February 07 Rain, rain, and then more RAIN
It rained during the night. Our room has louvered windows and is great as air flows all around and we up on the top floor so we don't have to close things up for security. The fresh air turned into rain so I got up and closed on side of the building and went back […more]
February 6, If you don’t like the way I drive, stay out of the ditch!
We asked the casa to move our breakfast to 0730 so we could have a little extra time to get to our tour to the rainforest that started at 8:30 It wasn't a long walk to get to the tour company but if anything went awry it would give us a few minutes to adjust. […more]
Feb 5 Fantastic bus trip from Santiago de Cuba to Baracoa and we almost made it.
Wilberto shows up in the morning and we made it safely to the bus terminal. He didn't say a word and neither did I. The casa owner made us a small breakfast it was very early and didn't charge us for it. Bonnie figured it was a peace offering. It was only after we settled […more]
February 4 A bank, a bank, and finally a frigging bank!
We walked up to the Revolution Square and took a few pictures. It is beside the Viazul bus station and the taxi drivers said it was about a 45 minute walk they were about right. We took a bicycle taxi back to Parque Cespetes and we went looking for a bank Bonnie thought we were […more]
February 2, The planted, the plants, and the almost planted.
We had our tour booked but Beatrix was not around this morning so we were a little unsure if the jeep was leaving at 9:30 or 10. It turned out to be closer to 9:30 so we were good. Our first stop was the cemetery(cemeterio patrimonial Santa Ifigenia). According to the guide books, this is […more]
February 01, The east end of the historical walk
Our casa is on Trinidad also called General Portuondo, every street has two names, one listed on the buildings on the street, and one listed on the guides. Some of the guides use one set of names and the other one may use the other set of names. It's a mixed bag and confusing at […more]
January 28, 2015 A day to get on Cuban time
We always take a day for letting our bodies adjust to the climate and to go from winter hibernation mode to actually wanting to do something outside. Today is to get our tickets to Santiago de Cuba and ask Elisa to call the next casa, Walk the beach and relax. The school is closed for […more]
We survived!
The post tropical storm Arthur stopped by for a visit. We had lots of warning. We were leading the FYC Summer Cruise and we got as far as Douglas Harbour and pulled the plug. Douglas Harbour is very well protected, much better than Fredericton. So we pulled the plug on the cruise and did our […more]
Easter weekend
Just got back from our Easter weekend visiting with my mother and step-father, brother, and extended family. We were in Alma for most of the weekend and it was a nice visit. It was a nice weekend and we walked down to the "beach" a number of times. The Bay of Fundy has the highest […more]
The summary of our 2014 Cuba trip
I've put all of the posts in order so that it is easier to read and if you want to print a copy for easier reading, or taking to your mother so she can read it(the reason I did it). You can load the summary and just hit print. Winter 2014 Our second trip to […more]
February 18th and 19th The trip home.
Pepe made our breakfast again, no eggs today either. We did have bread, apparently the bakery where most of the people get their bread had run out of flour so bread was in short supply. One of the other people we were talking to was complaining about not having bread. We walked over to the […more]
February 17, 2014 Varadero cigar shopping, La Campana, art galleries and back to pack
Pepe made breakfast this morning, No eggs, they couldn't find any. We had a long talk with Elisa and Pepe about food, distance, and some of our travels. It was one of our longest and nicest talks we have every had. Pepe doesn't want to buy cigars for us, it is too risky, most of […more]
February 16, 2014 Varadero
We woke Elisa at 8:30. Pepe got a call late last night and had to go to his parents house to help them, their fridge had died. So Elisa was holding down the fort. She normally doesn't do a lot of cooking, I think, Juan may have been recruited to help. Elisa and Pepe had […more]
February 15, 2014 Back to Varadero for a few days to relax and wind down.
Taxi to the bus station and back to Varadero. It took a different route to Varadero so we got to see new places along the way. Lots of cane, lots of food production. Bonnie saw a horse dead in it's traces on the road. That would have been a tragedy for the owner, replacing a […more]
February 14, 2014 People watching, impromptu street theatre, time to pack
We spent a lot of time in the park people watching. We were happy to see a bunch of impromptu street theatre. Stilt walkers, actors in costume, dancers. Lots of Cubans and lots of small children. We were surprised at how few tourists there were. We seemed to have one extra day at every stop. […more]
February 13, 2014 Iglesia del Carmen, Decorative Art Museum, more churches, and a chamber orchestra
We were off in search of Parque Turdury, beside Iglesia del Carmen. The church, Iglesia de Nuestra Senora del Carmen is the oldest church in Santa Clara, was closed. Beside the church is a monument to the 13 founding families and another to one of Che's most valued soldiers, killed in the train battle. Across […more]
February 12, 2014 The train museum, the Che with child statue, coffee, and the theatre.
When Che and a band of 18 men borrowed a bulldozer and with Molotov Cocktails derailed and defeated a heavily armed train with 350 soldiers on board, the Batista regime was toast. And so goes the story. The boxcar museum celebrates the place where the train was derailed, even the bulldozer (a Caterpillar D6) has […more]
February 11, 2014 Walking around Che city (Santa Clara)
The first day in Santa Clara we walked up to Parque Vital and then toward the Che Memorial. We walked by a wall of cartoon murals by the municipal bus station(“Los humoristas declaramos Guerra a la guerra”, “Comedians declare War on War” ) some of them were priceless and could have run anywhere in the […more]
February 10, 2014 Off to Santa Clara
We had breakfast and watched the painters start back at the color change on La Soledad. We were off to the Viazul bus station to get tickets and travel to Santa Clara. We should have waited and got tickets when we arrived but we didn't, and now we are paying for it. As more and […more]
February 9 2014 Sunday people watching, the ballet, and packing to go.
We got the casa to phone ahead and there was no problem except that she had to call back, she thought we were leaving at 1705 not arriving in Santa Clara at 1705 so she had to call back to straighten it out. We were ready for a lazy day so we strolled down to […more]
