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Havana is a complete contradiction to what we in Canada or the rest of the world is use to. Havana has some amazing architecture which has not
been touched since the day it was constructed. The culture comes oozing out of every crevice and coble stone of old Havana. Here is a breakdown of my week in the 50"s .
Day 1.
Our ( For further reference we refers to myself and my lady friend Amber) flight from to Varadero was at 6:20 am Sunday morning . So me being the responsible person I am I went to at 8:00pm , with some help from Gravol. We woke up at 3:00 am and headed ourselves to the airport. From down town Toronto to the Airport in 14 min. Amber was extremely proud of this and would shot me if I did not mention it .It took us no time at all to get to the terminal since we used Park & Fly Valet . Really worth the extra few dollars. Everything went fine with check in and we sat and waited for our flight. Amber's family were on our flight as well , since they were spending a week
in Varadero. The flight is self was ok. I slept for a bit , eat some waffles and the slept a little more, hey it was 7:00 am. We arrived in Varadero at around 11:00 am and it was nice and hot at this time. We said good bye to Amber's family and headed to our bus. There was 3 other couples on our bus . Two going to a all inclusive resort near Havana and one going to a hotel in Havana. So out of a whole plane full of people 4 of us are going to Havana for the week.
We got to our hotel and checked in and went to our room and chilled out for awhile. We then took a little walk around to see the hotel. The hotel is really really nice even outstanding in Cuban standard.We stayed at the Melia Cohiba in the Vedado are of Havana. By this time it was around 7:00 pm and we have not eating anything day since the plane. We opted to eat in the hotel at the pool bar. I got some really good pork chops and Amber had a club house. We then had a
few cervejas and went to bed.
Day 2
Today is New years eve and most of our day consisted of trying to figure out what to do for it. We got up early and took the free shuttle into old Havana. We were really lost at first until I pulled out my Lonely Planet book and like Magellan we were on track again. We eat lunch at a place called O'Reilly's. A Irish bar it was not but had the best ham sandwich I think I ever had. Food always tastes better when it is under 1.50. We then walked our old Havana a bit and got our picture taken by a camera from the 1800's. It was really cool . We then went and got some home made ice cream and walked around the book market a bit. We had a few minutes before our shuttle so we sat at a bar and had a few cervesas while we waited. So I know your very curious as to what we did for New Years Eve. We found a flyer for a underground jazz club so we thought it would be really cool to do that . We
arrived early and had a great seat and watched some really great jazz and had a few beers. We called it a early night since we were both really tired from walking in the sun all day.
Day 3
Today Amber woke up at 4:00 am to her amazement that there were huge, massive waves coming over the Malecon wall ( see picture below). When we woke up later that morning we came to find out on Spanish CNN that there was a huge storm in Florida and that it was going to be really windy and cold for the next few days.
We went to eat at the little mall across the street ( not really a mall). We went to a place called the Jazz cafe for some of the best burgers I have ever had in my life. They even included a fried egg on it for you and our course it was only 2.10.
Not much was open this day since it was the day of the revolution and new years day. So Amber and I sat around the hotel drinking some ron and playing cards.
Day 4
We were
on a mission to find some food. There was a little market in the mall that sold a few items, a lot in Cuban standards. We missed this place being open 3 times now so it was our mission to get some stuff for the room. We got some chips and pop , they didn't have much more.We didn't do much this night either since it was kind of cold, hovering around the 6c mark . We did watch a lot of America's Next Top Model though. VH1 had a marathon on all week so yes we watched a lot of it since it was one the only english channels.
Day 5
Thursday we met up with Amber's family at our hotel. They came knocking on the door with no notice or anything so we headed out in a hurry. To our surprise they had a guide and a van for all of us. Our guide was someone they met 10 years ago here in Cuba and have kept in touch with. We toured around the Plaza of Revolution and old Havana. We stopped and at some restaurant that took 2.5 hours to bring our food. They will
no be mentioned of them because the last comment. By this time it was time for them to leave so Amber and I got dropped off at the Nacional Hotel to buy our tickets for the Cabaret show that night.
That night we went to the Cabaret show at the National Hotel . The show was really good but we got seated with 3 other couples who did not speak any English . We were also right next to the speaker so it was extremely loud the entire time.
Day 6
We started this day by getting up nice and late then head breakfast at the Jazz Cafe again. Hamburger with eggs on it. Again today the weather was not very nice so we stayed in a lot and played cards and did some shopping around the hotels in the area. That night we went for dinner at the Havana Cafe in our hotel. It was my favorite place so far . The decor was really cool and right out of the 50's. The dinner was good and the show was the best one yet. We called it a early night that since we were both kind
of tired for not doing anything all day.
Day 7
Today we got up late again ( we are on vacation remember). We decided we should go into old Havana again to get ice cream one last time and get some suvaners. We strolled around the streets for a few hours and I ended up buying a really cool mask for my wall. Very simular to the one I bought last time I was in Cuba. That night we stayed in a watched hours and hours of America's Next Top Model. By the end of the week i'm addicted.
Day 8
Our tranfer from the hotel to the airport in Varadero was suppose to be at 6:00 but ended up showing up around 7:10. We were not picked up in a nice bus this time , but a small little van. Our driver raced at about 150kpm to get us there on time. Well by the time we got there I was not feeling so well. We hung out at the airport till our flight. The flight home was good . The food was excellent and I took a wee nap. When we arrived into Toronto
our bags we delayed by 3 hours . I think it had something to do with the fact Team Canada was coming back from their fresh 1 place victory.
The trip in the end wasnted what we thinking Cuba would be in January but I wouldn't have changed it for anything.
As usual in my blogs here is a bunch of picture in no particular order.
Jason MacIntyre
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