February 2017 archive

A Leisure Day in Havana

I wanted our last day in Cuba to just be relaxing, and I decided to call it “TJ’s Day”: A leisure day in Havana. Well, I let Han join in too. What is a day without my bestest friend? Of course we were served another delicious breakfast by Ari and took our time to enjoy …

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A Daytrip to the Pinar del Rio Province and the Viñales Valley

Woke up around 7:00, and was not in the mood for breakfast as it was too early. So I snacked on a piece of bread. Loaded up the car and we were on our way for the 2.5 hour each way daytrip to Pinar del Rio Province and the Viñales Valley area. The four lane highway …

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Sightseeing Havana’s Waterfront and Suburbs

This morning we had a substantial leisurely breakfast, then sat and blogged some. Needed to catch up on some writing because there are so many impressions that it’s easy to forget when you don’t stay on top of things. For today the agenda calls for sightseeing Havana’s waterfront and suburbs. We plan to do this …

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Central and Old Havana Walking Tour

Today is scheduled to take the cow by the horns and do the central and old Havana walking tour. Three hours of sightseeing with our guide Jorge, an IT tech for a Havana hospital with as second job, guiding tours through the city and countryside. We slept like babies last night. Room was quiet, dark …

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First Impressions of Havana, Cuba

Today I’m looking forward to getting the first impressions of Havana, Cuba, something that has been on my bucket list for a long long time. In the morning, the last one in Matanzas, we were able to relax with our host over coffee and then had the drudgery of packing. I was a bit sad because they …

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Callejon de las Tradiciones, Afro-Cuban History in Matanzas

We had a very leisurely morning and were in no hurry to rush about. Cannot think of anything better than sitting on the porch with coffee and donuts (these donuts are dense and perfect for coffee dipping), while enjoying the breeze off the water. Around noon we called for our new taxi friend “Josnel” to go into …

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Varadero, beautiful as it is, is the other Cuba

Today our taxi driver “Jonel” picked us up at 10:00 sharp and off we went for a day in Varadero. The 30-minute drive over is quite stunning and the roads are amazing. He said they are the only really good roads in Cuba. I guess it is due to the fact that the Varadero Peninsula …

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Quickly Getting Used to the Cuban Lifestyle

allende beach, matanzas

Last night ended up not being restful. Garbage is picked up in early morning hours  in the neighborhood and the dogs go crazy and it was quite loud.After about an hour, they all finally settled down and so did we. This also reminds me of island life, but not so homey. LOL. Yet the Cuban …

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Waking Up to the Sounds of Home in Matanzas, Cuba

Cuba Life

Magic transpired this morning. I woke up to the sounds of home in Matanzas, Cuba. Horns honking, dogs barking, people yelling ‘buenos dias’ and roosters crowing. Some of you may know that I used to live in St. Maarten and in my heart consider it home still. So it was delightful this morning to feel (and …

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Longtime Desire to Visit Cuba Becomes Reality

Today at 4:00am begins a new adventure and a longtime desire to visit Cuba becomes reality. Can’t wait to check it off my bucket list. We left the house at 6:00 and drove the five hours to Fort Lauderdale to catch our flight to Cuba. Check-in was quite easy as Southwest Airlines has a special service desk …

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