As we only had 3 days to spare before jetting to Belfast for a big farewell and a final pack-up, our visit to Cuba was far too fleeting and our observations of this enthralling and complicated country are going to be somewhat limited! Given that we had our dose of Caribbean beaches and countryside on our tour of Jamaica, we decided to stick to the capital city, Havana.
To us, visiting Havana was a bit like stepping into a time-warp. Being the communist state of the Caribbean and significantly crippled by the US trade embargo, many characteristics of Havana seem frozen in the past – the classic American cars, horse-drawn carriages, colonial Spanish and Art Deco architecture, dudes with moustaches smoking cigars and locals hanging out on their nineteenth-century doorsteps.
While it was easy to get immersed in this “oldy worldy” vibe (not to mention the Latin music, dance, art and mojitos!) the highly bureaucratic one-party state certainly gave this country an unfamiliar twist (for example, the 2-hour rigmarole of getting a certificate from the government in order to be allowed to take a souvenir painting out of the country with us!).
Still, we have to admit there was something endearing about ending the “exotic travel” part of our trip in a city where the words “hustle and bustle” are simply not part of the vocabulary.
To us, visiting Havana was a bit like stepping into a time-warp. Being the communist state of the Caribbean and significantly crippled by the US trade embargo, many characteristics of Havana seem frozen in the past – the classic American cars, horse-drawn carriages, colonial Spanish and Art Deco architecture, dudes with moustaches smoking cigars and locals hanging out on their nineteenth-century doorsteps. 
While it was easy to get immersed in this “oldy worldy” vibe (not to mention the Latin music, dance, art and mojitos!) the highly bureaucratic one-party state certainly gave this country an unfamiliar twist (for example, the 2-hour rigmarole of getting a certificate from the government in order to be allowed to take a souvenir painting out of the country with us!).
Still, we have to admit there was something endearing about ending the “exotic travel” part of our trip in a city where the words “hustle and bustle” are simply not part of the vocabulary. 
2 comments:
3 days!! Trying to keep up with you guys is exhausting enough. I hope you've allocated some serious R&R time when you get to Sydney....
"Dudes with moustaches, smoking cigars"...
You sure they weren't all doing Movember?
Dan looks disgusting at the moment - like a real p0rn star!!!
Bring on December...
Post a Comment