Because we had a long drive to our destination, we got a
little earlier start to our day. We had
breakfast again in the large communal dining hall, the typical omelet with
cheese and ham (jamon), rotating fruit (depending on when you arrived) and
little pancakes with honey. Some of the
other items available were not all that appetizing like the hotdogs cut into
small pieces or the vegetables. There
was plenty to eat even if plates were not always available.
To get more of a feel for the Cuban countryside we took a
northern route that avoided the major highway to Havana. Our bus driver said in all his years of
driving he had never been on this route.
Leave it to Doug to get off the beaten path. The countryside was littered with small,
square, brightly painted houses with laundry hanging on lines somewhere in the
yard. Chickens and dogs roamed the yards.
The road was rough in areas and none of it as nicely paved
as well as the major highway. Our bus
developed creaks and rattles as the trip progressed. About midafternoon our guides started looking
for a lunch stop since we would not arrive into Havana until dinnertime. We drove through the largest town we had been
in which looked like our best opportunity.
Most of the eating establishments were small, bar like affairs which
could not accommodate our size group.
One restaurant towards the outskirts of town seemed to be our best
option.
Since this town was located right on the Caribbean,
seafood was the specialty of the house.
I think the majority of our group ordered lobster for $12. They were split and grilled and were
huge! This was perhaps the best lobster of
the trip. Paper products are in short
supply many places, so this restaurant used several squares of toilet paper for
our napkins. This was definitely a first
and hopefully last experience for me.
Another feature of the restaurant was the attractive
waitress. Unlike most of her fellow
countrymen she was blond and said she enjoyed having her picture taken. At the end of the meal she agreed to a little
photo shoot with a Cuban flag Doug had brought along.
We had to stop at a hotel on the edge of Havana to get
vouchers for our accommodations. This
place was beautiful with a lazy river pool and views over the ocean. It also goes for $400-$500 a night. We convinced ourselves that we wanted to
experience the ‘real’ Cuba and continued on down the road.
We were staying in casa particulars (rooms rented in
residences) in the Vedado section of Havana.
This is not the typical tourist section of the city. We were all within a couple of block area of
each other (at the intersection of K and 25, not very creative on street
names). Our casa was on the busier L
Street with large windows overlooking the street activity. We had a private bathroom, a refrigerator and
a bed. Adjoining our room was a small
living room and a separate dining area where we would have breakfast. An Australian also shared the common space
with us although we did not see him during our stay. Marie was our hostess and her 90 something
year old mother also lived there.
On the corner was a nice little Italian restaurant
willing to rearrange tables for our group.
Cibo had a good variety of dishes and was some of the better food we had
eaten on the trip. After our long
journey we were all ready to turn in for the evening.
Tomorrow: The Sites of the City
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