Casa Pablo Rodriguez Havana

... to a Cuban national hero in the war of independence against Spain and a key figure in Latin American literature. We waited for the next bus and caught it to the University, which is a beautiful series of stone buildings. We wandered through to the courtyard which hosts one of Fidel Castro's tanks. Heading to the bus stop again, we realised that we were literally just up the road from our casa, and could have walked to the university! We took the next bus along the ...

... which you fall asleep and wake up to and hear all day long, other commonly heard noises are ducks and roosters (kept on balconies), dogs (in the streets), engines being revved (a classic car is being tinkered with in every street) and lots of yelling. Lots. There's also this horrible hissing noise, almost like a loud "psst" that men use to get the attention of women. Often it feels like you are walking through a snake sanctuary ...

... There are no plastic bags though, or only available for sale in markets, never just handed out. My great point of pride is that I intuited this, and brought along my growing plastic bag collection rather than trash it, as I caught myself almost doing. Thus Communism has common cause with environmentalism. They act like they have common cause with Palestine, but obviously that's only a case 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.' Remember Soviet Afghanistan.

... estar massa pendents d'altres guerres. Amb la independència de Spain es passa a dependre dels USA, lo qual no canvia massa la situació, però permet descansar a la població després de tants anys de guerres. Els cubans accepten totes les condicions, fins i tot la famosa "Emmienda Platt"(busqueu-ho o pregunteu-m'ho si us encurioseix prou). Tota aquesta situació és incòmoda per les forces que lluitaven per la completa independència de Cuba i que volen convèncer al poble de la ...

... ha not so, they are cigar ends. Once I had worked this out it made a huge difference to the "keep right", "keep left" instructions to Gill - so now there are hundreds of squashed ***** to confuse the next tourist even more. Lots to do - plenty of Mojitos to sample - always hoping the next one will be even more perfect - at least that was the excuse! Ready to meet the gang for fun and friendship - hope they have a GSOH.

We flew to Havana in a retro Cubana plane! At take off we had smoke start seeping in by our feet but were assured this is a regular occurence and nothing to worry about. We landed safely (complete with a mighty cheer) and went to our Casa Particular - a Cuban house where the family rent out a room to foreigners for extra cash. Our host family were very nice and eager to warn us about all the various cons which are played on gringos and ...

... friend's family heirlooms into my pocket with a wink. We caught a bicycle taxi home to avoid the typhoon-related rain and any more unsobering reality. We bargained the driver down to a fare that would keep his family fed for several days - on the assumption that he found any food. Despite this, he dropped us some blocks short to avoid being arrested for trafficking tourists. He insisted on giving us his book chronicling the history of communism. He looked relieved when we accepted it.

... and then a couple Mojitos (rum with mint) before we got to Plaza Vieja and ended up eating at the place I´d had lunch yesterday. Although the meat was old and probably reheated (the BBQ had shut down) it was very spicy and tasty!! We chatted about Astrid (I´d spent 2 hours listening to her about her bf troubles the other night), Star Wars and whatever. Wandered back towards the Lido but got another mojito in at the usual place on the way (and got kicked out at 12).

... really a city full of contrasts. You have the plush mansionettes in the Mirimar and Vedado regions, and next door you have the urban, run-down housing of Centro and Vieja Habana...where the the streets are littered and plagued by pot-holes....and where families of 2 or more generations live together as it is almost impossible to find or to afford more housing. You have people dancing in the streets, drinking rum at all hours and laughing...singing praises to Fidel...older ...

... church of francis of asisi, very nice (excellent church watch vic!) got photo conned again when i asked to go up the tower! luckily i had a 1CUC note on me this time! *bought some mangos, went home to chill for a bit * had an amble thru china town, stopped for a mojito in hotel ingleterra * was walking back to china town to get some tea when i tripped up and managed to pull half the sole of my flip flop off, so i was slapping around like a clown! (much to the ...