6th and 7th July 2011 - cuba (havanna)

Another early morning! Met the coach at 7.30 to go on a two day trip to Havanna.

Our first stop was a small town where we just stopped so people could grab something for breakfast.  We stopped at a little cafe and were set upon by people wanting money - which makes you feel really uncomfortable because if you give something to somebody you would then get so many other people wanting something - and its impossible.  You would think that the cafe would be really glad that a group of tourists had stopped to spend money - as its not like the whole of Cuba is full of tourist - far from it! Its the least commercialised place I have ever been too.  However, the staff just didn't seem to want to serve anybody.  The guide was obviously getting annoyed with them and telling them to serve people but they carried on doing whatever tasks they were doing so basically they lost out!

This was the view from the front of the cafe looking out to the street

The next stop a couple of hours later was another quick stop - this time we were entertained by a lizard on a post!

There was also a little pond with tortoises - which were really cute but some really annoying Cuban kid came over and started poking them with a stick - trying to poke their heads and legs and flipping them over.  I decided that rather than just watch him I was going to tell him to stop it! I told him - no and tried to gently pull him away and he totally ignored me and continued.  I was so tempted to push him in - I bet he grows up to be a serial killer!

this was before they got terrorised by a Cuban brat!

Next stop was for lunch - just across the river from Havanna.  As usual there were Cuban musicians - and a violinist came and stood between me and Lissa and played - very well but its really awkward having him just stand there! lol

This was just before he got to us - I think we were both thinking - please dont come over here!!

After lunch we headed across the river (or under the rive via a tunnel) - and we were in Havanna.  The guide gave us a history and pointed out a few things - like the first ever hotel called The England (or Hotel Inglaterra) and the bar where Ernest Hemmingway used to frequent.  It had started raining by this point - it was still really hot - but also really wet!

There were loads of the old American cars about too - and not in a gimmicky way - they were genuinely still being used and there were loads!

When we got of the coach we walked up a long road and back down again because there wasn't really much to do - its not like you could go shopping because the shops were basic food shops or....I have no idea - all I know is that there wasn't anywhere to go - so we made our way to the bar that Ernest Hemmingway used to go - and we all had a cocktail!!

I am sure we were told so much more about Havanna - but I honestly don't remember what! I know there were pieces of what used to be an old fortress...and erm... a church - okay I'm rubbish - I just remember the cocktails in the bar!!

We then headed to our hotel - and after the last one we had stayed at I was a bit nervous - when we pulled up outside - we were all thinking YIPEE it looked great - and it was pretty good!!
We had nice clean, insect free rooms - it was big and modern - phew! so we went and got showered - then went down to the restaurant - which was included - and that was good (for Cuba - by now we were realising that all the food was basically the same in Cuba and none of it was exciting).

We had got dressed up for the evening as we were going to Tropicana - where there would be dancers and food and drink!

We got on the coach again and went about 10 minutes or so to the Tropicana.  We were lucky in that we got our own table rather than having to share - and as it was a quarter bottle rum each - we got a whole bottle and a glass of coke! we ordered a round of drinks earlier in the evening and just before the end of the night when they wanted paying - Lissa got what she ordered!

I took a picture of the food so that when the flash went off we could see what was on our plates because it was dark. As you can imagine - as the flash went off we were quite disappointed! lol

The dancers were good - and half naked most of the time - but it was quite repetitive - there were 4 guys that came on at one point and sang and it was such a relief that there was something different - and they were really good - they woke the whole place up!  All in all it was a fun night out - but I had expected more variety and it to be a bigger production - but hey!

This is one of my favourite holiday pictures! Its the bottle of rum we got and the girls all got a flower which we put on Andy - and this is back on the coach about to return to the hotel!  I love pictures like this because you can see we are having fun and being silly - which is what we did a lot of the time, and it shows how much we were relaxing and just having a good time.

The next day we got back on the coach and headed for old Havanna

Again there were the old American cars everywhere - and the houses that people lived in were all so small and run down - it was the same all over Cuba

Again we had a wander - at first with the guide who told us lots of interesting stuff - as you can see Andy was very interested - Connor had zoned out - Lissa was posing and I was taking pictures!! lol

One of the things that we were told about - that I remember and we all took notice of was the fact that there was a chocolate museum - when he finished talking and gave us our free time - we questioned him about this chocolate museum and got directions!  We found it and there was nothing museumy about it - it was a cafe that sold chocolate in many different shapes!  So it would have been rude not to buy some!

I think the picture below is when Andy started to lose interest because they mentioned the chocolate shop!  Connor obviously hadn't been listening and Lissa was thinking - we are SO going to go there!!

Oh yeah we loved the chocolate!!

We then went to the rum museum! We were looking forward to it - thought we were going to get free samples (we didn't) and get to buy some rum (we didn't) and get squiffy (we didn't)

I was a short talk with a few props telling us how rum was made with the sugar they can grow loads of in Cuba - it wasn't boring - it was interesting - but it was really hot!

At the rum place

we then went to a cigar shop - which Andy had been really looking forward to - and I bought some coffee and coffee liquer.

At some point we also went to a market - I actually think this was earlier in the day - and we bought a painting, and did as the tour guide told us and got a certificate and got it stamped or we would have a problem at customs - I'll have to put a picture up of that when I get it out of the cardboard tube and get it put on canvas.  We also bought little bracelets which is something of a holiday tradition - but I think I left mine in the restaurant when we went for lunch!!

after lunch we piled back on the coach and headed back to our usual hotel!

5th July 2011 - cuba

Today was another lazy day - we read, lazed by the pool - I think we went to the beach for a bit too.  I cant really remember much about what we did during the day.
I do remember that as we got ready to go out we got torrential rain and a huge thunder storm.  This wasn't anything to be sad about - it was amazing to watch! You can just about hear the thunder on this video clip

We had all got ready to go out, so we were waiting for the rain to stop.  In the end we gave up and decided to use the big umbrellas provided in the rooms.  However, when we came to get ours - it was gone! The same happened with the ironing board.  It seems that if somebody else requested something they just randomly took stuff out of you room and gave it to somebody else! So I used the brolly I took with me, the twins used the one they still had in their room - and Andy got wet! lol
We decided to have a few drinks before we went to eat and we sat in a square covered area, with water all around it - watching the rain.

You can just about see the rain in the background

Lissa managed to get her head in this one! lol

We then went for food.  I cannot remember which restaurant we went to - but I think that it was the night that there were so many mosquito's as we tried to eat that it was just really annoying and off-putting.  The food wasn't great either so I think we ate a bit then legged it! lol.

On the way back to our rooms we saw a crab running along the path.  As it saw us it ran into the bushes but we got a picture!

We saw many more of these crabs during the holiday - land crabs apparently!  One night I quietly watched on go under the table whilst people were sat there unaware.  It crawled over a women's foot and she just flicked it away without realising what it was - then suddenly they became aware of it and it ran away so quickly! I couldn't believe they could move so quick! I would have been quite freaked if that had been my foot it had crawled over!

Another early night was had as we were off on another trip early the next day!

3rd and 4th July 2011 - cuba

Well after a night of stomach cramps, we got up early to go on a two-day trip to the south of Cuba.  We met in reception at 7.30am, got onto a coach and headed off.

We hadn't got far when it started raining! It didn't rain for long though - by the time we got where we were going, it had cleared up and remained very hot!

The first stop we had was an old sugar plantation.  Cuba used to be a massive exporter of sugar - until they turfed all the Americans out of the country as they owned 80% of the property and everything else.  The Cuban government confiscated all the American owned property, so America decided not to trade with Cuba (there's more to it than that but I don't want to turn this into a Cuban history lesson).

Anyway the place we visited used to be run by the Spanish using black slaves.  We were shown the tower where the Spanish would keep an eye on the slaves.  What confused me though was that it was so high up that if they had a problem with the slaves - what could they do about it?! It would take 10 minutes to get all the way back down - its not like they had mobile phones!

Taken from the top of the tower - we had to climb up lots and lots wooden steps and ladders in the heat to get here!

we were then given a demonstration as to how they got the sugary liquid (cant remember what they call it) out of the sugar cane and we could buy some of it to try it - and it was errrr....YUCK!

Our next stop was a pottery place where the guy was an expert at making pottery 'stuff' he was really good but we didn't really want to buy anything.  On the way out we got quite a bit of hassle from people begging, which is awkward but if you give anybody anything you got swamped by everyone else! One girl who was dressed quite well was making hand-to-mouth motions as if to say she needed money for food, and her mother was saying she needed to buy clothes for her mother...felt guilty ignoring them but didn't really what else to do.

Next stop was a town called Trinidad which has remained the same since about 1850.  To be honest it looked exactly the same as all the other towns we had driven though in Cuba.  It was a Sunday so most things were closed (although I didn't see anything that could have been 'open'.  Because it was quiet we were sitting ducks for people begging again.  They wanted money or pens!  If I had known I would have taken a load of pens and handed them out.  

We went into a museum - which didn't really have much in it - then we were given an hour to wander on our own.  That was about an hour longer than we wanted, because all there was to do was wander around trying to avoid the people either begging or trying to sell us dodgy cigars which they apparently make out of banana leaves!

This is a picture of the main square in Trinidad - taken from the roof of the museum.  We tried to hide in this square a little while later while we waited for the coach to come back - but we were followed anyway!

A picture of us all in the museum!

Killing time - getting pictures of us in the reflection in Andy's glasses!

We spotted a few people from our coach in a bar/restaurant so we went in and got a much needed cold drink - in every single place like this they have musicians and singers, who come around for tips before you leave.  Whilst we were there the weather went a bit weird and stormy and there were a few really strong gusts of which knocked over a few things in the restaurant but by the time we left 10 minutes later it was all fine again!

We finally got back on the coach and continued on our journey.  Our next stop was at a little place where they did fresh coffee.  We got tiny cups with black very strong coffee (expresso I suppose) it was the first time I had drank coffee like this and with a bit of sugar it was really good! We bought some!

Our next stop was the hotel we were staying in that night.  It was very basic! It had an air condition unit sticking though the window with gaps all around it and didn't really cool the room down.

We got our swimming stuff together, really looking forward to plunging into a cold pool after the hot sweaty day we had.  However, it was an indoor pool and was full of people and the sound was deafening so we gave it a miss.  We decided to stay in the lobby and play cards.  We went to the buffet restaurant had some basic food and returned to the lobby to play cards.  While we were there it started raining - extremely heavy rain!

We decided that whoever lost at cards would have to stand in the rain for 2 minutes! Luckily for me Connor lost! hehehe.  He was a really good sport though and did it - even though he got pretty drenched!  We decided that the next loser would have to eat octopus - which we were bound to come across while on holiday.  Andy and Lissa ended up losing - so I escaped! However, I had already tried octopus in whilst in Dubai so it wouldn't have been too bad if I had lost - and as it happens we didn't come across any octopus so they both got away with it anyway!

That night I hardly slept because I just knew that insects were in the room - at one point I heard something scuttling and then heard something drop to the floor.  I needed the loo most of the night but remained in bed with the sheet right up to my neck!  The next day the twins told me that they had been up in the night because they thought they heard something and found a huge cockroach on the table which ran off.  Lissa went into the bathroom and found another one (or possibly the same one) and they also found it difficult to sleep!

The next morning as were left our room the maid took our key off us.  I actually said to Andy, we shouldn't give it to her because reception wont know we handed it in...

we all piled back on the coach and headed off - only for the coach to be stopped - we were all asked if we had handed the key in.  When I said we had given ours to a maid, the coach had to turn around and go back and we were asked to go back! We had to find the maid and get her to verify that she had the key - I was so relieved when we did actually find her and she confirmed it.  Andy was quite annoyed about it when we had to get back on the coach with everybody watching us! But hey-ho - off we went!

We went about 10-20 minutes on the coach, then stopped at a place where we were to go walking in the mountain.  It was sooooo hot!!  We set off - mainly upwards on paths and steps and I must admit, I was worried about how hot it was and how far and how steep we might be going - but luckily after the initial climb it basically flattened out and was okay!  Took lots of pictures, and went over stepping stones over little streams, and saw Cuban birds and woodpeckers - and insects!

We stopped after a while and were given sweet tea at a little cottage/hut, where there were chickens and little chicks, cats and a skinny dog!

sweet tea!

It was soooo hot and sticky!!

Then we got to the waterfall!

and went for a swim!

there were bats flying around in this cave to one side of the waterfall!

Connor decided to jump off the side!

We then got dried and headed off back down the mountain!  We had lunch once we got back down and I had best drink of Sprite I had ever had! lol

We then got back into the coach and made the journey back to our usual hotel again!  We got showered ready and went out for a meal at one of the restaurants that we had booked i.e. not the usual buffet restaurant.  It was a steak grill or something like that - only there wasn't any steak! lol.  I think we had chicken on skewers - which was average.  I think we were put off because we couldn't tell if the chicken was cooked!

If I remember rightly - we all ended up in bed pretty early again!

A fun busy two days!

2nd july 2011 - cuba

We planned to have a lazy day today knowing that tomorrow we were off on a two day trip.  We stayed around the pool in the shade because despite being careful with the sun the previous day (or so we thought) and putting on lots of cream we all had burnt bits - mostly on our shoulders probably from being in the sea.

Just before lunch I started getting stomach cramps...followed by errrr....shall we say imodium! It wasn't too bad I was just worried about the trip we had planned the next day!
After a day at the pool we all got showered, went out for food (I didn't eat too much!) we had a few drinks but we were all knackered and ended up in bed by 10pm!  Lightweights!!

1 July 2011 - cuba

Today was boiling hot! I had been a bit worried about the weather in Cuba because although the forecast said it would be hot it also said that it would be raining with thunderstorms...well there was no sign of that today!  We got breakfast at the buffet restaurant which was quite nice - a mixture of breads and eggs and stuff I cant remember - omelettes, waffles and crepes were made for you while you waited.  Connor especially loved the chocolate waffles and chocolate crepes!
We decided to go to the beach and swim in the sea, we got beds close to the food and activities and got lots of sun cream on.  The sand was white and the sea a brilliant clear turquoise colour and was slightly warm, so you could jump in without your breathe being taken away!  We took our masks and snorkels but unfortunately other than the odd white fish, it seemed devoid of sea life.  This was a real shame I had been hoping that it would be more like Egypt which had tons of fish of all different shapes and sizes.  We still had fun though!

Me and Lissa took part in a bit of water aerobics with a guy from the hotel, which was quite funny because it was difficult to keep still in the waves.  We then joined in a beach game which involved spinning around 6 times and then making a run for a sunbed whilst dizzy! I think I took longer than anybody else and was also the dizziest and could not seem to get to the sunbed!
In the end we got so hot and fed up of the sand everywhere (especially Lissa who apparently hates sand) we decided to go to the pool.  We got 4 sunbeds in the shade and chilled out there for a while.  Then believe it or not me and Andy decided to go to the gym!  There was air conditioning in the gym but it was pants so it was really difficult due to the heat.  The worst bit was walking back into the sun after the gym - sweating!!!
We all got showered and ready and headed off for the Romantica restaurant - the waitress who had given me the ticket (for the big tip we gave her) greeted us with kisses to the cheeks and it was funny watching Connors face as she kissed us and he knew she was heading for him! lol

The restaurant was really dark and I had to use the candle to try and read the menu and I think in the end Andy had to read it out to me because my eyesight is getting so bad! lol...hate admitting I'm getting old and my eyes don't work like they used to!  I think I had a pate for starters which wasn't like any pate I've ever had before - it was more like a minced chicken...then I had beef Chateaubriand which was yummy.  We had a good laugh at the restaurant.
We then headed towards the main lobby area and a Cubian band was playing and me and Lissa had a bit of a dance - trying badly to dance Cuban/salsa style - but we had a good laugh!

We stayed up fairly late and had a few drinks and a lot of fun as you can see from the next picture!!

30th June 2011 - Cuba here we come

We got up and took the hotel bus to the airport and got through so quickly because we didn't have to hand in the cases...we bought our suncream, sunglasses and a new underwater camera and then got some breakfast and were heading for the plane in no time!  The photo above was taken on my phone immediately before we stepped on the plane, I managed to upload it to facebook just before I put my phone onto airplane mode and I didn't get internet access again until we arrived back in England two weeks later!
It was a 10 hour flight which I thought would be so long and boring but it went quite quick really.  Cuba is 5 hours behind us so rather than it being 7.30pm when we got there it was 2.30pm and boiling hot!!  We got though the airport quite quickly and onto the coach.  We were given our room keys and hotel info on the coach.  The journey on the coach was about 2 hours, firstly to Santa Maria and then along the man-made causeway which linked the tiny islands on the north of Cuba to the main island.  Cuba looked very green like England but very different also - the houses were tiny and shack like and the roads were really empty of traffic.  Huge buzzard like birds circled in the sky, and palm trees were everywhere.  We were tired so I don't know how much of it we took in!
When we got to the hotel, a band started playing the Cuban music we got so used to over the next two weeks and people in Cuban dress stood singing on either side of the entrance handing us a welcome cocktails.  It was a bit embarrassing actually walking past them not really knowing where we going!  We had also read about not drinking the juice to avoid stomach problems, so we took the drinks and then spent a few awkward moments trying to get rid of it somewhere!
As we had already been given the room keys we just had to go off and try and find the rooms - and its a big place and we were boiling hot.  After some confusion and frustration we finally found the rooms - we had two rooms next to each other on the ground floor - and our view was greenery.  We had a small tiled area with a table and chairs then about a metre of space and then green bushes.  I was a bit disappointed about this because we couldn't really sit out there because it was so close to the bushes the mosquitos were everywhere.
We realised we were quite close to the adult pool which is where we had wanted to be, and a bit of a walk to the main area of reception, restaurants and beach.  When our cases finally arrived we all got changed and went for a walk.
We have a tradition of seeing who can be first in the sea, and you have to be fully submerged to win! I am very competitive and I like to win - but on this occasion Connor managed to run and just throw himself in! lol

We eventually figured out where the main restaurant was and went for food.  It seemed quite big and a good selection.  I tipped the waitress 5CUC which is quite a lot (the norm is 1CUC and 1CUC equals about 70p) and we got star treatment a bottle of wine and a pass to one of the nicer restaurants for the following night.
We tried to stay up as late as possible to get over the time difference.  I think we went to bed about midnight (which was 5am in England) and by the next morning we had adjusted to the time difference.