Oct 6, 2006 - LA HABANA - Cuba

Die Reise nach La Habana und das Zusammentreffen dort mit Gus dem Neuseelaender den ich in Suedamerika auf der Tour kennengelernt habe und der aus London eingeflogen ist, hat wunderbar geklappt. Der Preisschock hat uns schnell erwischt, als wir begriffen, dass uns die 15 minuetige Taxifahrt zu unserem Hotel rund 30 USD kosten wuerde. Mit der 2 Waehrungspolitik (eine fuer die Einheimischen, eine andere fuer die Touristen) wird man als Ferienmacher ganz schoen boese zur Kasse gebeten. Aber daran mussten wir uns wohl fuer die naechsten 10 Tage...

Apr 30, 2006 - La Habana

do en la habana beni amene ganz lostige ort glandet... de rudis eschmi natuerli weder go abhole ond hett ou scho es zemmer organisiert gha, aber ned be sim brueder wie vorgseh, sondern be sim goetti ond sinere tante ond x anderne luet wo dete wohne. d onderkonft esch belliger aber es hett ou so sini spezielle sache... i chomemer vor wie d saisonniers vom herzog baugschaeft vor ca. 20 johre. nor chalt wasser usemene schluch, ond wenn ke wasser usem schluch chonnt, denn usem reservoir, d.h. usemene choebel, es wohne secher 10 schwarzi luet of...

Apr 10, 2006 - La Habana

En La Habana estuve en casa de Ofelia y de otro tocallo mio, José Antonio, en plena Habana Vieja. La ciudad caotica pero preciosa, aunque haya que andar con cuidado, porque todo el mundo te habla, pero muchos "hermanos" lo que quieren es venderte puros falsos, cambiarte dinero falso, beber mojitos a tu cuenta o lo que sea. pero de una vez que sepas como funciona todo eso, es divertido. Pues el lunes despues de llegar recorri todo La Habana, tanto que por la noche cuando llegó mi hermano rudis non podia conmigo para salir. Y el primer museo...

Mar 31, 2006 - Cuba - Habana

Arrival Our trip to Cuba did not begin well: we did not clear customs in Havana until midnight and our pre-booked, pre-paid transfer did not show up. However, our hotel (a restored monastery) was nice and it was amazing going out early the next morning to discover Habana. We were going to spend plenty of time in Habana studying, so we planned to head to an island not far from Habana - Isla de la Juventud - for a few days before our classes started. After travelling to the port town by taxi, spending many hours standing in the sun waiting...

Mar 29, 2006 - More pictures from Cuba

A small collection of random pictures. CUBA: We will miss: *Our host family - Lika's cooking and Lourdes'hospitality *The feeling of being welcomed into a family when staying at private homes *Goooood food! *The people in the streets *Loud salsamusic and reggeaton everywhere *The cars! *The beaches in Trinidad *Our always happy spanish-teacher Humberto We won't miss: *The internet connection *The sometimes hot/cold showers *The toilets without toilet-seats ;o) *Not beeing able to get the things you want *The bad hospitality of shop-employees

Mar 23, 2006 - Back in Havana

First a couple of pictures from Vinjales. At the moment the government is changing all the refridgerators in Cuba to more energie-efficient ones. That was what they were doing in Vinjales when we were there. Afterwards they are going to change the cookers aswell, for those who dont have gas in tubes. The last week in Havana has been nice aswell. We met a couple of original cubans in the street, who told us their interesting stories, we'll tell you more when we get home...

Mar 12, 2006 - Finally some pictures!

Today we took the trip to central Havana just to write to you guys, and to post some photos so that you can really envy us :o) We went to the beach yesterday, and got just a little sunburned, so we decided a walk in the city was a smart thing to do. Before we came here, of course we had heard that there were a lot of old american cars here, but we didn`t think it would be that many! About 25% are the old americans, about 45% Lada`s and then 30% of everything else (luxury sedans are very very rare though). Will post some car-pictures... On...

Feb 1, 2006 - Cuba - Havana revisited

We shared a cab with an old Argentinian couple from Trinidad back to Havana. Matt & Claire were arriving that afternoon so we were excited about seeing them and doing some Havana style partying. We toured around the City seeing bits we hadn't and bits we had seen. We saw Plaza De La Revolucion, and Jose Marti's memorial and also found out about a communist speach going on that very evening with Castro and the Venezuelan President, which we went along to....smoking cigars. We decided to go n one of the many 50's American cars, and found a...

Jan 21, 2006 - CUBA - Havana and Vinales

So, finally we left Guatemala after 7 weeks.....we spent a night in Guatemala City (VERY dodgy city, but no problems for us as we stayed on the outskirts of town near the airport) before heading off to Cuba on the 21st January. After our 8 hour flight (via, firstly, Nicaragua, and secondly Panama) we finally touched down on Cuban soil. Cuba, a modern day Communist country where 'every body is equal', under government policy, the people are on rations and they eek out an existence by any means they can to improve their family's quality of...

Dec 12, 2005 - Cuba - La Havana

¡Hola, mi amol! We didn't spend much time in Havana, because we were eager to explore the countryside, find a nice beach and have a little holiday from travelling before heading back home. Still, we had time to explore one of the most wonderful cities so far. Everybody has an idea of what Cuba is all about before having actually been there and, to our surprise, it was just that, it was even more that than we had imagined. Cuba is so much Cuba, if that makes any sense... It was love at first sight! Carlos (Kate's father-in-law) came to pick...

Dec 1, 2005 - Havana

Gisteren zijn we in Havana aangekomen. Wat een grote en levendige stad! Eerst een casa particular gezocht in hartje Havana Vieja (oude deel) en de auto ingeleverd. De medewerker van Cubacar feliciteerde Sander met het veilig aankomen na 14 dagen rondrijden in onze matige Hyundai lantra, die waarschijnlijk zijn laatste rit heeft gemaakt. De casa particular is van Naoemi, een aardige meid van onze leeftijd. De locatie is perfect. Op loopafstand van het belangrijkste centrum en bezienswaardigheden. Vanmiddag gaan we het rummuseum bezoeken en...

Nov 16, 2005 - Havana revisited

We literally ducked back to Elicio's place the night before our plane. Tasted the best mojitos we'd come across, at a wait for it... Lebanese restaurant! Early to bed like good little children of the revolution. We flew back to Guatemala for the day and headed straight for the largest shopping mall we could find. McValue Meals all round and hours on the internet, and our capitalist cravings were satiated.