Brooklyn Bar Association is set for educational tour of Cuba

February 22, 2016 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Brooklyn Bar Association (BBA) President Arthur Aidala and Executive Director Avery Eli Okin are set to channel their inner Ernest Hemingway as the BBA gets set for an educational trip to Havana, Cuba next week. Eagle photo by Rob Abruzzese

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Flights and hotel accommodations are set, bags are packed and the Brooklyn Bar Association (BBA) is ready to leave on Sunday for its journey to Havana, Cuba for a people-to-people educational exchange.

The trip, which is organized by Cuba Cultural Travel, is the brain-child of BBA President Arthur Aidala, who was looking to do something bold. Roughly 35 bar association members and their families will fly to Havana on Sunday morning for a six-day educational trip.

Members of the BBA will stay at the Hotel Parque Central in Havana, the country’s capital. The hotel is considered the finest hotel in Cuba set in its historic area.

Attorneys making the trip won’t be getting any Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits, but there will be daily seminars that will teach members about the Cuban legal system, the history of the relationship between Cuba and the U.S. and journalist Marc Frank will offer his insight into the important economic, political and social issues the island faces today.

The entire trip won’t be all lectures, though, as the BBA has outings planned throughout the week that include a bus tour of the island’s modern architecture, a tour of the home of art collector Milagros Borges, a trip to the Museum of Cuban Art and a tour of Parque de la Fraternidad, which features a collection of classic American cars straight out of the 1950s.

The group will also tour the iconic Hotel Nacional de Cuba which overlooks the Straits of Florida and the Malecon and was the favorite destination of guests such as Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, John Wayne, Marlene Dietrich, Marlon Brando and Ernest Hemingway when they visited Cuba during the 1930s.

Of course, there will be plenty of Cuban food throughout the trip, starting with dinner at Las Terrazas on the first night, the famous La Guarida restaurant and a farewell dinner at one of Cuba’s most famous restaurants, Paladar San Cristobal.

The trip is expected to last six days and five nights, and so far the weather forecast predicts sunny days and 80 degree temperatures.

Look forward to coverage of the BBA’s trip to Cuba within the next week on BrooklynEagle.com