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