-Viva Cuba!

-It's said a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Welcome to "Joseph Rosendo's Steppin' Out."

Today, we're steppin' out in Cuba, my ancestral home.

From Havana's passionate rhythms to the insistent beat of Pinar del Río, where I walk in my grandfather's footsteps.

-Behind these trees, the tobacco plantation.

-♪ Steppin' out ♪ -"Joseph Rosendo's Steppin' Out" is made possible by... -Since 1975, we've inspired adults to learn and travel in the United States and in more than 100 countries.

From exploring our national parks to learning about art and culture in Italy, we've introduced adults to places, ideas, and friends.

We are Road Scholar.

We make the world our classroom.

♪♪ -There's a reason people call Myrtle Beach "The Beach."

There are 60 miles of wide sandy beaches along South Carolina's Grand Strand coast.

This vacation destination has golf courses, attractions, food, wine, and southern sun.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Any visit to Cuba begins in the capital city of Havana.

Here is the historic center of Havana, the Plaza de Armas.

It goes back to the founding of Cuba in 1518.

It's a lively square, and it's a beautiful square.

[ Upbeat music plays ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Bell tolls ] Quite obvious why this is called Cathedral Square.

The cathedral has been here since 1777, and the plaza in front was a swamp, was made into a plaza in 1554.

But the most important date is in 1998.

In 1998, Pope John Paul II came to Havana, did a mass here and several other cities, and brought back to the Cuban people their religion and spirituality, so that baptisms, which before had to be done surreptitiously, could now be the celebration that they deserve.

♪♪ The 16th century Plaza de San Francisco is a gateway to the revitalized Havana Vieja, and acts as an artists workshop and gallery.

Are you here every day?

-Yeah, it's my job.

-This is your job?

Is this is the kind of work you're doing?

Kind of, like, mythical.

What is the fish and the person together mean to you?

-Eh, freedom.

-Freedom.

The fish is freedom.

-Yeah, that's it.

-What makes Cuban art?

-Bueno.

-How is the Cuban life?

Yeah, sí.

♪♪ ♪♪ Ah!

-Oh!

-Local brewed Cuban beer.

-Local brewed.

-I didn't know Cuba was famous for beer.

-Actually, it's Belgian.

-Oh, it's Belgium.

Oh, well.

Havana Vieja is a World Heritage Site.

-Declared in 1982.

-Now, here we are in the Plaza Vieja.

-Plaza Vieja.

-Which it means "Old Plaza."

-Exactly.

-But it's actually new plaza.

I see there's a restaurant over there called Nueva Plaza.

-Most of the money of UNESCO, they know how, they send people out to train Cubans in restoration, because many trades were all gone.

-The world really came involved and renovated Havana Vieja.

-Very much, indeed.

They come people from all over, and that money that is made here in tourism is reinvested 40%.

-I've always liked this plaza.

Maybe doesn't have as much history as the other ones, but it's very comfortable, very open.

Great breezes come through here.

And, of course, you get free music.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Cuban diversity and resourcefulness are evident in neighborhood agro-mercados, where farmers supply locals and Havana's chefs with the inexpensive traditional ingredients such as plantains... Plátanos.

...which they use to design delicious dishes.

Next door, the Moneda Cubana Escuela uses the Elizalde restaurant as a training ground for young Cubans in the cooking, serving, and catering arts.

That's good?

So, African, Spanish, and...?

-And Taino is Indian.

-Okay, great.

-Yes.

-Ah.

And then, these peel right off.

Look at that.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

Very good.

-That's okay?

-That's okay.

Okay.

-Now...

So, we fry them first, and now we're going to squeeze them.

-La segunda fritura.

-Okay, so now we have to go back and fry them.

So then we put in ropa vieja on top of the tostones.

-Una salsa de tomato.

-Tomato sauce.

-Now, immediately.

-Okay.

Wow.

Man, this is the plainest way to go with a little bit of salt.

They're all wonderful.

Now look at this.

These are ripe plantains.

One of the most important fruits in the Caribbean.

Muchas gracias.

-Thank you very much.

-There are more than 60,000 classic American cars dating from the '30s, '40s, and '50s in Cuba.

Ironically, in the light of the decades-old U.S. embargo, they are as synonymous with Cuba as cigars, rum, and the Cuban flag.

Keeping them roadworthy is a prime example of Cuban ingenuity.

This is the car I had when I was 17 years old in high school.

A lot of nice memories from this car.

You buy cars, bring them here, you fix them up, and then you use them in a taxi service.

-60 years since I was in my 1957 Chevy.

And being in this car brings back a lot of memories.

-Nostalgia.

[ Both laugh ] -Life's memories are seeping in.

Cuba's cars, music, foods, and history remind me of scenes.

Some lived.

And some imagined.

♪♪ What will tomorrow bring?

I awake thinking of "The Old Man and The Sea," Hemingway's story of struggle and redemption and his love of Cuba.

It drives me to his home, Finca Vigia, which, clutching its former glory, is becoming a gentle ruin and perhaps reflects Cuba's own journey.

In the seaside town of Cojímar, the location of the Spencer Tracy film, I smoke a cigar with Papa and meet a real old man of the sea.

-Ya voy a cumplir 93 años.

-Okay, you're gonna be 93.

Muchas gracias, señor.

Like the rise and fall of the tides, Cubans have weathered their country's highs and lows.

It's their resilience, resolve, and passion for life which expresses itself in their music and dance.

♪♪ What do you see when you see a performance like this?

-My country's culture.

Different cultures, they get together, they mix, and they give birth to something new.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -The other thing that really caught me was just the pure, unadulterated joy.

In spite of all the struggles that people go through, it's still that sense of passion in what you do.

I felt it here, and I think that's very Cuban.

-Passion has very much to do with the way our culture has been structured.

♪♪ For a long time, the Africans suffered, but they preserved themselves, and that required a lot of effort, and that effort drives people into passion.

♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] -From a taste of Cuban soul, I head into an Havana night.

The evening's menu offers many flavors.

Cigar smoke and the sweet scent of rum cocktails are in the air.

Starting our night walk here in Havana at the famous El Florita bar, made famous by Ernest Hemingway and his copious amount of daiquiris that he would drink.

From the glare of capital lights, I stroll Havana Vieja's back streets, illuminated by the warm glow from open doorways.

And I have a taste for bread.

One of the greatest things about coming to Cuba and eating sandwiches is the bread.

Cuban bread is special.

Yes.

Mmm!

Muy bueno.

[ Saxophone plays ] While Havana's night seduces with her sparkle, I still yearn for that something more ahead.

About a hundred miles from Havana, Pinar del Rio is Cuba's most western province and my ancestral home.

Pinar del Río's a province of Cuba, a town of Cuba.

It's the place where tobacco is made, but they also grow other things here.

Look, there's oxen across the street.

His house is 4 kilometers away from here, and he's taking this wood over to rebuild his house.

It got blown down by the -- by the winds last night.

-Gracias... -¡Vale!

-La hierba se come la planta.

-Ah, the grass will eat the yucca if he doesn't take up all the weeds.

This is a very traditional Cuban dish which I cook for the family at Christmas Eve.

He was born and raised in this house.

In California.

[ Laughter ] The beautiful Viñales Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, produces the world's best tobacco.

Most visitors stay in the lovely village of Viñales.

My maternal grandfather, Carlos Lazo y Lazo, was born and raised in the valley and learned the art of blending tobaccos, which he brought to Tampa, Florida, at the dawn of the last century.

I was told that "y Lazo," which was the last name of my grandfather, was here.

-Lazo?

-No.

[ Rooster crows ] So, this is her father.

He would've been my mother and father's age.

Her grandfather would have been the same age as my grandfather.

-Okay.

97 years when he died.

This is good news.

If there's any connection whatsoever, this is really good news.

In the hunt for my roots, I'm sent to the town of Pinar del Río to search for a lead in the cathedral's baptismal archives, where, to my amazement, I discovered not exactly the connection that I hoped for but an encouraging sign.

It's the desire on my part to find my grandfather and to follow in his footsteps.

What do you think it will give me spiritually?

-1841, 1850.

-Sí.

So this is baptisms?

-Baptisms.

Yes.

-Hmm.

Gracias, padre.

-Thank you.

-Muchas gracias.

♪♪ ♪♪ My grandfather was born in Pinar del Río.

The town?

The province?

Where?

You know?

And then, we pulled up in front of this cathedral.

And I don't think it's by accident.

And it makes me feel less alone.

♪♪ Because I feel more connected to something and a whole line of people.

And I really feel the presence of all of those who have gone before.

Not something I expected, but it was something that I was open to receive.

[ Thunder crashes ] [ Thunder crashes ] No halfway measures in Cuba.

When the sun shines, it really shines.

And when the rain comes, it really comes.

If you just keep the faith and wait a while, it'll change.

♪♪ This is actually a river that's running through this.

-Yeah, this is a river, the river that's coming inside the mountain and out, and the exit continues into the valley 20 kilometers to the north coast.

-Is this one of the mogotes?

-Yeah, this is mogotes.

It's a small mountain.

that the top is round.

-But they all are hollow because they've been eroded from the water running through them.

And what you hear with the drops is actually the stalactites and the stalagmites being formed.

So you're actually hearing the cave being formed.

[ Water dripping ] ♪♪ There's many ways to get to where you're going in Cuba, and this is just one of them, but it's the most colorful way to go.

♪♪ We're passing yucca crops and the houses that people live in.

And my grandfathers lived in a place like this, no doubt.

We're in the middle of this rich valley and all the different crops here, besides the tobacco.

And this is wonderful for me because it ties me back to my grandfather, whose family had a small finca, a farm.

Just wonderful to stand in the middle of this field to feel that through line of family.

My grandfather, Carlos, left his father's tobacco farm in the valley, and with his wife, Maria, ran a boarding house in a tiny cigar factory in Miami.

The happiest days of my youth took place in that building, in their presence.

The spread awaiting me in the country farmhouse includes dishes served at every Noche Buena -- Christmas Eve -- I had at my grandparents'.

Lechon, yucca, moros y cristianos, roast pork, cassava, black beans, and rice.

♪♪ It's natural that following traces of my grandfather leads me to a hands-on experience with guajiro, a man of the land, and a fellow Pinareño for a personal tour of his finca de tobacco.

They make a lot of jokes about Pinareños, that they're kind of a little bit dumb.

They're so dumb, they live in the most beautiful part of Cuba and take care of the most important product of Cuba.

It's dumb like the way you want to be.

-I prepare the seedbed in the end of September's month.

Near to the river, we fertilize.

-Right.

-When the plant has 45, 50 days, the baby plants, 20 centimeter, more or less.

-Right.

-We're replanting on the field.

-Okay.

-And the field grow in only three months.

Harvesting and bringing for the dry house.

You can see all you want in the dry house if you want.

-Yeah, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go.

♪♪ -I plant 80,000 plants.

I give you a present for you.

-Oh, muchas gracias.

Imagine that this is leaves from different parts of the field that got different sun, that are in different soil.

So he's creating a vintage here of tobacco.

Stretch it out.

Keep it nice and tight.

-And the wrapper leaf.

This is the traditional way here in the countryside.

You see, friend, the second one I made in my life.

-[ Laughs ] Yeah.

-For the land and for the weather.

The weather, when they come here, one cold front, the tobacco plantation grow very fast.

Yeah, that's the medicine.

-So it's the weather, it's the land, of course, but it's also the spirit because people put...

Farmers really are in touch with the land.

And it's great to come here and be in their presence, because then you take a little bit of that land into your soul.

And since my family is from this area, I really feel touched with... -Coffee and rum.

-Rum.

♪♪ [ Laughter ] ♪♪ The last 20 years, life in Cuba has gone through many phases.

There have been good years, and there have been bad years.

Yet through all the years, the Cuban people have kept on keeping on.

They're creative, tenacious, independent, and resourceful.

And I am proud of my Cuban heritage.

During my explorations in Havana and Pinar del Río provinces, I felt at home and spiritually led from one remarkable experience to another, and I've learned the meanings of "suave."

It means soft, like the light and fiera of the Viñales Valley, gentle like the breeze on Havana's Malecón, mild like a homegrown, hand-rolled campesino cigar, and sweet like the smiles and welcomes you receive wherever you go.

Politics aside, Americans and Cubans are similar people in spirit, in resolve, in their hearts, hopes, and dreams.

And I look forward to the day when we're allowed to embrace each other freely.

Until we meet again, remember the words of Mark Twain.

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.

May your next adventure always be your best.

-"Joseph Rosendo's Steppin' Out" is made possible by... -Since 1975, we've inspired adults to learn and travel in the United States and in more than 100 countries.

From exploring our national parks to learning about art and culture in Italy, we've introduced adults to places, ideas, and friends.

We are Road Scholar.

We make the world our classroom.

♪♪ -There's a reason people call Myrtle Beach "The Beach."

There are 60 miles of wide sandy beaches along South Carolina's Grand Strand coast.

This vacation destination has golf courses, attractions, food, wine, and southern sun.

♪♪ -For a DVD of any of my "Steppin' Out" adventures or my companion memoir and travel book, "Musings: The Short Happy Pursuit of Pleasure and Other Journeys," call 888-876-3399.

Order online at josephrosendo.com, or e-mail me at [email protected].

♪♪ -♪ Steppin' out ♪ -Now that we've stepped out in Cuba together, learn more at JosephRosendo.com, where you can follow my worldwide adventures through my magazine, blog, podcast, and social media.

Stay in touch.

888-876-3399, or e-mail me at [email protected].

♪♪ -♪ Steppin' out ♪ ♪♪ -Hola!

-Mucho tiempo que estamos aquí.

-¿Cómo está?

-Hola.

-First time I came here was in 2020, and these are the sweetest people in the world.

And come up here, you get to see how beautiful the valley of Viñales is.

Four years ago, we came here and I stayed five days here with these wonderful people, and, you know, I was looking for my family, but I found family.

Estoy buscando a mi familia y aquí está.

[ Laughter ] -♪ Steppin' out ♪