Cuba babey, yeah!!!

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So, here I am after all this time. The most important place on my trip. The place I´ve wanted to go for so long. The place I´ve been so excited about... Cuba!!! Well, the day I arrived, it rained. They´ve been starting to have water shortages there´s been so little, but the day I arrived, BAM!!!! Only place I´ve been so far that didn´t have an unusual amount of falling wet stuff was Santiago in Chile (and I guess Iguazu!). It´s almost like it´s followed me from home...

Ne´er mind. Well, I had a little walk around my local area of Vedado anyway. I´ve read a lot about the hassle you can get here as a tourist, from people who want to sell you dodgy rum or cigars, blah blah blah. Well, there really wasn´t any (maybe because of the rain), eventually one guy started talking to me about a restaurant. Well, a paladar, as the non-governmental house-restaurants they have here are called. As it happened, I was looking for somewhere to eat, though a little later, and these places are not so easy to find. So he took me on a tour of the area. He spoke good English, and pointed out places like the clinic where Maradonna came to rehabilitate... Anyway, I certainly wouldn´t have known what half the things were without him.

Next day, the weather was beautiful, so I walked to Habana Vieja, the old town. Wandered around, saw the sights, the Capitolio building, etc. Then went to the Partagás cigar factory, where they make 7 of the world´s best cigar brands, including Romeo y Julieta, Montecristo, and Cohiba. VERY interesting. Sorry Wo, as far as your challenge goes, they´re not rolled on the thighs of young women, it´s far too complicated for that!!! Again no real hassles, a few guys asked if I wanted to buy cigars, but saying no was enough. And we´re talking 3 or 4 all day, which is not a lot.

However, the partying has not proved so easy to find, so tonight I bought a bottle of rum, a bottle of coke, and sat watching the lightning, and just the local life all around, until the rain started to fall.

So, 2nd full day here, I went back into the old town to wander around more. Went to the Havana CLub rum museum and had a tour. I was the only person at that time, so I had a private tour. After I had a mojito or two in the Ambos Mundos hotel, a very classy place where Hemingway lived for a while. Then at night I went to the Casa de la Amistad, where Compay Segundo´s band, la Paña de Chan Chan, were playing. Excellent music, cheap drinks, salsa dancing shows, etc, in the grounds of a beautiful old mansion. Off to Santiago de Cuba tomorrow.

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Photos

Capitolio...
...with flag flying

Coloured buildings...
...more restored than most

Lightning!!
From my terrace.