So for the first time in my whole career onboard ships, I made it to a place that I never thought I would ever reach/. Its not a typical destination you will find in the Travel Agent Catalogs. Havana, Cuba, the home of ClubTropicana, where drinks are free (they are not by the way). It was just eye opening when seeing what real life Cuba was a bout. The second day out in Cuba, it was all about visiting the bar where Ernest Hemingway liked to drink; La Floridita. However, upon arrival to Havana, and leaving the port itself, we were met with many people offering us a ride to tour around the city. Taxis are not the same here as they are in central London for example. I mean yes, you did have the occasional black or yellow cab, but here it was tradition to take something a little brighter. The only way I can describe it is by saying that I felt like I was in a scene of Grease, the movie. The cars were all multi colored, and not just multi colored, but bright colors. Fluorescent pink, lime green, lighting blue, I was just amazing to see, as you will see for yourself in the pictures within this blog. We met a man called Ran, who was the first guys to offer us a tour. He said he can take us to all the best spots, and even some places to have some food. We told him we want to see these, but mainly want to go in to true Cuba, and not the touristy areas. He agreed, and we went off in his blood red Cabriolet. We saw the sights of the city, and then he took us more inside, to which we went down some crazy roads which were made up of pot holes if I'm honest. Made england roads look as smooth as ice. We arrived at his sisters where we parked outside, and had our photos taken with the driver, Ran, and some other locals happy to see us. Even a few cheeky pics of us posing. behind the steering wheel. We were welcomed in to his sisters house where we had ourselves a few beers, and chatted about what we do, and what we can do in the evening in Havana. We were looking to go to some salsa clubs, however, we were soon advised that they will be stupid expensive, as they are places for the tourists to party. He told us we should come back to this area and join in in the local parties. This is exactly what happened. Continuing the tour we ended up at his area of the city, to visit his place and meet his family. They did, and a friend of mine couldn't get away due to being such a big hit with their Pet Dog. The best thing about the whole experience, as these people invited us in to their home. There is slight poverty in some areas of the country, but with this in mind, they still seem 50 times happier than those from back home who have everything. This is what traveling is all about. Learning about cultures, and the way of life in different areas around the globe. Not all of the evenings were spent partying with the locals. I decided I did have to go and enjoy something others will recognize. I went to Club Tropicana. The club regularly used by the gangsters for entertainment during history of the city. Wham even released a song about it, expressing that "club tropicana drinks are free". This is not the case, it may have been then, but certainly not now haha. However, as it is tradition to do so, we sat back, drank a selection of beverages, and relaxed watching the show with a classic Romeo and Juliet Cigar burning away. For more pictures, visit the Videos part of this website, and watching my Video blog of Havana.
