Cuba Travelogue January 2010

¡ Viva Cuba !

Sunday 10th January 2010

If we thought yesterday was a wash out today was even worse!

The wind was still howling, the rain was still falling heavily. We weren't finding it so funny either.

After a tasty breakfast of hot scotch pancakes with honey we found a cafe called the Cigar Bar where we enjoyed the best coffee so far in Cuba, great flavour and piping hot.

The cafe itself was also nice and warm and there wasn't any cigar smoke so we stayed a while before moving on to the nearby Piano Bar for another round of warm beverages. It was mint tea this time.

After another drink in the lobby bar we returned to our room mostly for the comfort of using our toilet.

We were greeted by a pair of swans swimming up river along our beds. The maid's towel origami had stepped up to a whole new level.

We wondered what was in store for us tomorrow? Fidel Castro's tank ploughing down the sand dunes towards the Bay of Pigs?

We relaxed in our "living room" space and listened a new rumba CD we had just bought form the resort's souvenir shop. For an hour we lazed about whilst the music played remarkably similar songs. It took me the hour before I realised all the songs began with a triumphant "Rebelde Mundo!"

When I checked the CD player the first song had been playing on repeat for all that time! I felt such an donkey.

This afternoon became pretty much a repeat of the morning.

It began with lunch at the Buffet Hall which was almost unbareable as the whole resort had turned up.

There wasn't a spare chair in the house and the scrum at the pizza food station was frightening. People were actually pushing and shoving each other out of the way.

We moved on to the Cigar Bar then the Piano Bar followed by a game of Ping-Pong before moving on to the Lobby Bar and back to our room. This time drinking rum cocktails instead of tea and coffee.

After our afternoon siesta we were ready for round three.

Starting at the Bamboo Oriental restaurant we had a tasty meal in a really nice setting. My only option was the vegetable chop suey side dish doubled up to be a main course and it wasn't half bad.

We moved on to the Piano Bar where they had a pianist playing smooth tunes.

Again the novelty of walking up to the bar and not paying for our drinks was such a thrill we just had to keep on repeating it.

The entertainment was actually entertaining here so we settled in for the remainder of the evening.

It must have been almost one in the morning when we decided that it would probably be a good idea to stop getting free refills and head back to Guantanamo.

Today had been a complete write off. The worst day of bad weather we've ever had whilst away on a vacation.

Yet despite the relentless rain we had quite an enjoyable day in each others company.

Next day >>>