Well, we arrived in Varadero after a 3.5 hour flight - minus 8 C in Toronto when we left - 28 humid degrees C in Varadero when we arrived! Definitely a shock, with many more of a different nature to come.
Note that blogspot dates this post January 7 - we actually arrived on January 3rd but, for a variety of reasons, I was late in all of my blog posts this trip so the dates on the posts will not necessarily be the date of the events.
Note that blogspot dates this post January 7 - we actually arrived on January 3rd but, for a variety of reasons, I was late in all of my blog posts this trip so the dates on the posts will not necessarily be the date of the events.
After retrieving our luggage, converting the first of many Canadian dollars to Cuban pesos (called CUC's. which are very close in value to Canadian dollars) and negotiating the price for a taxi, 70 CUC"s, we set off on our trip to Havana (La Habana) in an old but serviceable vehicle.
More later about Cuban currency and Cuba and Havana in general.
The two hour hot drive over very green relatively flat terrain brought us to La Habana, and our Hotel Florida - a lovely old but well maintained and refurbished structure, built around 1836 as a private home. The photos here of bits of the hotel suggest that there was a lot of money in Cuba in those years! And as I learned over the next days there are apparently a great many beautiful old buildings (over 900 according to the Lonely Planet) in Havana, some refurbished, some being refurbished and a great many more in serious states of crumbling decay. The good news is that there is currently a program of renewal underway which is being supported in part by taxes collected through the tourist industry (i,e,, from visitors to Cuba - tourism has become a major source of income for the country through both state owned and operated businesses and the growing number of small private tourism related enterprises).
By the time we registered and got settled in our first room, it was well after 4 pm EST - very nice not to have a time zone difference. I say first room, because we decided that, while this room was adequate, we preferred to be at the front of the hotel near the street, so the following day a move was arranged.
After exchanging our winter clothes for shorts, short sleeves and sandals we strolled through people packed Calle Obispo and the parks and Plazas of the old city near our hotel and with which Bob is familiar. In a bar/restaurant off the Plaza de Catedral we savoured a beer, some coconut ice cream and a bit of the ambiance and culture of this part of Cuba. More about this and the other plazas in Havana Vieja later.
After being approached by innumerable restaurant sales pitches we selected a small paladar restaurant just off the Plaza de Catedral - one of 4 Plazas in Habana Vieja (can't recall the name of the restaurant but more about the term "paladar" later). During the approach to the restaurant I began to wonder what we were getting into. We were led through some narrow alley ways, which were dimly lit, to a doorway, which, in the photo, is just to the left past the yellow railing, up a flight of stairs to a smallish but quite pleasant second floor space which overlooked the kitchen area (see the photo below with the black and white striped awning). By the way, the person in the photo to the right is not the one who led us to this paladar - this photo was made when we left after dinner.
An excellent day and introduction to Habana and Cuba, but time to retire.
After exchanging our winter clothes for shorts, short sleeves and sandals we strolled through people packed Calle Obispo and the parks and Plazas of the old city near our hotel and with which Bob is familiar. In a bar/restaurant off the Plaza de Catedral we savoured a beer, some coconut ice cream and a bit of the ambiance and culture of this part of Cuba. More about this and the other plazas in Havana Vieja later.
After being approached by innumerable restaurant sales pitches we selected a small paladar restaurant just off the Plaza de Catedral - one of 4 Plazas in Habana Vieja (can't recall the name of the restaurant but more about the term "paladar" later). During the approach to the restaurant I began to wonder what we were getting into. We were led through some narrow alley ways, which were dimly lit, to a doorway, which, in the photo, is just to the left past the yellow railing, up a flight of stairs to a smallish but quite pleasant second floor space which overlooked the kitchen area (see the photo below with the black and white striped awning). By the way, the person in the photo to the right is not the one who led us to this paladar - this photo was made when we left after dinner.
Here we had our first, and only, Mojito a drink which, in case you want to try one, consists of 1.25 oz of Captain Morgan original spiced rum, 12 mint leaves, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 0.5 ounces of lime juice and 2 ounces of soda. I didn't finish mine, but, in fairness, I don't care for hard liquor drinks in general.
The sales pitch for the meal was excellent and the service was enthusiastic but the meal was just OK.
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