Casa Particular - Casa Fefita y Luis Havana

... fair walk away was the largest Che of them all, and it was on a building in front of the Plaza de la Revolucion. It's a huge square where 1.2 million Cubans watched Pope JP2 give a sermon. Across the road is the largest Josi Marti statue in this land. There was also a tower with a view, but for some reason, it was closed early, so we made our way back to the city.

Back in town, we did something that you can only do in Cuba. As we had ...

... rom, og smake saa mye vi ville. Men den skulle drikkes bar, slik den var ment! Etterpaa tok han oss med til en sjokolade-cafe, der de laget cubansk sjokolade i alle former og storrelser. Vi (jeg, lene, og to av de norske jentene) bestilte 4 smaa gitarer i mork sjokolade :) Resten av dagen brukte vi bare paa aa gaa rundt i gatene, ta bilde av de genialt kule bilene som kjorer rundt her, og bare ta inn innstrykkene Havana. Vi spiste paa en ...

... de vele oldtimers en oude lada's die in grote getalen heen en weer rijden (al dan niet als taxi) en de grotendeels vervallen panden langs de Malecon. Via het Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta doorgelopen naar Havana Vieja (het oude gedeelte). Hier zijn de panden wel prachtig gerenoveerd en veel van deze panden worden dan ook gebruikt als hotel. In het midden ligt het Parque Central dat een ...

... on s'ha canviat el gall per que no mirava prou per l'amo, o sigui, països on s'han resistit a l'imperialisme dels USA(i altres països sota la seva influència) i si han produït cops d'estat o bé una intervenció militar: -Patricio Lumumba, 1961 al Congo Belga. -Sylvanus Olimpio, 1963 a Togo. -Salvador Allende, 1973 a Xile. -1965 a Santo Domingo. -Vietnam. -1961 a Cuba, on va fracassar. -1964 al Gabón per tornar el poder a León M'Ba. -Camerún per mantenir al poder a ...

... The new Korean standardmobiles and old American behemoths set the scene for contrasts. Cuba is a land chock full of contrasts. After a quick swim in the Saratoga's rooftop pool (this place gets better and better), we went for a stroll. The block next to the Saratoga's was of a similar neo-colonial style, but this was falling ...

... room, "A Czech girl and she sick. Too much drink last night. She take shower now. I close door, OK?" I hear my door close and lock. OK I guess, I have a fridge full of beer, Bucanero, with a picture of a pirate on the can, so I wasn't worried. Below me, four stories down, in the dirt yard, there are chickens and goats. Parrots fly in and out of the trees. Mangy dogs are everywhere. The resident rooster would wake me every morning, a good thing since ...

... There was a good dessert list on the menu and when we ask, we are told there is only ice cream, although we can see different desserts being delivered to other tables. Declining we ask for the bill which arrives twenty minutes later. After sitting waiting for her for fifteen minutes I am fed up and go inside to the cashier. He ignores me for a while until, prompted by another waiter, he gives me my change. In the meantime someone has tipped the wink to our waitress, who comes ...

... grill where I had fajitas again! We said our goodbyes to the group in case we didn't see them in the morning and headed off to do some last minute shopping! Bed early for travel day again tomorrow! Saturday Got up early in Playa del Carmen and walked down to the beach for an early morning (7am swim); it was great, the water was so warm, like a thermal spring on the bottom particularly! Headed back to the hotel for a shower and final pack, said final goodbyes to all our ...

... and extinguished any hint of credibility to Cuba’s claim of the moral high ground in the diplomatic struggle against their near neighbour.

My head was heavy with contemplation. Despite its consistently bloody history of wars against colonial powers, the Cuba of today is an incredibly diverse place of ethnicities living together in what appears to be social harmony and equality, and the education, arts and health systems are the envy of the region ...

... those two days then I had in several courses prior to the trip. I remember sitting on the bus back to Varadero thinking to myself, I want to experience more. Meeting these incredible, new people, seeing their lifestyle and non materialistic attitude made me realize how different cultures can be and how much one can grow over just a couple of days in such an environment. The highlights of the time in Havana included some breath ...