Our first night here on the island of youth (Isla de la Juventud) was an interesting expereince again... we walked around this lovely little port town of Nueva Gerona to find a newly restored pedestrian walkway in the heart of town. After finding a place for dinner, pizza tonight, we watched an altercation happening at a nearby table. Fists were flying, lots of yelling, people jumping up to help... The Policia eventually arrived... all over a lovers spat between 2 Cubans and the jealous boyfriend, as his girl hustled a tourist.
Regarding the open sexuality in Cuba... young girls already know how to excite the tourists to either get free drinks, free gifts, free sex and ultimately a marriage to take them away. Within minutes they attach themselves to someone and start cuddling, grinding, lap dancing... and so it goes.
**** Heat is 'catastrophic' here in this mountainous, lush island. It just explodes..instant sweat...
Our plan was to stay a few more days on this island then take the ferry back to the mainland (directly south of Havana) so we went to the ferry terminal to buy a ticket. The whole setup was very confusing for us with poor signage and directions along with hundreds of people lining up in random spots. So, Yvonne yelled out "Hablo Ingles?" As our experience continues to be, a woman stepped up to help us, immediately. She ended up taking
us to the front of the queue and translating for us. She found out that we could indeed take a plane directly to Havana (25 minutes) instead of a 5 hour ferry ride to the mainland and then several hours north by bus to Havana. Sold!!! We have found that whenever we truly need help, 'a guardian angel' always appears!
**** Heat is 'catastrophic' here in this mountainous, lush island. It just explodes..instant sweat...
Our plan was to stay a few more days on this island then take the ferry back to the mainland (directly south of Havana) so we went to the ferry terminal to buy a ticket. The whole setup was very confusing for us with poor signage and directions along with hundreds of people lining up in random spots. So, Yvonne yelled out "Hablo Ingles?" As our experience continues to be, a woman stepped up to help us, immediately. She ended up taking
us to the front of the queue and translating for us. She found out that we could indeed take a plane directly to Havana (25 minutes) instead of a 5 hour ferry ride to the mainland and then several hours north by bus to Havana. Sold!!! We have found that whenever we truly need help, 'a guardian angel' always appears!
So, later in the evening we grabbed our packs and took a taxi to the airport to fly to Havana. Our 'new' airport friend, phoned a recommended Casa for us once we arrived in Havana. Great! We took a 25 minute taxi ride to this beautiful colonial building with a terrific patio on the second floor.
The Ana Colonial outside and inside..
Many homes in Cuba are very long and narrow like this picture indicates, with rooms off the main walkway. Our bedroom was upstairs.
It turns out, our casa owner, Ana, was a child of the Revolution. She was an 11 year old girl in 1957 and ran messages for Fidel, Raul and Che in the mountains of their hideout...even her parents didn´t know...Ha...we got to touch the hand of someone who has touched Fidel. Cool!
Havana is a gorgeous, bustling, vibrant, noisy city. It is definitely a change from the more personal nature of
the residents in smaller towns. No one here wants to really talk to you, they just want your business, like every big city!
Havana is a gorgeous, bustling, vibrant, noisy city. It is definitely a change from the more personal nature of
the residents in smaller towns. No one here wants to really talk to you, they just want your business, like every big city!
A typical street scene with old cars everywhere.
A meat shop
Jose Marti Memorial in the Revolution Square
We really enjoyed the 2 1/2 hour on/off bus tour around Havana on an open air double decker bus. It is
well worth the time to see the entire city.
Ciao!
Yvonne y Shayne
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