Obama dines with Michelle at Cuban eatery

Barack Obama, the first US President to visit Cuba in nearly 90 years, enjoyed a sumptuous meal with his wife Michelle at a famous Cuban restaurant on the first day of his landmark trip.
"We had a great tour yesterday. Enjoyed it," Obama told Castro who welcomed the US President in the Plaza of the Revolution.
"And we had a great dinner," Obama said, referring to the dinner he and First Lady Michelle had at a restaurant last night after arriving in Havana in the afternoon for an official visit the first by a US President since Calvin Coolidge made a trip to the country in 1928.

Obama and Michelle dined at San Cristobal, one of the best known 'paladars' in Cuba.
Paladars are privately-owned and often family-operated restaurants that form a critical part of Cuba'sgrowing private sector.
In 2010, the government expanded licenses for private sector employment, leading to a more than three-fold increase in non-state sector employment.

During the visit, the President underscored the growing role of self-owned businesses -- or cuentapropistas -- in the Cuban economy and in improving the livelihoods of the Cuban people.
San Cristobal, which has been in operation for approximately five years, is owned by Carolos Cristobal Marquez, who lives above the restaurant with his family.

While addressing Embassy staff, Obama said President Coolidge came on a battleship.
"It took him three days to get here. It only took me three hours," Obama said.
"For the first time ever, Air Force One has landed in Cuba, and this is our very first stop. So this is a historic visit, and it's a historic opportunity to engage directly with the Cuban people and to forge new agreements and commercial deals, to build new ties between our two peoples, and for me to lay out my vision for a future that's brighter than our past," Obama said.
Earlier this morning, Obama visited the Jose Marti memorial where he also participated in a wreath laying ceremony.

Hundreds of people lined up the street on many stretches of the route, waving and taking pictures of the motorcade.
He described the wreath-laying "a historic moment" and said it was "pretty remarkable to hear the anthems here.
"It is a great honour to pay tribute to Jose Marti, who gave his life for independence of his homeland. His passion for liberty, freedom, and self-determination lives on in the Cuban people today," Obama wrote in the guest book.