Travel with us to Cuba

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Photos from Cuba highlight the Cuban way of life for many islanders. The Obama administration will allow unlimited travel and money transfers by Cuban Americans to family in Cuba, and will take other steps to ease U.S. restrictions on the island.

The Capitolio building in central Havana, built in 1929, was inspired by the United States Capitol building and is a major draw for tourists. The building symbolizes close ties that Cuba once had to America and might soon have again. The Obama administration will allow unlimited travel and money transfers by Cuban Americans to family in Cuba, and take other steps to ease U.S. restrictions on the island.

Is this a sign of things to come? Back in 2002 Havana port traffic manager Barbaro Gonzalez unfurls the weathered American flag that has not been used in 50 years now.

The sounds of Havana can be heard nearly everywhere in the old city as the island moves to its own rhythm and beat. Street musician Nestor Sosa plays a marimba made out of a softball while guitarist Alberto Norona sings for passers by in 2002.

Mexican tourists Domingo Gonzalez and wife Marianna look at portraits of Cuban patriots at the Ministry of the Interior Museum in Miramar, a suburb of Havana. The island is a popular tourist resort for those in the Caribbean and Europe.

It's a constant struggle to keep old cars like this 1940's era Chevrolet running. Ingenuity, elbow grease and a little luck combine to keep home mechanics busy in Cuba.

Students from Georgia Tech professor Kirk Bowman's class pose for a group picture as they take a break from their internet survey in Cuba in 2002. Educators, journalists and those involved with humanitarian aid were previously allowed visitation privileges to Cuba.

Harley Davidson rider Adolfo Prieto sits atop his all white 1950 Harley Davidson panhead motorcycle at Pointe Hierro in Miramar, a suburb of Havana, on a Saturday night in 2002.

Underneath the Cuban and U.S. flags, Cuban color guards arrange their uniform epaulets a moment before former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn arrived to meet with former Cuban President Fidel Castro at the Palace of the Revolution in 2002. Carter toured the island to talk about the ideals of his Carter Center - peace and democracy.

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro instructs former U.S. President Jimmy Carter as he prepares to throw the first pitch in Cuba's 2002 East-West All Star Baseball Game. During Carter's 2002 visit he gave a strong speech in favor of closer relations between Cuba and the United States saying, "I want the people of the United States and Cuba to share more than a love of baseball and wonderful music."

Despite efforts for economic reform and a revitalized tourist industry, simple fishermen like Jovane Elatez Basquez make a living the old fashioned way - on the ocean. Writer Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Cuba for 20-years, popularized the island's way of life.

Cubans love just about everything American and try to sell many of the items at the Mercado Centro, or Central Market.

The Santa Isabel Hotel in Old Havana, the historic district, attracts a large crowd of tourists in this 2002 photo.

Cubans love their music and the Malecon is a favorite spot to practice tunes. Erin Garcia Atencio on the saxophone and Felix Martinez Borero on the trombone say the ocean provides them good sound quality and a pleasant place to practice. Friends of the two musicians appeared with the Buena Vista Social Club, a popular Cuban band that garnered accolades around the world.

Havana's lively artist market begins to fill the square in front of the island's oldest church, the Cathedral of Havana. The facility was consecrated as a cathedral in 1789 and was previously known as San Ignacio Chapel.

Cubans flock to Havana's Malecon - the city's famous seaside - to relax, visit with friends and enjoy the ocean. El Morro, a former fortress that is now a small museum is in the background.

When Cuba was lifting some of the island's religious restrictions in advance of the Pope's 1997 visit, parishioners at Havana's Ebenezer Baptist Church pack in for Sunday morning services.

Under the harsh Cuban sun in the Pinar del Rio provence, Jesus Perez gently trims a tobacco leaf in one of Cuba's finest fields of wrapper tobacco in 2000. The capa or outside leaf from this field helps give the well-known Cohiba cigar its flavor.

A variety of architecture is seen along Havana's seawall, called the Malecon, one of the main attractions of this port city. Much of the infrastructure, however, is in need of repair. With a closer look tourists can see crumbling facades and exposed electrical wiring lining the city's streets.

And some things never change. A 1940's-era Cadillac cruises past a bridge going nowhere in the Pinar del Rio province.

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The Capitolio building in central Havana, built in 1929, was inspired by the United States Capitol building and is a major draw for tourists. The building symbolizes close ties that Cuba once had to America and might soon have again. The Obama administration will allow unlimited travel and money transfers by Cuban Americans to family in Cuba, and take other steps to ease U.S. restrictions on the island.

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