| After my walk through the Vedado neighbourhood, | | | | Toronto's fine restaurants and we decided to head |
| my friend Pedro came to pick me up since I had | | | | back to the Barrio Chino since they also serve |
| suggested a little excursion with a rental car to get | | | | pasta.There we tried to park the rental car, but in |
| to know the countryside. His wife and sister-in-law | | | | doing so, we had a little encounter with the local |
| unfortunately coulnd't make it since their cousin was | | | | traffic police. They alleged that my friend was not |
| coming to town. La Habana can feel a little | | | | wearing his seatbelt (although he was) and they |
| claustrophobic since the transportation options are | | | | ended up giving him a fine of 10 local pesos (about |
| limited and even a basic taxi ride to the Eastern | | | | 40 Cents or so). Apparently it can happen very easily |
| Beaches (Playas del Este) is quite costly.And it's also | | | | that a local Cuban gets stopped and the police |
| nice to get away from the city, which can get rather | | | | impose a fine and there are not too many things you |
| congested and contaminated with car exhaust fumes | | | | can do.After a very filling pasta dinner (for less than |
| from all the old vehicles. I can't imagine what the air | | | | $7 for 2 people) we headed back to the hotel which |
| must be like here in the summer when it is 35, 40 | | | | is very close to the University. There was a big |
| degrees Celsius with 80, 90 percent humidity. All the | | | | concert on in front of the university's steps and |
| locals talk about the extreme heat in the summer | | | | there were thousands and thousands of young |
| and it's better to visit outside of the months of June | | | | people singing and chanting to the sound of a pretty |
| to September, even October.In addition, August and | | | | famous Cuban pop group ("Moneda Dura") which |
| September are very prone to hurricanes which are | | | | plays very popular music for young people with |
| an additional complication, that's why many buildings | | | | sociocritical undertones. The atmosphere among the |
| have crosses of thick adhesive tape attached to the | | | | people, singing and dancing in the street, was |
| glass. The tape prevents the glass from shattering | | | | amazing. I ended up heading to bed at about 12 or so |
| when the hurricanes hit town.Renting a car is always | | | | and the music from the concert stopped at about |
| an interesting experience. I rented a small skoda at | | | | 12:20 am and the huge crowd dispersed.Early this |
| the Hotel Havana Libre for about $46CUC for 24 | | | | morning I awoke to the smell of exhaust fumes from |
| hours. If there were no damages and the gas tank | | | | some of the buses and old cars passing through. |
| was full upon return, there would be an additional | | | | Since I had to take the rental car back at 11 am |
| $30CUC for the insurance and an additional driver. | | | | today, my friend came to the hotel early and we |
| Being in the rental car felt strangly liberating because | | | | decided to visit the area of Miramar, also called |
| all of a sudden it was possible to overcome all the | | | | "Playas" on the western side of Havana, past the Rio |
| limitations of Havana's public transport and you could | | | | Almendares. Miramar is a very upscale area with |
| go where you wanted.My friend Pedro is an | | | | many foreign embassies, upscale hotels and congress |
| experienced driver and loves driving, so he drove and | | | | centres. "Marina Hemingway", a nautical centre with |
| off we went eastwards along the coast. We passed | | | | canals, boats slips for yachts and private residences, |
| by Cojimar, Playas de Este, Playa Guanabo and | | | | is also located in Miramar.It is so strange, but Miramar |
| stopped at the Puente Bacunayagua bridge which | | | | actually reminded me a bit of Fort Lauderdale. In |
| forms the border between the provinces of La | | | | general, Miramar, due to its more modern |
| Habana and Matanzas. The bridge is more than 100 m | | | | architecture, some of which is in very good condition, |
| high and the view extends through forests to the | | | | reminded me quite a bit of Florida. We visited a public |
| ocean in the north and inland there is a valley with | | | | sandy beach in Miramar which is surrounded by a |
| lush vegetation (Valle de Yumuri) with a chain of | | | | range of public recreational buildings, most of which |
| medium-size mountains in the background. At the | | | | have been abandoned and are in dire condition due to |
| bridge there is a little basic restaurant and a shop for | | | | the lack of public funds for upkeep. It is a real shame |
| tourists and we stopped for an hour or so. We also | | | | to see so much of the beautiful architecture around |
| saw a really oversized iguana, apparently it was the | | | | here collapsing and my professor said that in the |
| offspring of the mother iguana which apparently is | | | | future it may be cheaper to tear down a lot of the |
| twice the size. The animal must have been almost 10, | | | | old architecture and rebuild from scratch than to try |
| 15 inches long, including tail.We then proceeded | | | | to preserve the old architecture, particularly in Habana |
| eastwards, past Santa Cruz del Mar, where there is a | | | | Vieja.As I had to return the rental car at 11 am |
| big rum factory, to Matanzas, the capital of the | | | | today, we filled up the tank and although we had |
| province of the same name. We just took a little | | | | only gone about 250 km, the cost of the gasoline |
| drive around town and didn't stop, but the town has | | | | was $36 CUC (which is equivalent to about Can$45 |
| a couple of nice squares with monuments and | | | | or so), which was quite a bit more than I had |
| statues. The architecture is definitely much less | | | | expected. We took a brief tour through Nuevo |
| stunning than in La Habana. After Matanzas we drove | | | | Vedado, then past the Centro de Deporte Nacional, |
| inland to a small mountaineous area called "Escaleras | | | | past the Comite Central (the Cuban government) and |
| de Jaruco", from where we had a beautiful view | | | | punctually returned the car at 11 am without any |
| inland and towards the sea.On the way back we | | | | problems.This afternoon I have been invited by my |
| briefly stopped at Playas del Este to capture the | | | | friend to come and meet his family at a private |
| sunset and then we headed off towards Cojimar, a | | | | dinner. I am really looking forward to the experience |
| town famous for its connection to Ernest | | | | of spending time with a Cuban family and from what |
| Hemingway. The town apparently still houses a very | | | | I have experienced so far, Cuban hospitality is truly |
| old man who was the inspiration for the novel "The | | | | amazing. I'll try to pick up a few flowers from the |
| Old Man and the Sea". Apparently the old man is still | | | | market and bring along some of the Canadian |
| alive, probably around 100 years old or so and he | | | | souvenirs that I brought from Toronto to reciprocate |
| used to receive visitors (for a small fee), but his | | | | the favour. It'll be interesting to see Cuban life from |
| health has deteriorated over the last few years and | | | | inside a Cuban home...Susanne Pacher is the publisher |
| he no longer receives visitors. We wanted to have a | | | | of a website called Travel and Transitions( Travel and |
| nice dinner in a Paladar in Cojimar, but one was | | | | Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is |
| completely full, and the other one so expensive that | | | | chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, |
| we decided to continue on.After our arrival back in La | | | | interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights |
| Havana we decided to go to a pizzeria near the | | | | and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and |
| Parque Central since I had a real craving for pasta. | | | | many other features. You will also find stories about |
| The food here can get a bit monotonous and I love | | | | life and the transitions that we face as we go |
| Italian food, so we headed into a freezing, | | | | through our own personal life-long journeys.Submit |
| over-air-conditioned pizza parlour, where they had | | | | your own travel stories in our first travel story |
| just run out of spagetthi. We tried another upscale | | | | contest( and have a chance to win an amazing |
| Italian restaurant on the other side of the square, but | | | | adventure cruise on the Amazon River. |
| it had prices that were higher than in some of | | | | |