidad, or Q’dorsay brand cigars, know that all authentic Cohiba’s will contain the green and white warranty seal on the right hand side of the box.

On the bottom of the box of cigars, you should find a heat stamp with the words ‘Habanos.’ The heat stamp should be impressed onto the bottom of the box. Fake Cuban cigar boxes often find other ways to imprint this label, such as using rubber stamps or paper labels. You should also find a factory code stamp at the bottom that is stamped in green, blue or black ink. This stamp will tell you when and where the cigars were rolled.

If you can open the box, take the time to smell the tobacco. Cuban cigars will have a deep, rich aroma, unmistakable to dedicated cigar aficionados. If the smell is off, or very weak, chances are you do not have a box of authentic Cuban cigars in your hands. The cigars should be facing the same way, and the top row may appear slightly flattened. The caps on all the cigars should appear identical, and the foot of each cigar should be cut clean. The bands on all the cigars should also be identical, and should be arranged so that they face the same direction. If allowed, test the cigars out by pressing down on them. Feel along the entire length of each cigar, checking for soft or hard spots. The cigars should feel firm yet pliable.

About the Author:

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Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Cigars: How to Buy Cuban Cigars

CIgar relaxation

Wedding planning is an intensive process, and it usually requires plenty of help. Whether sampling cakes, choosing flowers or providing moral support on the big day, the wedding party in an integral part of the success of any wedding. Wedding tradition dictates that you present the members of your wedding party with a gift, as a token of appreciation for their participation in your big day.

Although it is expected that you will present all the members of your wedding party with a gift, there is no reason to blow your budget doing so. Make a list of all the members of your wedding party, including the flower girl, ring bearer and any other helpers such as guest book attendants. Once you know how many people that you are shopping for, it is easier to come up with a budget. Let the groom shop for the ring bearer and groomsmen, and the bride shop for the bridesmaids and flower girl if you like, but both the bride and groom should participate in choosing the gifts for each set of parents.

It is clear that there is no gift that can adequately express your appreciation for the help provided by an efficient and organized best man or maid of honor. You certainly do not want to insult them by gifting them with a token that appears cheap, or like an afterthought. This is, however, an expensive and stressful time in your life, and every choice can seem overwhelming. So, what are some popular gifts for members of the wedding party?

Gifts for the bridal party: Your bridal party has a lot of responsibility and probably some expense when it comes to buying dresses, planning the shower, and other wedding responsibilities. While you are making yourself crazy planning every last detail, your bridesmaids are keeping you from going over the edge. It is important to give each member bridal party a gift that shows them how much you appreciate what they have done for you over the months leading up to your wedding day.

If it is in the budget, jewelry is always nice, but it is not necessary. Totes, spa kits, personalized tee shirts or tank tops or a nice key chain are all special gifts for the members of your bridal party. You may want to provide a special gift for your maid of honor. If so, this can be done privately.

What about the flower girl? The flower girl is easy to buy for. Most little girls love the idea of being in a wedding, and are easily pleased. A necklace, doll, or personalized tote bag are all gifts that the flower girl may cherish.

Gifts for the groomsmen: There are many choices available when shopping for your groomsmen. What direction you go really depends on your relationship with these guys as well as your budget. If your relationship is casual and your budget is tight, gifts such as beer mugs or pocket knives are nice gift ideas. If you have a long standing relationship with these men and can fit it into the budget, a gift such as monogrammed cuff links or some type of electronic device is a nice way to show your appreciation. Again, the groom may wish to provide a little extra for the best man, but that gift can be exchanged in private.

What about the ring bearer? The ring bearer certainly deserves a special gift. Piggy banks, candy jars or a personalized football all make gifts that your ring bearer is sure to enjoy.

Shopping for the parents: It is a nice gesture to present your parents with a gift that expresses your thanks for the job that they did raising you, and their support on your wedding day. Your parents, of course, love you and do not want you to break your budget buying them a gift, but it is possible to keep an eye on your budget while shopping for your parents.

Photograph frames, including digital frames that allow your parents to display a rotating group of pictures, a vase, handkerchiefs and cigars are all popular gifts for the parents of the wedding couple. This is probably the first opportunity that you have to present a gift to your parents from you and your new spouse, so it can be an emotional occasion. Take your time shopping so that you can choose a fitting gift.

The bottom line is, wedding party gift ideas are not limited to bracelets and key chains (although today’s fashionable selections still make these nice gifts!) In addition to travel bags and totes, there is a wide variety of t-shirts, sweat shirts, hats and other “bridal gear” for both girls and guys, even for your pets. The sky is the limit when it comes to showing your appreciation to the friends and loved ones who such a big part of this special event in your life.

About the Author:

Arianna Jordan writes about topics pertaining to weddings and other family events. Ms. Jordan offers suggestions for ways to make an event standout such as offering interesting wedding gifts.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Popular Ideas for Wedding Party Gifts

Jordan McCoy- Rockstar with lyrics

In the past fifteen years, the premium-cigar industry found itself in rebound. After decades of competition from cigarettes, the aging of its customer base, and overall consumer trends indicating a decline in smoking in general (we’ll return to this in a moment), many observers figured cigars were done for. Then came 1992. The fourth quarter of that year showed some of the first industry growth in years, and this trend metastasized in coming years. By 1996, the industry was seeing 36 percent first-quarter growth.

But cigars returned at an ironic time. High-profile class-action suits, controversy over Joe Camel, and decreasing general consumer interest in smoking, among other things, led to an increase in smoking bans in public buildings, offices, and, eventually, whole cities. Airports helped lead the trend; among the major travel hubs where you’re no longer welcome to light up are Los Angeles’ LAX and Dallas-Fort Worth.

All of which raises a question – if you’re a smoker going on vacation, what are your options?

Thankfully, the web site SmokingSection has, aggregating information sent in by smoking readers, listed and ranked over fifty major airports by their friendliness to smokers. Their rankings, like those of your high-school English teacher, run from A to E: A for airports where you can smoke by the waiting gate; E for airports where you not only can’t smoke indoors, but the nearest smoker-friendly outside areas require a small trip in themselves (and may be unacceptably far from takeoff gates).

So where should you travel if you want to smoke, not only when you reach your destination but on the way there? Well, the answer seems to be: Texas. The Lone Star State offers the only A-ranked airport out of the dozens surveyed. That’s Dallas Love Field, a smallish airport that receives only flights from major area transport provider Southwest Airlines. Frequently-flying cigar smokers who live in that wildcatter’s capital should feel lucky.

Texas offers us a B airport as well – these are the places where you can’t smoke near the gates, but that do offer smoker-friendly bars, restaurants, and/or lounges nearby. That would be at Lubbock – the same city from which Buddy Holly hailed. (But don’t take that as a bad omen.) Other southern and southwestern states are well-represented among the B airports, which makes sense, given the close links between many of these states and the history of the tobacco industry. Restaurants at New Mexico’s Albuquerque Airport, as well as at airports in Charlotte, North Carolina; Charleston, West Virginia; Phoenix, Arizona; Tucson, Arizona; Norfolk, Virginia; and – appropriately enough – Richmond, Virginia, that famous tobacco town. (Where would American smoking be without Virginia?)

Orange County, California, offers an airport named for John Wayne, and appropriately the tobacco-loving Duke’s namesake airport also offers B-class accommodations. So do the major regional airports in Tampa, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston, and New York City (both JFK and LaGuardia), in several large cities in Ohio (Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton), in Fairbanks, Alaska; Moline, Illinois; and Ontario, Canada. Visitors to our nation’s capitol can also light up at a few of Washington, DC’s airport bars, though these are apparently hard to find.

It’s a good thing that the weather in Texas and California is generally fairly clement, because some major airports in both of these states ban all indoor smoking – but outdoor smoking areas are available at a conveniently close distance. The aforementioned Dallas-Fort Worth and LAX both disallow indoor smoking, which accounts for their C rating, but they do invite smoking customers to step outside. The Worcester, Massachusetts airport has a similar arrangement. (Enjoy that brisk Massachusetts air.) These are the C-class airports.

After that it gets dicier. Quite a few major American airports seem to fall into the D or E classes, with smoking accommodations within the airport that require a bit of a hike, or (in the case of the E-class airports) nothing at all but outside areas located far from gates. Many D airports offer those ubiquitous glass lounges where smokers are invited to light up and take a load off; these include Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Las Vegas (McCarran), and Atlanta (Hartfield). Happy hunting!

About the Author:

CigarFox provides you the opportunity to build your own sampler of the finest cigars that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo & Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Partagas, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1200 different cigars! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – How To Smoke On The Road: Finding A Smoker-Friendly Airport

Ld The Ma$h-Up King @ Imbibe (Albuquerque, NM) Club

Where can I buy Chesterfield Lights Cigarettes in Phoenix? I’ve called like 20 places and “no cigar”…

They seem to be available, and much less expensively online at:

www.4-smokes.net/chesterfield/chesterfield_lights www.4-smokes.net/chesterfield/chesterfield_lights ·

www.cigarettes-smoke.dostweb.com/chesterfield-lights-cigarettes

www.simplysmoke.com/chesterfield-lights

Roger Waters, Have a cigar, Phoenix, AZ , cricket 2006

In his essay “Sifting the Ashes,” the writer Jonathan Franzen has the following to say about the smoking habit he struggles to quit: “[W]hen you’re smoking, you’re acutely present to yourself: you step outside the unconscious forward rush of life.”

Beautiful words, with which many cigar smokers would agree. Perhaps that’s why so many of history’s most famous and best-loved writers are hard to mentally picture without a cigar: Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Collette, George Sand, Karl Marx. Not terrible company, and they’re not alone. Some major contemporary writers are cigar smokers as well.

Paul Auster

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Paul Auster graduated from Columbia, then moved to Paris, France to eke out a living as a French-literature translator. He’s been married to two highly-regarded American writers “Siri Hustvedt (currently) and, before that, Lydia Davis, who is also known for her translation work – and his novels The New York Trilogy and Moon Palace are modern classics. He’s known for using the shape of the detective story to entertain larger questions about the meaning of identity, of language, and of existence. But his biggest fame – and his importance to smokers – came when he wrote and co-directed the movie Smoke, a landmark of American indie cinema set in a Brooklyn cigar shop.

Centered on Auggie Wren, owner of the Brooklyn Cigar Company – a sort of existential Dew Drop Inn where large cross-sections of humanity gather – it ponders the random yet seemingly meaningful connections among various people, a major theme in Auster’s writing (as well as of several other major American art films from the same period – consider Short Cuts and Magnolia). Auster’s selection of a smoke shop as his setting renders the film, which is based on one of his own short stories, especially meaningful for diehard cigar smokers.

Edward Whittemore

Here’s an artist with a colorful life indeed – he went from Yale to the Marines to the CIA, wrote for the Japan Times (it was part of his cover), lived in Crete, and wrote the massive, tripped-out series of literary espionage novels known as the Jerusalem Quartet, a work lauded by Tom Robbins as – like a bowl of hashish pudding – and by Jonathon Carroll as a book that
“makes your soul grow.” (To give you an idea: one of the books is about a 12-year-long game of poker in which the winner becomes owner of the Holy Land. That’s just the plot of one of them.) Yet the Quartet went out of print after only a few years, and Whittemore ended his days in dire poverty and obscurity, working as a photocopier for a law firm.

In 2003, eight years after his death, the Quartet was republished to all-but-universal acclaim; Jim Hougan, writing in Harper’s, called it “one of the last, best arguments against television” and Whittemore – an author of extraordinary talents. His friend Thomas C. Wallace remembers his love of cigars: “We walked the woods and fields of southern Vermont by day, sat in front of the house after dinner on solid green Adirondack chairs, drinks in hand and smoking cigars.” In a similar spirit, lovers of fine cigars should search out his one-of-a-kind novels – after all, premium cigar smokers already know that the most immediately accessible pleasures aren’t always the deepest.

John Grisham

You probably know that John Grisham is an ex-lawyer and the biggest-selling novelist of the 1990s, but you probably don’t know about his charity work, his advocacy on behalf of the wrongly imprisoned, his tireless support of less-commercially-successful writers – or the fact that it’s been said he smokes four cigars a week. In addition to writing the well-loved legal thrillers The Firm and A Time To Kill, among others (as well as such departures as A Painted House), he has done missionary and relief work in Brazil and service on the board of the Innocence Project, which uses DNA testing to exonerate the wrongfully convicted. Perhaps all of this is why he ended up on one of Cigar Aficionado’s lists of the top hundred smokers.

About the Author:

CigarFox provides you the opportunity to build your own sampler of the finest cigars that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo & Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1000 different brands! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Writers (And Their Books!) For Cigar Lovers

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