I'd finally landed in Havana. As I stood in a queue (the first of many) to exchange money, the reality of it all hit me. Day one of seven months. Scary. Nothing much to tell here - straight back to the hostel, a couple of beers and bed! Unfortunately they wouldn't accept my card at the airport, which meant that I had to hit the streets to find somewhere that would. I didn't have a map so armed with a few vague directions from other travellers and my man radar, I set about the streets of Centro Havana. I walked the entire morning, down streets lined with quaint little houses. These were all provided by the government. They were tiny and in desperate need of repair, but what stood out were the colours; blues, pinks, greens, reds, the list goes on. The people here are poor. There is no doubting that - an experienced doctor earns around CUC 40 per month (that equates to about £25), but still it's a vibrant place - as I kept walking I could hear salsa/rumba/reggaeton blaring out from the houses and even saw a few people taking in their first dose of Havana Club rum (this was before 10!) I queued at several places, each time hearing the phrase 'ultimo?' (who's last in the queue?) over and over again. The Cubans are a patient bunch. They have two currencies here - CUC (convertible pesos) and Nacionalidad (1CUC=24 Nacionalidad - the latter really goes a long way). To convert one to the other, most people will generally have to queue for at least 40mins, and this applies to the tourists too. Having finally got my money out, I walked along the seafront (Malécon), where I stopped off at the Hotel Nacional for a mojito and a view of the city. Havana has numerous hole in the wall snack shops, which usually sell a very basic sandwich with a couple of slices of ham and some cheese. I tended to eat at these as they were cheap and the 'restaurants' often didn't have the necessary supplies to make something that warranted their prices. The evening meant one thing. The bar at the Casa (short for Casa Particulares - this is basically someone's house - I was at Rolando's which was large and much more like a hostel) for one of Leo's (the barman - absolute legend) 'supermojitos'. I met a good bunch of people there that night and we headed out. First we went out to La Floridita. This was a regular haunt for Ernest Hemingway and the home of the Daiqiri. I wouldn't say I was blown away, but it was worth a visit for the live music. We ventured towards the Casa de Musica but there was a huge queue and several people had mentioned that a night here mainly involved gettin propositioned by prostitutes every few minutes. Instead, we went to a street bar, where we stayed for the rest of the night. The following morning I took a quick stroll to Hotel Parque Central, the city's most swanky hotel, as I'd heard it was the best for internet- CUC 8 /hr you'd bloody hope so. Afterwards, myself and a Mexican bloke called Francisco took a local bus for a 35 minute journey (which cost 1 peso, equivalent to 6p) to Viazul station (the main inter-city bus company) as he was leaving and I needed to buy my ticket for Viñales. I decided to walk back from there, taking in the city's giant cemetary and Plaza de la Revolucion, which was the scene of many of Ché/Fidel's public addresses. The Plaza is effectively a giant car park with a large monument dedicated to Jose Marti, and a couple of buildings with large pictures of Ché/Fidel on the side. On my way back to the Casa I stopped off at a small bar for a Cristal (popular local beer) and had a chat with the owner. He talked at length about all the reasons he loved Cuba but the frusration of not being able to leave the country to see the outside world. I struggled with Cuban Spanish as they have some strange habits (eg not pronouncing the 's' in some words) but once I'd asked him to slow down it was easier going. I walked for about 90mins before I reached the old town. Here I saw numerous Plazas - Plaza Vieja, Plaza de las Armas and Plaza de la Catedral. I stopped in each place for a while, taking in the live music, before walking the other end of the Malécon past an old Fort and lighthouse. Back at the Casa, some new faces joined the old and we bought a couple of bottles of rum, local coca cola (Tukola) and some beers before heading to the Malécon. Had a fantastic night talking to fellow travellers and locals alike. I decided to stay an extra day, so on Thursday I went to the beach with a Belgian girl from the Casa (interesting character - she was in Cuba to do voluntary work and have boxing lessons!). Luckily her Spanish was excellent and we got a half decent deal on a cab to go to the Playas del Este (Eastern beaches) about 25mins out of Havana. The water was incredible. Crystal clear and warm! We spent two hours there before heading back to Havana in an old-school (c. 1950s) cab, listening to reggaeton along the way. Unfortunately Rolando's was fully booked that night, but they kindly ound another Casa nearby for me. I walked in to a small house and was shown the bedroom, with a double bed, at which point I was told I would have to share it with a random Swedish girl. It certainly made for an awkward few hours before my early bus to Viñales the next morning!