Mar 15-16, 2016
Hotel: Paradisus Varadero; Varadero, Cuba
We had arranged a shuttle to Varadero at the Habana Libre yesterday. 25CUC per person vs 100+ for a car. Though I suppose a car would have been nice for being able to stop along the way. The shuttle showed up late and we spent awhile longer going around to other hotels for pickup. Eventually we make it on the road out of town. The drive itself was pretty nice, along the northern coast. We stopped at a rest area for bathroom break. There was a band here playing as well which set off miss hauteboy dancing. We bought their CD to listen to later. There were some oil derricks along the coast here, I didn't realize Cuba had their own oil.
I had booked our Varadero hotel through a Canadian website. The Paradisus was nearly at the end of the 20km-long Varadero strip. It's very popular pacakge destination for Canadians and the strip is lined by resorts, the largest in the Caribbean apparently. The water is the most amazing turquoise color and smooth as glass. Checkin at the hotel was easy and we rode in the golf cart to the room. Second floor with aircon, tv, and fridge stocked with Cuban soft drinks. We wandered around the property a bit, checking out the pool and white sand beach. The hotel was nearly full but still didn't seem too packed other than meal times in the buffet. The hotel also has 4 ala-carte restaurants but these were already booked out for the next 4 days! The buffet was actually quite decent, Iberian ham, grill station, fish, pizzas, etc.
Paradisus Varadero
We just lazed around the hotel for the next few days, spending time relaxing on the beach and pool. The hotel puts on shows nightly. All inclusive hotel so we didn't need to worry about having extra cash on us. Unfortunately miss hauteboy knocked my camera off the table and it stopped recognizing the lens. So I was down to using my camera phone for the rest of my time in Cuba.
There was a band playing in the lobby one morning. Miss hauteboy went up and grabbed the maracas and was playing along with the band at one point.
Miss hauteboy joining the band
Mar 17, 2016
Hotel: Airbnb; Havana, Cuba; $50
We had arranged for the shuttle back to Havana today. Only 15CUC each vs 25, so a good bit cheaper. The bus couldn't drop us off at our hotel though, so we had to catch a taxi for the last 6 blocks. Casa Caracol was in a quieter part of Old Havana, less touristy but still close to the main attractions. It was still 3-flights of stairs climb! Clean and modern room with a bigger bathroom than our last place.
Old Havana
We caught a bike taxi to the Cathedral and wandered around a bit, stopping in a government shop that was selling paintings. We planned on going to Paladar Doņa Eutemia for dinner, but were still a few minutes early. We didn't have a reservation but luckily they still had one table free upstairs. Ordered the ropa vieja again. They also had a frozen mojito that was absolutely delicious. I really wanted to order another one... After dinner we went back to the government shop to buy one of the paintings for $40.
Frozen Mojito, yum