2nd December

Back to Havana

Early start today with breakfast at the ungodly hour of 8am after which we finished off our packing, cramming Matthew's relatively empty bag with so much stuff for him to take home that he could barely lift it! The taxi Alex had booked for us arrived at 9 and we just had time to get some recommendations for casas in other towns from him before we jumped in to a large people carrier that would take us back to Habana for the same price as the coach would have been! There was an English couple already inside and we spent a lot of the 4 ½ hour journey chatting with them about our experiences here in Cuba as well as other travels. They are going to Canada next year and so we told them what we knew of it and they had been to India in the past and so gave us some tips for when we go there on the second part of our travels. When we arrived in Habana we arranged to hopefully meet up later that night at Florida, we wanted a last night of dancing together and they had just started learning salsa before coming to Cuba and so were keen to see more of it. When we got back to the casa we greeted Marisela who had given us our old room again and spent a couple of hours relaxing after the journey before doing a bit of last minute shopping, namely Rum for my dad for christmas and several postcards, all of which Matt was to deliver once back in the UK. We then got changed and headed out to find something to eat before dancing and ended up at the little restaurant Pablo had recommended weeks ago but that we had shunned due to the jintero who wouldnt let us be. It was quite a cute little place, a paladar, which is a house/restaurant liscenced by the government and so only allowed to seat 12 people at a time. It was a bit pricey to what we were expecting but the food was good and there was plenty of it and after paying the bill we walked slowly to Old Habana. With an hour to kill before Florida opened we spent some time choosing and eating a cake at our favourite bakery, San Jose, before going and sitting in the lobby to wait to go in. 9.30 arrived and even though we were practically the first ones in there almost all the tables had reserved signs on so we still ended up back and to the side of the dancefloor. We danced while the floor was free and at about 10.20 the couple we'd met in the taxi showed up so we invited them to sit with us. More dancing as the place filled up when I saw a man who looked a little familiar dancing very energetically, before I knew it he was asking me to dance and saying that he knew me from Salsa Central and possibly the Colliary Club as he and his partner were from Wolverhampton!! So many coincidences on our travels so far meeting people we know in random places :) I had a great dance with him and promised to chat at the end of the night as they had another week or so in Habana and we could tell them other places to dance. The band came on with its usual set and I had some great dances with Matt and Andy as well as getting Jim to have a go, after only 3 lessons he has pretty good timing and even has hips!! As the night ended we all stood around chatting until we got shoved out the door and continued on the street, agreeing with Robert that myself and Andy would return to Florida the next night and with Jim that we would see them at 1 the next day. They had very kindly offered Matt to share their taxi to the airport as they were on the same flight and had booked an old classic Mercedes for the ride. We walked back to the casa and snuggled into bed, the day was apparently cold as we had blankets on the beds as well as the usual sheet and with the temperature dropping to a shocking 20 degrees we were welcome of it ;).

3rd December

Goodbye Matthew! :(

We got up for breakfast at about 10 once again then quickly headed out to buy some last bits for Matt before he left, he had said he wanted a t-shirt so we went to the little market we had found the first day and looked round there. After that we looked at a couple of market stalls scattered about and finally ended up in a shop near the Havana Libre where he settled on two t-shirts he liked. As this had taken so long we then had to go back to the casa and collect his bag so we could get a taxi over to Old Havana where he was meeting up for his taxi to the airport. We got there just in time and it didn't take long to load his bag in the back and take a few photos with the car, a classic Mercedes in excellent condition which is probably worth a fortune anywhere outside Cuba!! After our final goodbyes :( we went to the Infotur booth to ask about buses to Santiago and grabbed a frozen coconut to eat, YUM!! We searched around for a while to find a taxi that would take us to Viazul for a reasonable price, and eventually got there to find the office deserted of customers this is clearly the best time to buy tickets!! With our bus booked we caught the same taxi back to the Havana Libre and walked back to the casa where Marisela contacted her friend in Santiago and arranged us some accommodation. We then had a quick shower before Juan phoned to say there was a Rumba happening near us. Unfortunately it turned out to be the same Rumba that Pablo had tried to take us to and they were equally shocked that the lady at the entrance wanted $5 for each of us, which we once again refused to pay!! After this somewhat unsuccessful excursion we walked back to the casa and arranged that they would talk to Betty about us having another lesson with her the next day before parting company. By now it was time to start heading down to Florida for some dancing, we walked to old Havana and grabbed a pizza from a new place where, it was nice but not as good as our original place,we also had a cake form the cake shop and then went into Florida. The night started slowly enough and we even got the floor to ourselves and our friends from the previous night to do a Rueda but by the time the band came on it was packed. The night was the same as ever although the band had clearly fixed their technical issue from the previous night as they sounded much better. We stayed until the end again and once more chatted for about half and hour before walking back to the casa and collapsing into bed!!

4th December

More Son and Rumba.

Today after sorting sleeping arrangements for Santiago and Havana when we're back here late December, we went and had a look round the shops at Havana Libre for an hour or so. Then after meeting Juan at 1.20 (he said 1 but as its Cuba this can mean from 1 to 1.59!) we took the bus for another lesson with Betty. Whilst on the bus I had to ask Juan why there was a young lad sat holding a pigeon, he said that as in Britain people race them and that some people make their living off of breeding and selling good birds. It is another of the passions of Cuban people and he said it's not uncommon to see young boys fighting over who has the best pigeon and trading or even stealing each others birds. As he was telling us this an old lady started talking to the lad with the pigeon and stroking it, she seemed to be very appreciative of it so I assume it was a good one, but to be honest it looked like any other to me! We soon arrived at Betty's to find her bed/livingroom bare except for a small scaffold as she is redecorating and so we had our lesson in here as all her stuff was on the terrace. Juan and a friend of Betty's looked on as we went over the basic Son steps we had learned previously and then she showed us some new bits that we made into a little routine. After she was happy we'd grasped this we moved on to some more 'modern' Son steps which turned out to be quite tricky as the music was so fast and simple moves like a flair and round house type step weren't quite so straight forward as the timing changes are fast also. Still, we had a lot of fun doing this and had almost got it by the time Juan had to go (apparently he should have been at his mothers ½ hour ago) so we said a quick goodbye to him before moving on to the last part of our lesson which was to be 10 mins or so re-capping on Rumba. This turned out to be nearer to ½ hour and my legs were killing me by the end, I'm still not very good at it as the turn is a hook turn which as a lady I pretty much never do but I'm getting a little better each time. Andy on the other hand has mastered it to quite some degree, so much so that Betty and her friend were laughing and clapping with pleasure watching him dance. We really like Betty, she's lovely and such an amazing dancer as well as patient and kind teacher, hopefully we can have a couple of final lessons with her when we return to Habana on 29th!! After a gratefully received glass of water and a coffee Betty walked with us to get a taxi back to vedado to make sure we didnt get overcharged and once there headed straight to the shops to buy some drink and food for the journey to Santiago. We sat at the Malecon for a little while but it was quite windy and the sea started to come over the edge so we went back to the casa to wait until it was time to leave for the bus station. At about 8.45 we got a taxi to Viazul and checked our bags in before going into the lounge area to wait to get on the bus. As before it was very prompt and we boarded and left dead on 10pm to begin our 14 hour journey overnight (at least it saves us the cost of a nights accomodation!) to Santiago de Cuba. Once again however it was cold on there and I still couldnt get the damn seat to recline so after much huffing and puffing Andy swapped seats with me and promptly found the lever to tilt it back....grrrrr!! I read for about an hour before turning out my light and attempting to sleep.