30th Decmeber

Spaghetti al dente.

We got up early today as we had a taxi to catch at 9 but were well rewarded for our efforts by a beautiful mist hanging over the mountains and in the valley, sparkling in the morning sunshine, a lovely sight to leave Vinales with. We met David and Delphina at the end of our road and settled ourselves into the comparative luxury of a huge old american car for our journey back to Habana. The time flew by as we chatted about the city and we told them about all the places to visit and see, so much so that they asked if we wouldnt mind showing them around. We agreed that we'd each settle into our casa's then we'd ring them at 2 to meet up and go from there, thinking this was a simple plan we got dropped off at Marisela's and waited to be taken to the casa she had organised for us as she was full. 5 minutes walk away and we had the pick of 2 lovely airy rooms on a quiet street opposite the Habana Libre where we made ourselves comfortable before ringing the number David and Delphina had given us. This was when the fun started, the lady on the other end I dont think understood me very well nor I her so we ended up with a dead line after a few minutes of waiting, so we decided to walk down to Habana Vieja to see them as we also had their address. It was hot in Habana and after a sweaty 30 minutes walk we found the place just behind the Spanish restaurant where the Flamenco shows are, however they werent there. I could make out 2 things that she was trying to tell me in rapid Spanish (they dont speak slower if you dont understand, just louder!) 1 was Entrance to China town at 3.30 and the other something about change which I assumed was that they'd changed apartment when she gave me a different phone number. So it being about 2.45 we wandered over to China town to wait and see if we'd understood correctly. At 4.15 we gave it up as a bad job and decided to have a wander around to see the place again in its now cleaner, fresher "Tourist" colours (all the flags were flying as well as fountains working and a complete change of horses for ones that actually looked alive!). We found our favourite cake shop and treated ourselves before deciding we'd walk back to our casa and try ringing the new number from there, as we were passing Hotel Telegrafo an excited cry caught our attention as Delphina stood up waving at us from where she and David were having a drink! Thank goodness, because I hadnt fancied trying to call someone else and explain in Spanish who I was looking for!! We joined them for a drink and they told us about the nightmare they'd had trying to get a room but how in the end an Italian who had a casa in town had found them somewhere to stay. Having had bad experiences with the cheap spaghetti the Cubans serve here they had asked him if he cooked Italian food, especially spaghetti Al Dente (not like the mush the Cubans cook), to which he replied of course and so they had arranged to eat there this evening and asked if we wanted to join them too providing it was ok with the chef. Of course we weren't about to turn down the chance of eating something with real flavour and possibly cheese and or garlic so we all went to see if he could cook enough for 2 more. It turns out this was fine and with an hour to kill before dinner time we showed David and Delphina down the main pedestrian street right to the fort before the malecon before heading back. The food was absolutely devine and was more than we could possibly eat, though we all gave it a good go before admitting defeat, also Enrique (the Italian) and his wife were absolutely charming with a really warm, welcoming manner and laughter always on their lips. We finished our meal with some tasty coffee before agreeing to come back the next night to join their family and friends in celebrating New Years Eve with a party on the rooftops! Feeling very full and rather tired after a long day we made our ways home to bed.

31st December

New Year Cannons.

We met David and Delphina around 10 at their casa for a 2 hour salsa lesson where we corrected some flaws we saw and taught them some new moves. After this we agreed to take them on a tour of the city. We took them round Old Havana showing them the Plaza Vieja, the Malecon, the Convent square, the cathedral square (which was closed for a New Years eve dinner costing $50 per person) and a few other things along the way. It was then time to get ready for the party that evening, after showering, getting changed and walking back to meet David and Delfina we just had time to grab some rum and catch a taxi over to Enrique's where the party was already in full swing with about 20-30 people crammed into a tiny room al drinking and chatting. We had New Year's dinner consisting of pork, red snapper, salad, bean soup, rice and yuca(nom). Once we were all sufficiently stuffed we continued partying until almost midnight when all the tourists at the party (about 10 of us) decide we would walk down to the malecon where they let off cannons at midnight to celebrate new year. Although nowhere near as spectacular as the fireworks elsewhere, the cannons themselves are quite impressive with the amount of noise they generate!! We continued to drink until about 1:30 when we decided to part ways and head home to bed. A fairly quiet new year all things considered but after Remedios at Christmas we didn't really mind.

1st January

Revisiting Havana

We got up quite late today around 12 o'clock and decided we should try to get on the internet and check if our flights had been changed. We walked into old Havana making an important detour to see if the chocolate shop was open! (It was but they had no small chocolates as they had been closed the day before!.) We then tried to find somewhere where our Etecsa card would work but oddly this proved impossible as it didn't work in any of the Hotels and the actual Etecsa office dosen't have any computers!! Feeling slightly frustrated we started walking back to the casa, but as we were passing the Telegrafo hotel we spotted David and Delphina having a coffee and decided to stop for a chat. After telling them about our problems with the internet they informed us that they were having similar problems with some phone cards that they bought in Santiago which also seem not to work in Havana!! When they had finished their drinks we thought it about time to get something to eat, however since it was New Year's day all the reasonably priced places to eat were closed and we spent about 2 hours looking for somewhere before we gave up and had to go to a cafe where they ordered a Pizza each, we decided not to have anything when the waiter informed us that not only was it expensive to start with, he also 'didn't have' the cheaper things on the menu!! After their nice but quite pricey pizza we agreed to meet up again around 8 and they went back to their casa for a rest while we decided to walk down to china town for some dinner (it should tell you everything you need to know about cuban food that on our last night we went for chinese!!) We went straight to Chuchillo where we were immediately attacked by waiters trying to make us look at their menu! After turning down a couple we eventually found a place serving a set meal for a reasonable price and order one each. Once again the food was lovely and there was plenty of it despite the warning from the waitress that you got less with the set meals. We finished our meals and just had time to walk back into town to meet back up with David and Delfina at 8 o'clock. They had fallen in love with the old Plaza so we walked that way and decided to have a beer tower between the 4 of us while they also ordered a burger each. We sat drinking and talking for the rest of the evening and headed back to the casa around midnight.

2nd January

Bye bye Cuba

After we had packed our bags we found that we still had a few hours before we needed to catch a taxi to the airport. Mae insisted that we go to the same place for pizza as we had found one yesterday, which just happens to be just down the street from the chocolate shop which we of course had to visit!! As we arrived at the mall we found that today all the shops were open and we spent an hour or so looking for a small coffee maker but with no luck. We grabbed a few chocolates and sat outside eating them and people watching until it was time to leave. We managed to catch a taxi to the airport for $5 less that we thought it would be and checked in with little trouble. However when we went through immigration the lady at the desk didn't give Mae a stamp even though she asked for one, she was not very pleased about this especially as the same lady had stamped mine! We bummed around the airport until our flight was boarding, despite not being registered as such on the terminal boards, but being Cuba that means nothing! We then spent the rest of the day sitting on air planes with a brief stop over in Panama just long enough to get a coffee before boarding our next flight to Chile!