cuba tales I

Christmas in Cuba was as good as I hoped/expected. Nothing ever quite lives up to my expectations, but I certainly wasn't disappointed! We met some great people, saw some of the Cuban countryside, got some great photos, enjoyed a warm sunny beach - ahhhh I did not want to leave at all! I could have easily handled at least another week there without getting bored or going crazy. ;)

We left home Monday morning, the 22nd. Our flight was out of London at 4:55pm. We arrived at the airport a bit over 2 hours before our flight - and you should have seen the line-up! Apparently they were having computer problems when checking everyone in for our flight, and we ended up waiting in line for over 2 hours. Our flight was delayed as a result, but at least they didn't leave without us! ;)

While waiting in line we met the two parties ahead of us in line - who both happened to be going to the same resort that we were! The chances of that are pretty small, since there are sooo many resorts, and just about everyone on the plane is going to a different one. We met Alex and her mom from London, and another gal and her mom from Toronto. Great people, fun to chat with, and we enjoyed hanging out with Alex and Jean later in the week as well.

So our flight finally left closer to 6, which meant we arrived in Veradero, Cuba around 9. It was after 10 by the time we got through customs, got our luggage, found our bus, exchanged our money, and made it to our resort, Melia Las Antillas. As soon as we stepped off the plane in Veradero, though, I could feel the dramatic temperature change, and knew I was going to love it!

Customs in Cuba was a cinch. Thorough, but not overboard like it tends to be in Canada or the US. We were in and out in not time, there were no looong line ups, and it was all very well organized. We actually had to wait for our luggage after going through Customs because it was so quick!

We got to our resort, checked in, unpacked, changed, then headed downstairs to check out the drink situation. The lobby bar was super quiet that night, so we went and found the "Disco Fun Pop" bar. Yes, it is actually called that! It was pretty busy that night, so we hung out there for a couple of beer before calling it a night. It turned out to be a nice little spot the rest of the week as well. It was great to watch everyone dance and just observe the people that were there. A lot of germans were at this resort, and we saw a number of them that night - including one guy in a very unique outfit. He was wearing a tank top that was almost more like a vest - it had three or so buttons that were undone, and was almost a sheer material. He had a beer belly, a mohawk, and patched jeans. We were amused. ;) We saw the same guy later on in the week several times, including one day when we went for lunch and he came to lunch in his Speedo - not a pretty sight! There were some amusing people there for sure...

Our first day there was overcast and cool - but still a hell of a lot nicer than Ontario! We spent a fair bit of time hanging out at the lobby bar, drinking cappucino (some of them with Baileys), and hit the Disco Fun Pop again in the evening. It was a pretty low-key day, but still enjoyable!

Our second day was warm and sunny, so we spent a good part of it laying by the pool - ahhhhh, the sun! It was delightful! They had some hammocks hung in spots around the pool as well, and those were nice to nap in a couple of times. The pool was huge - and there were tons of chairs around it - probably over 100 just around the pool. The resort holds about 350 people, so it's a good size without being too ginormous. There were at least that many more chairs down at the beach, if not more. There were four bars spread out through the resort. The lobby bar (24 hour), the disco bar - which seemed to be only open certain times, the beach bar (10-5) and the pool bar (open til midnight or so). There were three a la cart restaurants - which we never made it to. And there was a buffet and a restaurant by the pool. The variety of food was great, and it tasted pretty damn good too! I had heard before I left about how the food down there is very bland - but I can't say that I found it to be so! I certainly had no complaints.

The rest of the week was spent doing a jeep safari, visiting Veradero, walking the beach and chatting with people we met there. There will be more to come, including pictures, on the highlights of the rest of the trip...