a world away from havana

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So. We arrived in Varadero and cheered up as soon as the coach started to cruise down a long palm and flower lined drive to our hotel the Internacional. At first we were like, "Where's the beach?" because in the one (unclear, b&w) aerial photo we had seen of the hotel it had appeared to be on the beach. Then as we approached the glass entrance to the lobby we saw out through the back glass exit and were astounded. There was an expanse of white sand with palm trees, and then the most beautiful turquoise sea. It was the most beautiful thing I've seen. Alex commented how great it would be if we had an oceanview room and, to our joy, we got one! With a balcony! We settled in then went to subathe on the beach and play ping pong. Exhausted (how...?), we fell asleep quickly that night.

Varadero is so beautiful, but it's so detached from the rest of Cuba. I'm glad we went to Havana first because as our Cuban friend had said Varadero is "plastic." It is a tourist haven, I guess its like the Hamptons of Canadians, it doesn't represent Cuba. A total tourist place, full of resorts. Our resort is all incluse which means 3 meals a day, snacks, free alcohol... actually shockingly good value for money considering how much we eat/drink. The food isn't fantastic, but the tomatoes are so ripe and red and juicy, yum.

So yes, everyone here is tourists - Canadians and Mexicans, some Germans...Everything seems to be quite resort based though, it's all a bit insular. But, looks like paradise.

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