When I left you yesterday, I was rapidly running out of time before heading out last night, so I’ll pick up with lunch yesterday. We were recommended a place called D’lirous by our guide which has continental styled food, but he did warn us that the portions are enormous, an interesting concept in a country that struggles to feed it’s population. Anyway, we had a mixed entree and shared one main meal between us. The waiter recommended a nice bottle of Chilean wine to go with it, but by the time the dessert arrived we did forget the rules and I ended up with a piece of Tiramisu big enough to sink a ship!
Following lunch, we took a walk down Calle Reina (Queen Street) which was the shopping district prior to the revolution. It had all the US brands up till that time including a Sears store. These days this area is in disrepair, however the restorations are starting to progress.
Additionally, on this street is the Catholic Cathedral. Religion has not been actively discouraged under Cuba’s version of communism so there are still some cathedrals around. Most are only opened in the mornings so it has been a little bit of challenge getting inside. The Havana Cathedral has magnificent stained glass, but is otherwise in keeping with the understated nature of religion in Cuba.
One of the last things I wanted to do was take some photos along the Malecon, which is the sea wall that one of Havana’s main streets run along. Given we couldn’t get out there this morning, we had the cab driver on our way back from picking up some ‘missing’ laundry from the Hotel Nacional, where ‘same day’ means ‘next day’ which really means in a few days. I hadn’t had much hope of actually getting my jeans back, but I guess there weren’t any 6’5″ cubans looking for a pair of jeans…. well actually there aren’t many 6’5″ Cubans (most are lucky to be 5’5″)
As in yesterday’s blog we were ten heading out at night to a reenactment of the ‘Buena Vista Social Club. During the 1950’s clubs sprung up everywhere tha played big band jazz music and people would dance salsa. One of Cuba’s great band leaders of the time was Benny More and he played and sang in in these clubs. He had a short life, dying on Cirrhosis of the liver and alcoholism at the age of 43. The show recreated his sound and they encouraged salsa dancing to the show. We had a great meal, a few Mohitos and a bit of a dance.
With that, our Cuba leg of the tour was over. We had to be up by 3 AM to catch our flight to Mexico. This flight was with Interjet, a discount operator in the Carribean, so as we took off I plugged my headphones in and as we went through the cloud the aircraft rattled in the turbulence as my playlist hit the BeeGees ‘Staying Alive’. This was the first flight I’d boarded in years, where a passenger asked if they could photograph their girlfriend in the cockpit prior to take off. One other thing I have noticed here is the complete disregard for mobile phone rules, with people making phone calls mid-flight. I think the industry probably needs to decided if this is a battle they want to continue with.
Anyway we arrived safely in Cancun and met our lift to Tulum. The resort here is very comfortable and although it’s ‘fully-inclusive’ there are still lots of things to spend money on. There are lots of Americans here, but the views are magnificent and the food and drinks (as long as you want Pina Coladas and Mohitos) are included.
I did have one of those days when a few little things didn’t go to plan… like Cuban Rum leaking in my suitcase and my glasses case breaking, but those view make up for the little mishaps. A Teppenyaki dinner rounded out the day nicely.
To wrap up Cuba, it was really interesting to understand what Fidel Castro and Che Guevara brought to the country. At the time they took over Cuba had segregation, racism and (largely American) organised crime. Most of these have now much reduced, but challenges like wages / prices remain. The food was not all that interesting, but the people are wonderful. Cuba is a highly recommended destination… it is our tourist dollars that is funding the restoration and the small businesses that are the prime-movers of their economy. Lastly, Latin American Tours who provided our guides were excellent.
Until Tomorrow!
Rob's "Beats Working" Blog 