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| At the Blau Varadero Beach | | | | |
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Toni was apprehensive about taking a trip to Cuba. The embargo is still on and it remains illegal for Americans to spend any money there regardless of residency location. The fines on the books are substantial but my research showed that they are never imposed. Canada and Cuba have no interest in enforcing the US law. All we had to do was put the trip on our Canadian credit card and bring only Canadian currency. The Cuban officials don't even stamp your passport so there is no record of your trip in that document.
There are daily direct flights from Toronto to five different airports. I thought everything would go to a hub in Havana but not so. Canadian tourism is huge there and sought after. So much so that Canadians can get a visitor's visa for up to six months while citizens of other countries are limited to three months. We booked seven nights at the eight year old Blau Varadero Hotel. It is a beautiful four star facility and it is all inclusive. We felt like we were kids at summer camp. They have a huge open air lobby with a main lobby bar, evening piano bar, poolside bar, and finally a beach bar. In addition to the daily buffet meals they included three sit down dinners with wait service and table side musicians. There was a variety of evening entertainment as well.
We hired cars to take us on a couple of excursions. One to the old town of Varadero and another to Old Havana which is two hours away. Our Havana driver was a professional tour guide moonlighting with his own privately owned taxi service. We enjoyed a local's perspective on the current politics as well as the history from Columbus' landing through today.
The weather couldn't have been better. Around 80 in the day dipping to just below 70 at night. When we weren't on our day trips we were just relaxing without phones and internet. I called this our "hammock vacation". This also made two trips in one year to UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Old Havana and Old Quebec City.
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| A privately owned 1959 Buick parked near the harbour in Havana. Most of the vintage cars are government owned taxis. |
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| The National Capitol Building. It is said to be modelled after the US Capitol. It has never been used as a government building since the overthrow of Batista. — in Havana, Ciudad de la Habana. |
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| This church is in the town of Varadero |
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| The statue is dwarfed by the 359 foot tower. It is from this stage that Castro gave his speeches to a million people in Revolution Square. — in Havana, Ciudad de la Habana. |
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| Our view from the taxi as we pulled into Havana |
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| I found a certain charm in the neglected building exteriors |
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| Interior shots of The Ambos Mundos. This hotel was the home of Ernest Hemingway for years— in Havana, Ciudad de la Habana. |
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| This is a typical street scene in Old Havana |
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| Part of the water ballet entertainment our last full day at the resort |
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| Pure white sand beaches |
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| At one of the old squares |
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| This was our live Christmas Tree this year |
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| 1959 Ford in downtown Varadero |
Slide show of the best of our photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/blavery00/BestOfCuba?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJb_qa6E9dLXigE&feat=directlink
