A six hour bus ride on Wednesday brought us back to Havana for the last three days of our trip. We decided to “live large” and get a casa right on the sea. We found the perfect place – Casa de Maria del Carmen – a third story flat with huge windows and wide open spaces with an almost hotel-like feel. It was great to have a thick, comfortable mattress and real pillows, plush towels and good shower pressure – a nice way to transition back into the United States. We also talked Maria down to $25 instead of $35 which made the place a steal!
With the rest of our time, we checked out Heladeria Coppelia, the best spot for ice cream in town. People literally stand in line for hours to get scoops:
I took Pat back to the beach where I got my awful sunburn my first day in Havana and were delighted to see that there were decent sized waves. Even though we didn’t have surfboards, we managed to do some body surfing and play in the waves. It was great exercise and a ton of fun, even though it took a long shower to get all the sand off later!
We also rented to hottest car in town for an hour for a city tour, a shiny purple 1951 Chevy Deluxe convertible. It was $20 well spent and a great way to see parts of the city we otherwise would have missed.
Our last dinner was at Sociedad Asturiana Castropol on the balcony, right on the water, a perfect way to catch our last sunset in Cuba. Made by one of the best chefs in Havana, the food was incredible and we ate and ate until our stomachs hurt. Seafood paella, smoked salmon, octopus soup, cheesecake, mojitos, the works! Four appetizers, drinks, two entrees and one dessert later the bill still came to under $60. Then it was off to bed before our 4:30am taxi ride to the airport to catch our flight to Cancun.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Cuba but it was definitely one of my favorite places I’ve ever visited. The colors, the culture, the people, the sights, the sea, the beach – it has something for everyone. It was amazing that a place only 90 miles from Miami can be so different from anywhere else in the world that I’ve been.
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