Cuba Scuba

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Since we enjoyed the first day of scuba diving so much, we opt for the second day with lots of diving for the family. Everybody is enjoying it. We are here for scuba, or as K said, we are here for Cuba diving.

By now, we got familiar with the village - we have our breakfast spot, our lunch spot, our dinner spot, and our shopping spot. 

In the afternoon, we were so tired that the whole family fell asleep on the beach under a palm tree. 

Cienfuegos

Friday, December 30, 2016

Time to move to the next destination. Cienfuegos is a UNESCO world heritage site, a beautiful French colonial town.

We have to pay everything in cash, and by now we are low on money. There is no way to get hands on our money. We are exploring if we can get money transfer with Western Union. There is no budget for souvenirs, which is pity, since there are so many nice art works and T-shirts, not to mention cigars and rum.

A Walk through Cienfuegos

Saturday, December 31, 2016
We are exploring the beautiful Cienfuegos. This is the Gallic hart of Cuba, a Creole city with beautiful colonial architecture, squares, walkaways, buildings and parks.

We visited the cemetery Rosario, where the dead are buried above the ground due to high water level.  Our host told us that bodies can be heard floating at high tide (we did not wait for that).  

We walked through the city to Punta Gorda, and to Plaza Jose Martinez.

A Trip to Havana

Sunday, January 1, 2017

We need to move to Havana, our last destination, but all bus tickets are sold out (we found this out when we arrived to Cienfuegos).

We cannot find a taxi driver to bring us there – they would much rather celebrate. Our kind host helps us out again and organizes a transportation.  We (over)pay the taxi, but we reach Havana and our apartment in the old city.

Habana Vieja

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Habana Vieja, the old city of Havana, is beautiful.  I cannot decide if it looks more like an Italian city, or like a Mexican city. Still, it is distinctly unique. Old Havana is also a UNESCO city, and there is a lot of restoration work around the city.

Cuban cuisine is built on rice and beans and meat. There are virtually no vegetables, and by now even the kids started to miss them, and ask for them (S purchased a celery as soon we returned to NY).