Che, Che and more Che

Plaza
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After leaving Caracas behind us with a brief stop in Panama on the way, we touched down in Havana at a little past midnight. Luckily we had a transfer arranged this time which took us straight to our Hotel. This was a huge relief, especially after all the fun we had in Caracas with taxi drivers.

We splashed out the first couple of nights and stayed at a hotel in the centre of Old Havana. The Hotel Comendador is a beautiful 18th Cuntury house which has been turned into a hotel. All the rooms are built around an indoor courtyard which makes it a great place to escape from the 33 degree heat. Our room was huge and it came with free breakfast which made us feel a little better about paying extra. The only problem was because the room was so dark and cool, we kept sleeping through breakfast!

You see Che's face all over Cuba, on T-shirts, books, posters,quilt covers, mugs... he´s like a superhero!

Classic Havana
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After a couple of nights of livng it up we moved down the road to a 'casa particular' which is a private house that is allowed by the government to rent out up to 2 of their rooms. Our one was run by Alexis and his mother Alieda. Alexis and Alieda were fantastic and took great care of us, Alieda making us breakfast in the morning and Alexis being our personal alarm clock waking us up whenever we needed, as early as 5.30 am on our last morning.

Havana is a beautiful city and I would definitely recommend it to any one when travelling over this side of the world. Habana Vieja (Old Havana) has so many beautiful buildings, even the ones that have been neglected add something to the 'vibe' of the place.

Nathan's made a friend!
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As you walk around town there is music coming from every cafe, bar and restaurant and trust me you will need to stop at all of them to grab a cocktail or cerveza to cool you down!

After wandering around Old Havana for a day or two we ventured into the Capitolio. The capitol building in Havana is apparently very similar to the U.S capitol building but richer in detail. A nice Cuban woman acting as a guide even allowed us to get a photo behind the lecturn that Fidel makes his speeches to the goverment behind and then offered to let us take a sneak peek at where the parliament sits. After accepting her kind offer she informed us that this special privilage would cost us an extra 5 pesos!! Oh well, she was pregnant so probabaly needed the 5 pesos more than us.

This is the life!
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Next it was off to the Museo De La Revolucion, or as it should be known the Museo De La Che! You see Che's face all over Cuba, on T-shirts, books, posters,quilt covers, mugs... he's like a superhero! And hey, who could blame them, it seems like he was a pretty charismatic guy, as well as liberating countries here, there and everywhere.

After a big morning of sightseeing we took the easy option and hopped in a Coco taxi (small egg shaped taxi built around a scooter) and headed off to the Revolucion plaza to see, guess what, that's right more Che! This is where Fidel addresses the masses and there is a huge mural of Che's face on one of the government buildings.

Habana Vieja
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The next day we met up with a couple of amigos from back home, David and Anne. We ended up going to one of Havana's most exclusive restaurants, getting in without a reservation (after some smooth talking from David) and had a wonderful dinner. The restaurant was in an old, run down block which looked like it was about to fall down but the food was beautiful and we had a great, if a little surreal experience.

Then it was off to soak up some sun at Varadero, Cuba's Cancun. We opted for the organised tour as it included lunch and an open bar! It was about 50 degrees on the beach (might be exagerating a little) and about 26 degrees in the water which was a bit weird but it still cooled us down and we made the most of the free food and drinks for the day.

Coco mobiles
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We spent our last day checking out the religious museum and caught a show at 'Casa De La Musica' which  we thought would be a sought of cabaret show but ended up being a cross between being in a nightclub at 5 in the afternoon and watching one of the shows they have on a cruise ship, including the crowd participation bit! Very funny and lots of fun, and the dancers were very impressive - do all Cubans know how to salsa instinctively, or do they take lessons?!

We were sad to say goodbye to Cuba and would love to go back there one day.

The man!
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If not we will always have Che!