2010.03.22 – [CU] Santa Clara ==> Havana (0 kms | Total: 422 kms)
Alberto and his wife were waiting for us for breakfast. The night was better than in Cienfuegos. It was still raining – a great day to be travelling by bus. We barely had time to finish our breakfast that the taxi was waiting for us. A long wait at the viazul bus terminal made us appreciate some of the benefits of computer automation. There are no computer system for reservations.
We met two Taiwanese girls on a two year Volunteer program in Saint Lucia. We exchanged a few travel info. We were glad to have made it onto the bus. The bus ride was good once we filtered out the passenger snoring. Once arrived at La Havana, we booked our return ride back to Santa Clara. We took a taxi to explore a few casas. After visiting two, we started to be a bit discouraged, but we finally stopped at a nice place. The lady owner offered a cot bed for Victoria. We reviewed our money situation, and determined that we needed another $300 to finish the trips. We had some inexpensive hot dogs and enjoyed the walk around Calle 23 and on the Melancon. Victoria enjoyed seeing the waves hitting the wall.
2010.03.23 – [CU] Havana ==> Havana (0 kms | Total: 422 kms)
Although the night started a bit noisy, it got quieter and we had a good night – except for Jenny. After doing some light laundry, we went to the bank nearby to withdraw on Jenny’s Visa. We took a taxi to Havana Vieja district. At the first of four plaza (Vieja, San Francisco, Cathedral), we had coffee and a light snack. We walked the recommended path along the streets of Havana Vieja. We walked to Havana Centro district and on the way we had peso pizza. Later on, we stopped at a bakery for pastries, popcorn and ice cream. We made our way to the small China town where we stopped for an early supper at Tien Tian. Jenny enjoyed talking to the restaurant owner and other Chinese customers. We took another taxi back at our Casa. We walked to the Malecon and noticed a flood of teenagers/young adults all over the area. It appears as there was a show of some sort later in the afternoon. The sea of people was sometimes difficult to navigate on Calle 23. We made our way to Coppelia (Ice Cream Parlor) – the line up for peso ice cream was incredibly long – we bought only one bowl for all of us. We walked back, through the flow of young people, to our casa.
2010.03.24 – [CU] Havana ==> Havana (0 kms | Total: 422 kms)
I’ve enjoyed for the past few days getting up around 8am and reading and writing this journal on the patio of our casa. The voices of workers in the next building were a reminder that we are in another world. This morning we opted to buy a bus pass for a hop-on/hop-off tourist bus. We were frustrated with this service throughout the day.
- kids 6+ years old were charged full price;
- connecting bus circuit T2 and T3 were extra fees;
- wait times were much longer than advertised; T2 was every 2 hours;
- no map or scheduled given out;
- services stoped at 8pm – much earlier than 9pm advertised; pick-up may not necessary occur between official stops.
We made our way to Havana Vieja once again in late afternoon for some souvenir shopping. Victoria and Jenny suggested we went back to the Chinese restaurant for supper. We walked and taxied to Chinatown. Later in the evening, we learned our Havanatour Bus stopped operating. We ended having to get to our casa using a Coco Taxi, we all enjoyed the ride. Jenny purchased a few souvenirs (music-related wood sculpture).
2010.03.25 – [CU] Havana ==> Santa Clara (0 kms | Total: 422 kms)
One last morning in the garden of our casa. We had croissant and coffee at the local pastry shop. We went to purchase a few more souvenirs for Victoria. We strolled along the Malecon and enjoyed seeing the waves hit the wall. We arranged for a Coco taxi pickup at 1:30 pm from our casa. We went to eat some more of Victoria’s favorite lunch meal: hot-dogs (peso lunch). After one last visit to the Malecon to watch folks swimming, we headed back to our casa.
The “evil” sister-in-law reported that an electric power module had been broken and we would need to pay for its replacement. I argued against it and we did not pay. It appears the module may have fell on the floor with the removing of Victoria’s cot. Our Coco-taxi came, as expected, to pick us up. The ride was slow but fun. At the bus terminal, we waited one hour and half for the bus to Santiago. The bus departed on time at 3:15. By 16:45, we arrived in Santa Clara, where we were greeted by our taxi driver. Alberto and Miriam were expecting us.
