Showing posts with label Varadero. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Varadero. Show all posts

May 7, 2013

An exercise in Cuban carelessness - Trinidad and the last days (Part 9)

On the next day, we head to Trinidad, which is one of the best preserved cities in the Caribbean, from the time when the sugar trade was the main industry in the region and is under the auspices of UNESCO. While we are searching for a place to park the van, a guy with a sign "official parking" comes to us and tells us to park next to the near pavement, for some pesos, of course.
Official parking

Mar 29, 2013

An exercise in Cuban carelessness - Varadero (Part 1)


Welcome. Have fun, whatever happens

In 2007, I and four friends of mine decide to organize a dreamed trip to Cuba. In December 2008 our dream adventure come true.

We pass the document check and although nobody is returned, our whole group has returned back, back to bygone times. But we are not alone, every step we take will be closely watched by Che and Fidel, following us from t-shirts, key-chains, billboards and street graffiti. That's why we boldly get lost into this unknown place, exposing us to a moderate dose of communism, retro cars, colonial buildings and endless tranquility.

We get accommodated at the hotel and afterwards go out for a bite. Everything looks rather old, there are abandoned buildings everywhere, and it should be the most glamorous Cuban resort. Time has stopped many decades before we arrive, but this is the main reason to come here, in the first place. Finally, we find a working ... thing and order five Cuba Libres, what else. The proportion of the cocktail ingredients is seriously messed up and we get kicked in the heads by way of welcome. Unfortunately, we don't have a clue that the situation with the cocktails (with little exceptions) won't change for better during the rest of our trip. The food that we get is of the same quality as the drinks. 
Sleepy Varadero
A view from above of the still sleepy Varadero and its early risers.