Spend your holiday in Cuba


Hello from Cuba (10) - A Country Excursion

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



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