14/11/18 Time to leave the Bahamas already! We are sad to leave but Cuba is calling. The checkout was easy as the bill was under our door when we woke up. We just bought a coffee and a croissant and we took a taxi to the airport. Cha and I promised each other we would be back before we turn 50 ???.
Cha likes to book the window seat but when we boarded the plane we realised she was at the only window seat that does not have a window ?. Not handy to take photos of the turquoise water from above.
Andres welcomed us at the airport and we drove straight to the casa that he booked for us so we could drop our suitcases. The owner, a friendly old man showed us our room then we went for a ride to discover Havana.
We stopped at a local restaurant for some delicious cuban food, roasted chicken with rice and black beans.
I loved all the old cars everywhere. Pontiac, Chevrolet, Buick and VW Beetles (my favourite!) are probably half of all the cars you cross on the street to create a rainbow of colours. Havana is called a rolling museum thanks to all the old cars you see everywhere. Additionally, the colonial architecture is also full of pastel colours everywhere you look.
As we had a heavy lunch we didn’t go anywhere for dinner, even though Andres told us where to go to to find some food.
We paid Andres in cash for half of the trip and he said later that there were 20 CUC missing. My mistake was to not recount the money while I handed over the bundle of notes, so with the benefit of the doubt I paid the missing note.
15/11/18 We had a fruit plate, an omelette and some bread for breakfast. The owner cut us 2 roses with a beautiful delicate scent.
At 9.15 Andres picked us up (late, probably the Cuban rhythm) in a really cool purple and white convertible Pontiac Chieftain of 1958 for a city tour. It was not supposed to be a convertible but we asked for it the day before to enjoy the view and take pictures while driving. He came with his daughter who is learning how to be a tour guide. Unfortunately it started to rain early so we had to cover the car but not for long. It is interesting to see that everywhere we park we have to pay 1 CUC (the convertible peso), as someone is keeping an eye on the car.
While exploring the city on foot I asked 2 beautiful Cuban ladies if I could take a picture of them which wasn’t for free. As we didn’t have any change yet we paid the equivalent of $5 for it.
We stopped by a house decorated by a fan of Gaudi, Fuster, famous Spanish architect/artist. The entire neighbourhood (including the bus stop) is decorated with mosaic walls and sculptures in the unique Gaudi style which reminded me of Barcelona that Charlotte and I visited last year when I surprised my friend Erin for her birthday. Full of coloured mosaics and funny shapes.
Around 2pm we went to a nice hidden restaurant for lunch. There was a band playing and the tables were placed outside under typical huts. I had bananas stuffed with cheese and ham and grilled fish with almond and bechamel sauce.
Andres dropped us close to the old downtown where we explored a bit on our own then he took us to a shopping centre where we finally found some cookies and chocolate to snack at night in case we would be a little hungry. Charlotte was so excited she bought 4 different packs ?.
In all the supermarkets we went, people have to drop their bags at the entrance. But as we have our passports and money in our bags only one of us went inside at a time.
The owner of the casa asked us more than agreed with Andres as he added the breakfast price which was supposed to be included but as Andres was not there when we paid. We didn’t say anything, but Cha and I agreed to always confirm the price upon arrival for the next casas to avoid being charged more in the future.
We always felt safe in the city but we noticed that all houses and properties are fenced and they all have bars at their windows.
16/11/18 Andres drove us to Santa Clara as we wanted to visit the Mausoleum if Che Guevara. He was not happy about the change of plans but we still reached Trinidad very early so we still had time to visit a sugar cane plantation in the Valley of Los Ingenios where we had a sweet glass of fresh sugar cane juice. On site, I climbed the tall surveillance tower (137 steps) and the view was really nice from the top. I bargained a little to buy 2 square shaped pieces of white and blue fabric, something that my mom has been looking for for a long time then we drove to Trinidad where our second casa was ready. We also stopped by the place where rebels led by the Che derailed an armoured train in Santa Clara in the 50’s to stop a shipment of weapons on its way to support Batista’s army. While we were reading all the details inside the wagons, the guide went to a cookie shop nearby and bought us some local sweets that he left on our seats so we had a surprise when we went back to the car. Peanut cookies.
We saw many locals using horse carriages as taxis. Many people also hitch hike with a note in their hand hoping to convince a car to stop. Quite funny compared to Sydney ?.
