Blogs from La Habana, Oeste, Cuba, Central America Caribbean - page 2

Aujourd'hui 3 Janvier... On se prépare Nous prenons l'avion samedi matin 7 heure pour Varadero alors nous devons partir de la maison vers 1 heure du matin pour être a l'aéroport 3 heures d'avance une fois la, 2 heures +- d'autobus pour la Havane. a suivre...... read more

I decided to not go in for my last day at university and instead start my private lessons with Juan, a teacher that Jesus recommended that does private classes for £3 an hour. I realised I only have a full week left so may as well start a fresh. I had two hours of lessons and felt really happy and confident by the end. I met Jopi in town after and we went for lunch a great little place where they do a set menu for about £3 for three courses. We had banana daiquiris and the staff treated us very well. They called Jopi Sir which was amusing and very polite. I've heard if you want to go into the big hotels like the Nacionale with Cuban people it can be hard. I saw a ... read more

The taxi dropped us off in downtown Havana at the square near the Plaza de la Revolución where all the buses pass by (so you can go anywhere in Havana from that square). For the first night in Havana, we went to a part of town near the Plaza (toward Chinatown) where there were many casas particulares and stayed at this really small one. It was pretty dingy for $25 per night. The owner also offered to make us dinner at a reasonable cost. It wasn’t great but much more edible than any food we found outside. Internet was only available at major hotels downtown but connection was slow everywhere. The next day when we met up with a couchsurfer, he recommended a casa particular that belonged to the mother of a friend of his. We ... read more

1.5.2012 Met up with other crew last night, we are 3 aussies and 3 New Zealanders, all 45 plus, nice bunch. Then had dinner together at a gorgeous restaurant we found on HGT prices fantastic – 2 mains, 2 starters, 2 Mojitas, 2 coffees $26. Today was May Day here as well hundreds of thousands of people marched on Revolution Square, very interesting, took us 1.1/2 hrs to walk to the square just to see the end of it. No tours today as our tour guide JJ was day off because of May day, most things closed but a lot opened after 12.00. We have walked for hours in this city and it has such a good feel about it. 2.5.2012 Walking tour in the morning with JJ, to the old Havana, many buildings are condemned ... read more

As I’m publishing this once I leave Cuba I’m telling the story as it happened day by day. Pretend each day is a new post. I also had the great idea of writing a day by day account on Wednesday so apologies for the not so informative accounts of Monday and Tuesday. Monday: So I somehow got up on time, got a taxi to the bus station that goes to Panama and bought a ticket for when I get back then managed to find the terminal for public bus to the airport and made my flight with plenty of time to spare. Flight to Havana was great. Had 3 seats to myself and just lay there watching stuff on my laptop. Minus the few episodes of turbulence was all good. My fear of flying is slowly ... read more

PHOTOS ! ! ! I think, at this Picassa link: You may have to copy and paste to your internet browser(Explorer , Safari, or whatever) https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?q=picasa&hl=en&rlz=1R2ACAW_enCA350&biw=1024&bih=480&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&wrapid=tlif132666331259310&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wq#photos/109724096736643982140/albums Well Wednesday morning and another nice buffet breakfast in the sunshine on the patio. It really is quite nice. Anyhow, today was our first day on our own so to speak after our “orientation” tour of Old Havana with our guide Anna Lise yesterday. Before we ventured out on our own though we had another orientation to attend with the tour operator. Basically it was an hour to tell us our transfer to the airport in Veraderro was 5 hours before the scheduled departure of the return flight on Monday. So that means our return trip will begin at 2... read more

Seems my photo uploads are re-directed to another server and re-directs are not permitted. I'll try another way, maybe Picassa or Flickr and provide a link. Hopefully I'll be able to share photos that way.... read more

Wow - Cuba - what a country, what an experience! I have had such a fantastic time over the last week or so I don't know where to start...so why not at the beginning. Ater a routine flight from Mexico DF, Lucy and I arrived in not just a different country but what felt like a different age. Within seconds of being on the road we saw the old cars that Cuba is famous for, along with the revolutionary signs "Viva la Revolucion!" and pictures of Che Guevara. We were whisked in a Lada taxi to our hotel, on the edge of the Parque Central, the Hotel Plaza, arriving in an old hotel with a beautiful pink art deco style lobby. The rooms didn't quite match up, but no matter, we were already bewitched! First up ... read more