the helen update: cuba #day4

day 4:

we awoke to some noises in the kitchen, and thought it might be sounds from next door, but lo and behold we discovered it was actually a woman in the kitchen cooking our breakfast. we enjoyed fresh fruit, fresh pineapple juice, a ham and cheese plate as well as scrambled eggs and toast... of course served with cuban coffee for tom and tea for me. I wondered if we could bring her home with us?????

the plan for the day was to head to the city of vinales and spend the night there. so off we went with yaniet and our driver ernestoche. it turned out that he was the same driver who picked us up at the airport! ernestoche was a man of few words who did not speak english, but we think he understands more than what he lets on. the drive to vinales was about 3 hours through the country side. things we noticed along the way:

- bikers - they are crazy to bike in this heat, some in pairs, but we did see one group of about 30 riding together!

- hitchhikers - this is very common and a way for people to get around in the country

- the roads are not too bad and the main highway is a 2 lane highway as we know it in the states

- at the one rest areas we stopped for a bathroom break, there were multiple big tour buses which we found odd since we didn’t realize there was so much tourism here. mostly french, canadian and asian, but now obviously more americans recently.

arriving in vinales we found it was a very rural town, nothing like havana and more comparable to a village with rows of low houses, most being casa particulares (bed and breakfasts). we dropped our bags at the casa we would be staying, met the homeowner named gladys and it was ‘quaint’ (I will leave it at that for now)

we headed directly to see the sights, starting with the caves, which had an hour wait and was packed with tourists. we told yaniet ‘we don’t do lines’ and she was laughing and said ‘thank goodness’ and we left to see the cigar farm. this was fun as we had a private tour with yasmani, the farmer who explained the farming method and showed us how he rolls the cigars, etc. I will mention again (and it’s a theme) it was so hot on that farm, the sweat was pouring off all of us, not just me!! wow. from there we to see a mountain which had a big mural painted on the face of it which was beautiful. for lunch, we experienced an authentic farm-to-table experience, dining on a hillside overlooking the valley where they just kept bringing food that was all from that very farm. tt really made the city farm-to-table restaurants seem like posers! we drove through the little ‘town’ using the term very loosely and when tom and I realized that we had pretty much seen what there was to see, we panicked a little about the rest of the afternoon/evening spent sitting in rocking chairs with grandma gladys, so we told yaniet that we would prefer to return to havana for the evening. I’m sure at that moment she put us in the category of crazy spoiled americans, but even she mentioned she does not like to stay there more than one night. to her credit, she was very gracious and did not show any sign of annoyance as she called hotels in havana to see where we might spend the night. we had many jokes about it with ernestoche (driver) who clearly is amused by us as well. after the long drive back to havana, we checked into yet another new place for the one night - hotel raquel - which was very nice. the furniture in the room was so old it was worn to the bone. we had a balcony overlooking the plaza, with the usual droves of people outside the hotel until all hours of the night with their kids in the streets while they used the hotel internet. but the best surprise was yet to come - the wifi actually reached our room!!! #heaven so I could post at least some photos and I thought I could post day 1 of this blog, but no such luck. the internet is pretty much equal to dial up at times, and it was just not going to happen. at that point, I figured it would have to be instagram in terms of communication to family and friends because for some reason, it worked easily.

we didn’t think we would even want dinner after that big lunch, but of course by 8 pm we were ready for something to eat so we checked out another place I had read about on line prior to the trip - Eso No Es Un Cafe (translation: this is not a cafe) – and had an amazing caribbean lobster on a quaint little street in a cozy outdoor cafe, therefore the opposite of what the name states :) lobster in the Caribbean is much different than what we have in the states – it has a wider tail and is much more tender. yummmmm. the cafe was located on a dead end street with a lot of "intrigue” in terms of the people in the area. we walked the streets a bit after dinner, enjoying the sights of the cuban evening.

additional points to mention:

- we were told to bring toilet paper, soap, etc, but we have not needed this stuff at all. all the casas, hotels and public bathrooms have this which is the opposite of what guidebooks and blogs have mentioned. probably due to the increase in tourism already,

- the hotels we stayed in so far all have shampoos and toiletries as you would expect in the usa, which was also surprising since the guidebooks mentioned over and over that this would not be the case

- if you have a tour guide, it is nice to have something special to give at the end of the trip so I’m really glad I packed some jewelry and clothing items to pass along

- in general, breakfast is included everywhere you stay - hotels or casas and they are always plentiful including fresh fruits and juices, as well as strong cuban coffee.

- I’m falling in love with havana and it’s amazing how my impression has already changed so much since day one. we were excited to get back to the city after a day away in the more rural section

- all the statues in havana have fences around them - we question yaniet about this and she says it keeps them from being vandalized and ruined, but prior to that mentioned the low crime rate, so we are duly confused

- lastly, it’s still hot and humid and we keep talking about it like it’s a new phenomenon which I find funny and this is why I need to keep mentioning it here :)