No. I swear I'm NOT going to Cuba for tourism purposes.
Hell. Of course I am! And everyone else on this flight too! Cut to April 15th, my beau and I depart the US to soak in the sights of DE CUBAAAA!
It's our first trip. One that has been on our bucket list for at least 7 years. Despite the fact that neither of us can speak a lick of Spanish. We want to go see the revolucion! The Viva!!
So we land in Cuba and the first thing we notice...
Why are these female officers dressed like..uhm...well..ladies of the night!? Well tight, mini skirts and shirts one wouldn't dare breathe in topped off with these lacy stockings. A girl just couldn't! Who came up with this uniform!? Ermagad!
As we exited the modest airport, I was on the hunt for CUCs or the *cooc* which is what foreigners use versus the *coop* which is the currency for locals. After 40 minutes in a winding line, we arrive at the front and are hit with the stark reality of the situation. These Cubans decide their own exchange rate. Take the viva and smoke it. GBP to CUC, CAD to CUC, USD to CUC aalll hovering around the 1:1 mark.
Well player Cuba.Well played.
So Day 1. April 15th.What do we do?
We immediately checked into our Airbnb situated next to Plaza Vieja and we set off to explore.
We decided to take the less beaten path away from the well trodden tourist areas and was it eye opening. It is always interesting and sometimes necessary to see how your Caribbean counterparts live..to understand how good that we have it in Trinidad. I'll leave it right there.
So Bae and I encountered a cigar scammer who was quite nice and took us on a tour of the city. Well..he was nice till we found out we had no money! After many intentional failed tries at the ATM, we quickly shook him off and went to eat at Paladar which is in an equally sketch part of old Havana. A lady with a small child tried to follow us in..I presume to try to score a free meal.
We did realise though that everyone first assumed that we were american in a tentative kind of way. When they heard we were from Trinidad (and Barbados) they immediately warmed up!
Guess who forgot their camera on day 1, so I'll try to scrap some photos together from the other days. We managed to visit Casablanca, see a ballet at Teatro Marti, buy pan suave at the local bakery, and almost get knocked down by a vintage car! Lol. We also managed to take a trip to Havana Centro and the Malacon. So much in 3 days!! I'll probably have more to add but for now...pictures!
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