Satellite
  • Day 41

    Havana in a day (and night!)

    February 8, 2019 in Cuba ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Breakfast with the family followed by some money exchange with Dad preceded Alain coming to pick us up dead on time. He took us into the centre of old Havana where we met our guide for a walking tour of the old city.
    One of our first stops was the National Theatre where Chris discovered that a ballet was on that night so, of course, she bought a ticket which was a third of our pesos! Later a stop at Hemingway's Mojito bar (3 Mojitos - one extra for the guide), a tip for her at the end and then another for Alain who had waited to take us 'home' and refused payment left us short of Pesos.
    We had a two hour classic car ride later in the afternoon and, again dead on time, a Chevrolet 1957 'Bellair' convertible turns up in superb condition for the trip. I had thought these classic American cars were a bit of a tourist gimmick but not so! They are everywhere in various states of repair and can be hired simply as taxis. You see very few modern vehicles apart from yellow taxis and Transtur busses. Even old motorbike combinations are quite common!
    He dropped us off at the theatre (another tip!) and we had a drink in the cafe waiting for the performance. I found a bar with live Cuban music and managed to make two beers stretch out the evening.
    On the way back to pick up Chris I passed 4 ATMs but they all refused me money! We had enough for a taxi 'home' (a Lada from the 70's) but only about 20 pesos to last us over the w/e as change places only open Mon to Fri.
    Watch this space as they say!
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