There and back again…

I had a quite a relaxed start this morning. My plan was to head over to the Hotel Serville which is an expensive hotel in the old town. This was were Al Capone based the mobs activities renting out the whole 6th floor. It was also the location for the biggest meeting of mafia boses under the guise of a Frank Sinatra concert. I had breakfast in the dining room on the 9th floor which was expensive but the view were worth it and it was a good way to start my last day in Havana.

After breakfast and sorting out some emails and downloading my electronic version of the lonely planet for Guatemala I made my way down to the Museum of the Revolution. This was very informative museum with lots of info about the various conquests of cuba, from Columbus and the Spanish, through to the Cuban-American-Spanish war and the onto the revolution. Leaving the Museum of the Revolution I made my way for the Old Car Museum. This was a huge disappointment though. The was only a handful of cars from the turn of the century to 1950’s. However then did not appear to be well cared for and after the 1CUC admission they wanted a further 2CUC for photos. I wouldn’t bother with this museum. You can see much preserved cars from 1950’s on the street.

I had a late lunch at the UNSECO square at the restaurant I’d been to a few weeks ago with the swiss and then slowly made my way back to the casa I was staying in and packed my bags. It was only a short walk from the casa to the Casa de la Musica. It was great to see Eme, Andrea and Arianne again and we had a good time.

We then made our way to China Town to get something to eat. The meal was OK, after the meal the bill came and everyone put in their money but when I counted it we were significantly short of the final bill. Something didn’t feel right so I actually added up the bill again. The restaurant had tried to add a 30% tip onto the bill! They probably thought that we would take the final total and divide equally between the number of people and not that each person would pay for there own. Adding the items on the bill and allowing a 10% service charge the amount that everyone had put in was spot on. Was it an innocent mistake? Unfortunately I don’t think so.

We then had a debate about where we should go afterwards and in the end we ended up at Café Cantante. I had two options – either party through to 4:00am and then go back and pick up my bags or stay for a while and then head back and try to get a few hours sleep. Though I was highly tempted to stay out all night, in the end I just had to get some sleep. So I left around 1:00am to get some sleep before the taxi was due at 4:30am

Had a good breakfast around 9:00 and then it was my plan to head into town to the tobacco museum first and then onto some other sites. When I eventually got to the museum they were closing in half an hour and I had to buy the tickets to the official havantours agency in town. So I went to the Boxcar museum on the outskirts of town. This museum is on the site of one of the iconic battles of the revolution. A boxcar carrying troops and muntions was derailed and captured by the revolutionary forces, masterminded by Che Guevara. I’m not reached this stage in the dairy but I believe that the victory in Santa Clara was the sign of defeat for the Bastina forces.

After the boxcar museum I went to the casa de la ciduad. This is where the local art is exhibited. It was OK, but nothing special, I guess the best stuff must get exhibited in Habana. I then walked back through the central square and read for a while before walking across the square to the hotel Santa Clara libre where there are still bullet scares across the top of the façade marking one the last battles of the revolution. There is a really nice bar on top of the hotel. Well actually the bar isn’t that special, but the roof terrace has a great view of the city and the surrounding area.

After killing enough time I wandered back to the Havantours and bought a ticket to the tobacco factory. The tobacco factory in Santa Clara is supposed to be one of the best in cuba. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take photographs, presumably because people would then realise that the cigars they are paying a fortune for in the UK and US are being made in a chicken factory style by people who probably earn less than 300 NP per month. It was really interesting and informative tour though. One of the most striking things for me though was that this factory, like the others in cuba, manufacture all the major brands. So someone making montecristo will be working next to someone manufacturing romeo & julliet. It would be like going to a brewery that made Heiniken and Carlsberg. The other thing is that the cigar business is effectively run by Raul Castro who has a monopoly on the production of the goods. If this system of government ever does collapse these so-called heros of the people stand to make a fortune.

The process is fairly straightforward, but it takes months for someone to be sufficiently trained to do the work as the skill and speed at which they work is amazing. The factory produced 30000 cigars per day and have around 150 people working. A Cigar is made from 5 leaves. The first 3 are for taste, aroma and are selected by age, type and drying process. These are wrapped together with a binding leaf and placed in a press for ½ hour. After which the wrapper is applied. This is another leaf that is very soft and supple and has hardly any taste. The wrapper is applied using a natural resin that comes from Canada! After this all cigars are quality tested to ensure porosity. The reading is very strict and if a cigar is too low (below 40) then it is too loosely rolled. To high (above 80) and the cigar will be impossible to draw air through. After this all cigars pass to another area where they are sorted by size, colour (there are over 80 different shades) and shape to ensure that when you open the box they all look the same. The whole process is handmade.

After the cigar factory I walked back to the casa particular to pick up my bags. I caught a horse taxi bag to the Vizul station. I agreed a price of 3CUC which is what Arno said his casa owner had arranged the previous day. It was obvious though that he wasn’t licensed to take tourists as he stuck to all the back street to get to the station without touching any of the main roads. He then dropped me of around the corner from the station. This is a very common practise and all the knock off carriages were lined up in the same place.

I dropped my bag at the station and then walked to the Che memorial. I’m only partially through the diary of Che Guevara, but I can’t help wondering what he would make of what has happened to his adopted country in the last 50 years, or was he so blinded by hatred of the US and what it represented that he had to become so fanatical and go to the opposite extreme. I don’t doubt that either Fidel or Che had their hearts in the right place. But what they have created is a society that still in poverty, oppressed and certainly not free.

The bus back to Habana was straight forward. There are lots of taxi driving offering taxi rides back to Habana for around the same price and quicker. So if there was more that one this may be tempting. However I am not confined of the security of these taxis and I have hear of people being pulled over by armed gangs.

Because this was a longer journey than the others the bus was showing videos. Both sets of videos – Bean and Just for Laughs were interesting because there was no dialogue an therefore no misunderstanding of jokes, but the reaction from every nationality on the bus was the same – laughter. One of the universal human traits you can share no matter of religion, politics or any other division.

The bus arrived back at Habana around 9:30pm and I caught a taxi into town. The first taxi driver wanted to charge me 10CUC but I wasn’t prepared to pay more than 5CUC. He walked away but the next guy agreed to it straight away. Elsbeth had given me the address of the casa she and Margaret had stayed at in the old town. I was taking a risk by just turning up. Unfortunately Emilio didn’t have room but he phoned around and got me sorted with another Casa in the same area, which is what I was hoping for. The Casa was two blocked from Emilios and even closer to the Cathedral. It was fairly basic but with huge rooms, hot water and a comfy bed which is all I needed.

The original plan was to meet up with Kate who was out in town with her boyfriend. Unfortunately by the time I got sorted with the casa and showered etc… she had to leave. I popped into the Hotel Florida in the hope of catching them there and bumped into on the Cuban guys (Damien) who we’d met during my time here. After this I walked down to the front to grab a beer and got chatting to a Cuban salsa singer. Managed to have a broken conversation which was good, but there is a huge need to improve.

The earache I had yesterday had not cleared this morning. It’s not serious but with flying in a few days there was no way I would risk making it worse or even risking injury so I had a nice lie in. Breakfast was nice and then I wandered up to the bus stop at the top of the road. I got talking to a local girl in broken Spanish whilst waiting for the bus. I can have fairly basic conversations but I really need to do more studying and revision of verbs and vocab. My plan was to catch the bus to the end of the headland and then get a ferry to Castillo de Jugar on the other side of the bay mouth and then get the ferry back to the city before catching a bus to Santa Clara. The local bus arrived roughly on time and then I managed to hop onto the ferry to get to the fort. The ferry conductor wanted 1CUC for passage across the bay. I only had a 3CUC note and he had no change so I offered him 24 NP which is roughly the same. He accepted this and then turned his back to put it in the collection box. It was so obvious he was palming the 20 NP note. It is this level of intrinsic dishonestly that leaves me a bit bitter about Cuba. The next ferry to Cienfuegos would leave at 3:00 which left me a good 3.5 hours which was too much. The Castillo was interesting I had a guide, but she only spoke Spanish. I think I understood some of her description of the history of the fort.

I sat and read at the fort for a while and then wandered down to the waters edge for a bit before catching the ferry back to the city. Whilst on the ferry a rain storm brewed up but it passed over before we arrived back at Cienfuegos, which was great as I could hike the 2km back to the bus station without getting wet. At the bus station there was two obvious sugar dadies (sex tourists) with their squeezes saying goodbye and heading to the next venue. Luckily it wasn’t Santa Clara which is where I was heading.

When I arrived the street hawkers were out in force and I have found so far the best way is to walk away from the station and then try to sort something out away from the action. With both rucsac on (the main pack ~ 25kg and the front pack ~10kg) it fairly heavy but not too bad and it fairly well balanced. The centre of town was 3km away and I’d hiked 2km the following day with no problems from the ferry to the bus station and I was prepared to walk into town to sort out something. A cycle taxi came up beside me and offered me 2CUC into town, and then a guy from a casa offered me a bed for 15CUC. He said that he was in the Lonely Planet and fairly close to the centre. The cycle taxi said he would take me to the casa so I hoped in and headed to the centre. I’ve really got to hand it to these cycle taxis. They must be super fit. With me and my rucsac there must have been close to 115kg, and the route wasn’t exactly flat, but he made it. Though at one point I almost got out and pushed. The casa was nice, but it was really no more that a spare room with a toilet & shower of a small lobby space. The family was very nice though. They offered me an evening meal, but I’d made plans to meet up with Arno who had arrived the previous day.

It was good to meet up again with friend in new places. We met at the corner of the main square. We ate in a restaurant called 1878. It was not great and even the guide book called it the best of a bad lot. The reason why the food is not great in Santa Clara is that the government had closed down all the private restaurants (like Bon Appetite in Mirarmar). There is no night life to speak of in Santa Clara, well not that we could find so we bought some beers at Rapedo and sat in the central square to drink them.

So I almost overslept. I woke first at 5:00 and then dropped of. My bus left at 7:30 and when I work it was 6:50 and I had slept through my alarm. Rushed around and got out the casa in around 20mins and then jogged to the bus station which luckily was only two blocks away, so arrived in good time. The coach was due to arrive just after 9. My original plan was to head straight for Rancho Luna which is on the entrance to the bay of Cienfuegos. The reason for doing this was because it is suppose to have some of the lesser tourist beaches and there was also the chance to do some SCUBA. However I had woken with a bit of a pain in my ear and I didn’t want to risk diving so I headed to Cienfuegos for the day with the intention of getting the local bus to Rancho Luna later in the day.

This plan worked out reasonably well. I left my big rucsac in the left luggage and set out to explore the town. There is really not much to see here! There is the main square which has impressive colonial architecture and a nice theatre. The square also has the only “Arco de Triunfo” to the war of independence.

There is a tower in the corner of the square which you could go up for the views, but this was closed. After the square I walked along Prado and the Malecon to Punto Gorda. This is a spit of land the juts into the bay and has some amazing baroque buildings. It would have been a nice walk except for the taxi drives, horse drivers and pedelos who continuously hassle you and won’t take no for an answer. This is one of the unfortunate sides of Cuba and also one of the most persistent.

I got a text from home saying that Cubana had confirmed that the flights would be cancelled this Friday. This was a bit of a blow as I was hoping that the with decreasing numbers of this flu they would have resumed flights. I was glad of the mobile, though it has probably cost me a fortunate. I could probably have argued for a change of flight instead of a canclation, but I would have to wait till Friday to do this. So I booked another flight to Guatemala City through Opodo and accepted the cancellation. I also phoned my insurance about whether they would cover the difference in the flight cost. Anyway its all settled and all being well I’ll the hell out of Dodge on Saturday.

I got back in time to get the local bus along the peninsula to Rancho Luna. I had asked at the information and was told that the bus I needed was 252 leaving at 3:30. Come 3:30 there was no 252 bus (they even wrote it down for me) but there was another 192 bus getting ready to leave. I asked if this was the one to Rancho Luna and was told yes so I squeezed on. Obviously numbers don’t really mean much!

It was an interesting feeling being a tourist on a packed obviously none tourist bus. Bus aside from the laughs at the huge bag I was carrying there was no problem and I arrived at the place where the Lonely planet had suggested for the Casa. The Casa in the lonely planet was full but I found another (Casa Ana) with no trouble.

I agreed to take the evening meal here and then set out to explore where I could do SCUBA. I found the place at the Rancho Luna resort (not the Faro Luna resort as suggested in Lonely Planet). It was basically a turn up and dive so I just had to be there the following day at 9:00. Cost was 10CUC for equipment and 30CUC for the dive. I didn’t need to pay though which was just as well.

I walked back along the beach to the casa, had a bit of swim. The bay that forms Rancho Luna is protected by a shallow reef. There was lots of small fish hiding amongst the rocks and coral, which was fun for a while. Before returning back to the casa for the evening meal I walked down the beach and watched the sunset. Maybe one of these days I’ll be able to share these amazing sunsets with someone!

After another late night we had a relaxing start to the day with another superb breakfast on the terrace. The plan was then to look around town and catch the bus to the beach at Playa de Ancon at 1:00pm. I was running out of money and needed to get some more. I tend to use the ATM instead of travellers cheques keeping these as a reserve backup. However Trinidad is one of those towns without an ATM. The cambio (money exchange) does take VISA but I needed my passport, which as a rule I tend not to carry if I can help it, so I would need to return later. So Arno and I went to the National Museum where there was a tower which gave amazing views over the city well worth the 1CUC. We could see the Plaza Meyer, the beach and even the ranch we had ridden to the previous day.

After this I left to get my passport and get some more money from the cambio. The queue at the cambio was very large and very inefficient. I got talking to a few girls from Ireland and Kent in the queue, they were also there because Cuba is a very expensive country to visit and everyone tends to go through money much quicker than they had expected.

Because of the queue at the cambio I had missed the bus by the time I returned to the casa. So Arno and I walked back to the square to get a taxi. In general I’ve come to realise that when a taxi driver gives you a price, you usually have to pay just over half for a fair price. So when the driver wanted 8CUC we said 5CUC. When he refused w just walked away. Half a block away he caught up with us in the car and said he would accept 5CUC.

The beach at Playa de Ancon was nicer than the one at Playa de East at Havana, but still not a patch on the beaches I had visited in Mexico. However to be fair, the beaches I visited in Cuba have tended to be tourist traps and developed with hotels, parasols and sunbeds and we have not yet been able to visit beaches that are deserted. I can safely say that the less developed, the more I prefer it.

After a relaxing afternoon we caught the bus back to town. Because I was leaving early in the morning we settled the bill for the Casa which came to 67CUC each for nights and the meals together with the beer and water we had drunk. In fact 3 beers and 3 large waters cost more than the bed for the night.

In the evening we went back to our favourite haunt of the steps leading to the Casa de la Muscia. After a few drinks we went to visit to other recommended music house – Casa de la Trova. In hint sight we should have looked first because instead of any dancing there was only a guy singing solo and playing the guitar. After the atmosphere on the steps this was a disappointing end to our stay in Trinidad, however it gave us the excuse to leave at a reasonable time and get some sleep before the early start.

After a relaxing start and an amazing breakfast, Mike came round to see if we wanted to the horse tour. The second Sunday in May is Mother’s day (in Cuba and Holland as well). I’m pretty bad with dates but I was certain that Mother’s Day in UK is in March. (I sent a text just in case I’d messed up though!) Happy Mothers day…

Because it was a Sunday and an obvious festival day we thought that most of the sites of interest would be closed so we opted to do the horse trek. Mike returned at 10:30 and we walked a few blocks to where he had tethered our horses. I had originally assumed that we would be driving somewhere to do the trek. But the paths start right from the edge of town. Arno had not ridden before and its been around three years since I did any riding. Not that I have an experience worth talking about. We trekked down through some paths and then forded a stream before getting to the road. I was pleasantly surprised that I could remember how to trot properly and was able to get into the rhythm.

After an hour in the saddle we reached the Ranch at the start of the Topes national park. Here Mike left us and we had 2.5 hours to walk up to the waterfall and to swim.
The walk up to the waterfall wasn’t physically demanding, but with the hot sun I was really glad to get there and get into the cool water. It brought back many pleasant memories from the waterfalls in Mexico. Apparently it can get really crowded, but maybe because it was Mother’s day, it was surprisingly empty. For around 20 minutes we had the place to ourselves. Before heading back to the ranch we had a little explore a small path that led to the top of the waterfall.

When we got back Mike was waiting for us and we rode back to town. On the way back we even managed to get in a little gallop through the fields. I could really do with some lessons on how to do this properly as I got the rhythm wrong at one point and lets just say it brought tears to my eyes!

When we got back I caught up on paperwork (aka sleep) whilst Arno explored the town. There was a really great thunder and lightning storm but it passed quickly to give another amazing sunset.

Another great meal and we were ready to hit the town. We went back to the steps for a few Mojitos and then onto the Casa de la Musica. This was not what I expected after the Casa de la Muscia in Habana. The building was amazing and it looked like a bank from the old mid west, but with no roof on it. After dancing at Zipolite in clubs with a roof and no walls, it was interesting to dance in one with walls and no roof! The music was a cross between house and salsa. The most interesting point about this club was that Arno and I were perhaps the only foreigners. Everyone else was Cuban. I don’t know where everyone who was sat on the steps had gone. Their loss!

It was incredibly difficult to get up this morning. Arno and I had agree to travel together as far as Trinidad and maybe further. Arno had reserved us a place on the VSO bus leaving Havana at 13:45. We had agreed to try and leave around 10:00. I almost overslept and it was a mad rush to get everything together and ready to leave.

We checked out of the hotel and I handed the key for the room safe to get my deposit back. At first there was a problem because I had misplaced the deposit slip. After she agreed to take back my key she then started doing something else until I reminded her about the deposit… “Oh, my fault I forgot” she said! Innocent mistake perhaps but she’d exactly the same with Arno only 10 minute before. I can’t help feeling that this was just another example of foreign being taken for a ride.

The taxi driver tried to fleece us also by charging initially 8CUC. This is the same price as a taxi to the centre of Habana. We stuck to 5CUC and eventually he agreed to take us. The route took us past Le Chevere and through a really pleasant parkland with a river running through it. It made me realise just how little of Habana I had managed to explore. But then again I could say exactly the same about Manchester or even Wigan.

The journey to Trinidad passed without problem and the price was very reasonable at 15CUC. The coach was comfortable and just what you expect in the UK. The roads on the otherhand were potholed and we had to slow down for horse drawn carts.

We passed through the town of Cienfuegos which seems to be a bit of a staging post town before rolling in Trinidad around 6pm. We were debating about what to do about a Casa to stay in. Elsbeth had recommended a hostel she had stayed in, and a few of the casa owners had been touting for our business. Then just as we were about to jump a taxi, in one of those lucky strikes another casa owner approached us. She seemed very genuine and had a separate apartment with a terrace, so we threw in lot and went to the Casa de la Chocolate. This was a very nice place to stay. The cost for the room was 15CUC (which we shared as it was the only room with aircon). Evening meal was 8CUC and breakfast 4CUC. We read through some of the reviews of other people and it was all positive. The evening meal was chicken in a tomatoe sauce, plus veg, rice, fries and fruit for desert. The food was amazing.

After the meal Mike came by who offers horse tours of the valley. We would think about it and let him know the following day. After the meal we headed up to the centre of town. Our intention was to go to the Casa de la Musica but on approaching Plaza Mayer we could hear music on the steps ahead. There was a live band playing and a small area for people to dance. There must have been close to 200 people sat on the steps watching and bars. We sat on the steps with everyone else and watched the dancing. We had a relatively early night which is just as well as I had about 6 hours over the last two night combined.

I only got 2 hours sleep last night and perhaps that wasn’t such a great idea considering that this was my last day in Habana and a very obvious party day.

The class had agreed yesterday to not have the first lesson in the morning, but I got up the same as I had done none of the homework. So I sat outside on the terrace at the school with lots of Cuban coffee and got my homework finished. The last few hours of class seemed to fly by and then we had a short ceremony for the presentation of certificates for those students leaving.

After the lessons we had an hour of Salsa. This was a shorter lesson than usual as our teachers also come to the Casa de la Muscia tonight and we get an extra lesson. After the salsa lesson I headed back to the hotel to grab a bite to eat and then my plan was to head into town to the Cubana airline shop to find out what was going to happen with flights next week. Cubana are not flying to Mexico, but with the number of cases dropping off I’m hoping that they will start flying next week. Worst case I will fly to another country like Guatemala or El Salvador and do my planned trip around central America in reverse.

Unfortunately the office closes at 4:00 on Friday so I missed the chance. I think that this will come back to haunt me.

I got to the Casa de la Muscia in good time and waited for the rest of the group to come from. All the dance teachers had arrived before the minibus from Sprechcafe, so we waited outside. Unfortunately the cover charge had been increased from 5CUC last week to 10CUC this week! This was an awkward situation for Sergio, but it was very obvious that it wasn’t his fault. In fact the cover charges get dictated by the groups who play and not the club as they get a cut of the income. That said, as I’d spent all week learning to dance I was going to give myself the chance to dance. This week was infinitely better than last week, though dancing in a crowded club is different than dancing in the salsa studio at the school. I’m still humbled by the skill of the Cuban dancers but at least I’m not the worst in the club any more! Well maybe I still am, but at least I know a few steps!

After the Casa a few of us headed into Habana Viaje to meet up with some of the group who did not come to the Casa. I asked my dance teacher along Mirabel. I had hardly spoken to her all week other than the instructions for the dancing, and I was hoping I could get to know her better. After a pizza at the same restaurant I had eaten on Saturday we walked down the Malcon for a while to kill come time before heading to Café Cantante as we didn’t want to get there too early. Café Cantante was good fun and it was another late one. 5 of us left at 5:00 (Arno, Ana, Olga, Martius and Me). We convinced a taxi driver to give the five of us a lift in his car which in hindsight was not such a great idea, luckily we got back to Montehabana without incident.

I think today was perhaps one of the most full days I’ve had since arriving in Cuba. The day started as usual with 6 hours of Spanish Lessons. Then straight onto 1.5 hours of Salsa. After 4 days I feel as though I am starting to get the hang. I can do all the first 10 turns though I mix a few up and I can get most of the steps, though my timing is a bit off. Thankfully Maribel is always on hand to drag me back into line.

Then the school had organised a trip to the Rum Factory. I was looking forward to this trip as I had consumed so much rum since those cocktails in Zipolite and it would be great to see how it is made. The factory we visited was Legendario. This trip was perhaps the biggest let down the school had arranged. On the coach Sergio had prepared some text to describe the process but when we got to the factory our guide was a complete waste of space. We went into the filtering and mixing area and spent less than 10 minutes describing the process and then he took us straight to the gift shop, where he spend more time describing all the tourist trash we could buy, and then onto the shop to describe the different cigars and rum we could buy. If it was not for the info that Sergio had prepared and the description he gave after with the original stills I don’t think anyone would have learnt anything. The only plus side was that we got to taste some different types and ages of rum. Sergio prefers the cane water that comes from the cane factory after the first distillation process as this has less impurities, but I found this very harsh. For me the favourite was the 7 year rum which was sweet and smooth, almost like a liqueur and in some ways it reminded me of Drambuie.

It is such a shame that I can’t get any of this back to the UK. I am not sure how to go about shipping things from Cuba and I don’t have time to find out. As well as the 7 year the factory also produces a 25 year rum, but this is not available to the public and all of it goes to the government so they can give it to foreign dignitaries. Yet another example of some people being more equal than others!

On the way back from the rum factory we got Sergio to drop us of so we could catch a bus into town. Andrea, Uli, Ansgar, Olgar and I together with the rest of the class had arranged to meet up with our teacher for a last meal. I’d been on the buses before it was fairly straight forward, although we almost got of to a bad start by getting on the wrong bus. The bus took a long way to get into town and we got of near the capital building and walked down Ave Italie to meet the rest of the group outside the Casa de la Musica.

The best way to describe the restaurant was that it was in someone’s front room. The owners, Pedro and Maria were nice people and the food was great and plentiful and the Mojitos were strong and large. After the meal we even had time for a dance. It was a great atmosphere and I’ll really miss this group when I leave on Saturday.

After the meal the group split and Kate, Ariene and I headed into town for some more drinks and dancing at the piano bar at Hotel Florida. We caught a taxi back and then had few beers at the hotel and stayed up chatting for ages. A great way to end a very full day.

Wednesday is always the beach day with Sprechcafe and I’m looking forward to my last day at the beach with my friends before leaving on Saturday. One of the things that had confused me in Habana is that you don’t see any eggs for sale. Not in the supermarket, nor the market we visited with class. I asked Elizabeth about this and she said that after the Hurricane that swept through last November the hens stopped laying and so now eggs are controlled by the government and one of the items that are rationed. Obviously there are still eggs (as chicken is a common meat at the markets and restaurants) but they are not as plentiful as they once were.

Today is another hectic day. Because the coach leaves for the beach at 2:30, Salsa lessons start at 1:00. So unfortunately I miss an hour of Spanish today. So after the Spanish lesson and the Salsa lesson we go the bus to the beach. It was great to be at the beach again. There is something about the sea that makes me feel at home, which is strange because I don’t live anywhere near the sea (even though Wigan has a Pier!). I had finished my book at the weekend and I forgot my next book – Notes on a Cuban Revolution by Che Guavar. But it was great just to swim and then drink Mojito and listen to my mp3. Some Cuban musicians came past and wanted to play for our group. Unfortunately Olga was the only one who got up for a dance.

Because a few of us had planned to go back to Salsa club at Le Chevere we went to the restaurant at the beach for Pizza so we could go straight away for when the club opened at 8:00. The Pizza was nice and the waiter also played the guitar from time to time. It’s surprising what can make you think of home, but when he found out I was from England he played “Yesterday” by The Beatles. Though his version wasn’t great I did listen to the proper version on the way back from the beach and lost in thoughts about university life in Liverpool with the Cavern and Matthew Street and later watching my brother in law, Jon, play with at Beatles cover band (Beatles-UK) at the Limelight in crew.

When we got back there was time for a quick change and then we met in the lobby of the hotel to go to Le Chevere. It was great to get up and dance and have at least a small understanding of what I was suppose to do. It wasn’t until I started dancing with the other girls from the school that I realised that it’s only the mean who get taught the turn numbers and the steps. The girls are just turned and led by the men. This is OK when even a beginner is dancing with a Cuban guy as they can make anyone look good. However when two beginners dance it is far more difficult. That said it was great fun and I was surprised at how many of the turns I could remember. The club finishes at 11:00 and a few carried on to a nightclub, but I was still fairly tired so I got a taxi back with Eme and Ana.