In the season six premiere of Anthony Bourdain's award-winning travel show, Parts Unknown, the food-loving host travels 90 miles south of Miami to savor some of the island's best drinks and dishes. The episode centers around Cuba's current collective anticipatory vibe — it's as if the entire country is about to embark on a trip, and none of them are exactly sure of where they are going.
President Obama's recent "normalizing" of relations with Cuba will soon open the floodgates for North American tourists — and their money — to enjoy everything the beautiful country of Cuba has to offer.
Bourdain points out as much in every conversation in the episode, even telling a local restaurant owner that he is "about to be a millionaire". As Bourdain makes his way from the capital of Havana to the poorer, less westernized city of Santiago, it's apparent the country teeters back-and-forth as whether to anticipate with excitement or dread the change that is to come.
Whatever your knowledge on the politics of the situation surrounding the island, Bourdain boasts throughout Parts Unknown that you won't want to wait too long before making it a point to visit a country that is otherwise a mystery to the majority of Americans in 2015.
"However you feel about the government,
The New York chef feasts on everything from sushi to
Bourdain — as is the case with him in many of the places he travels — loves a country for what it
"There will be wealthy hipsters, women in tiny black dresses drinking ironic riffs on the mojito in the lobby of a spanking-new W Hotel with
Nobody is quite yet sure what to expect from
Parts Unknown airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on CNN. The "Cuba" episode is available to watch now on CNNgo and on-demand.