Cuba (Part 7)

7 July:

There's a match tonight against a Cuba select. Some of the guys who played for Havana a few days ago will be playing. Our boys were embarrassed when they were found so wanting physically in the previous match. They are determined to be ready this time, so very little drink for the "players" last night and no drink at all, except water and soft drinks today. The non-players, however, can make up for them. There's no need to confuse the hotel bar with an unexpected reduction in turnover, is there?It's a good game, we win, mainly because of better discipline, the Cubans give just too many penalties. We're joined at the match by a girl from the British Embassy; we've all got a formal invite to a reception at the Ambassador's residence. Proselytizing rugby, it seems, deserves official notice. Also, (I've only just learned) Glasgow and Havana are twinned !!! The BBC's new correspondent (all of three days in-country) has come along, not believing that he would see a game of rugby in Cuba. He's a Leicester Tigers man and thoroughly enjoys the match. He comes back to the hotel with us, taking interest in our Club and our reasons for choosing Cuba to tour. I take a mental note to remember "Our Man inHavana" as I'm sure we'll be hearing him report on momentously historical events in the near future. As he says, "Why do you think I tried so hard to get the post?".

Cuba (Part 6)

6 July:

Today was sight-seeing in Havana; Ernest Hemingway's drinking shops (of course). La Bodeguita del Medio, known for best making mojitos and La Floridita, claimed to be the “birthplace of the daiquiri”.

Before we reached these waterholes, we'd walked a fair distance and our proverbial tongues were hanging out. We were all on the lookout for an appropriate bar. I spotted a promising looking sign that was hanging over an establishment at the far end of a cul-de-sac. I confidently persuaded the whole group that it was what we were looking for. I was heavily fined at the next morning's court when it turned out to be a Baptist Church (of all things to find in Cuba!).We were also running a sweep on how many minutes would it be before we were accosted by "Guantanamera" (played live). It seemed to be the sound track of the whole tour. My roomey won when it was played by the band in La Floridita (although we suspect some foul play when he was seen to pass some cash to them after he'd received his winnings).

Then to the Capital; pretty impressive:


In the evening we (and the rest of the hotel guests) were entertained somewhat bizarrely by the "tour virgins" (don't ask!)A full set of my pics of the tour can be found at Flikr

Cuba (Part 2)

1 July:

With the change in the clocks, we've got 5 extra hours. First full day; we chose to check out Havana; went to the Museum of the Revolution (of course); fantastic building, the contents unfortunately were very depressing.

The taxi journey into town had been jaw droppingly interesting, but not for the reasons you'd expect. Very very little in the way of building seems to be younger than 1960; and some are in a pretty poor state of repair.

The extreme lack of traffic, the huge age (and quality) difference in the vehicles, from 1950 Chevvies, through 1980 Ladas to brand new Mercs catches the eye. The public transport is the same; brand new tourist coaches to 50 year old overcrowded buses that are belching black fumes. We see old Dutch buses that still have Amsterdam livery and, believe it or not, the original dutch terminii on the destination boards.

After an eventful ride in a horse and cart (with 6 "big" guys, average 14 stone, the horse needed a bit of help over the potholes) we ended the day with a mini pub-crawl that, with the excellent company, raised everyone's spirits (literally).


A full set of my pics of the tour can be found at Flikr