I recently got back from a 10 day trip to Cuba and man oh man do I wish I could go back already! I went with one of my best friends, Danielle, and we met her friend (now boyfriend) Dan, in Havana. We flew in to Varadero and found a couple of fellow travelers to share a cab to Havana. I was fascinated with the eccentricities of Cuba as soon as we were on the road. Seeing cowboys dressed in what looked like clothing from the 1930’s driving horses and carriages along the highway with beautiful old cars whizzing past them made me feel like I was constantly seeing time machine bubbles into the past. Another odd site that caught my eye was a man standing beside the road, in the middle of nowhere, holding a plate of cheese (apparently it was for sale).

After meeting up with Dan at our casa particular (Cuban version of a B&B)  in Havana, we went off to wander the streets. Dan immediately showed his “awesome travel buddy” status when it became apparent that he already knew his way around and we didn’t constantly have to check a map to navigate. He took Danielle and I to the main squares and I just gawked at the beauty and personality of the city. I loved that everywhere we walked, live Latin music could be heard somewhere nearby. I wanted to photograph every person we passed – everyone was such an interesting character. The crumbling architecture made me think of the song “Let Go” by Frou Frou when she sings, “There’s beauty in the breakdown.”

That night, Dan took Danielle and I across a wide canal to sit on an old stone fortress wall with a view of Old Havana and the Malecon boardwalk, stretching 8 kms down the coast. It was such a beautiful view. After that, we meandered over to a nearby castle and Dan bribed the guard to let us go down and walk around in the dried up old moat. We then headed back to our Casa Particular and hung out on the beautiful rooftop patio, listening to music, talking and dancing.

The next couple days in Havana were filled with exploring and experiencing the amazing ambiance of Havana. I loved poking around the street markets and bought a cool camera from 1945 as well as some neat old photos and a pair of earrings. We checked out a really cool camera obscura high above Plaza Vieja, ate at outdoor bistros with live music, and meandered to our hearts content. With a lack of advertising, chain restaurants, and brand name labels, Havana really felt like its own little world. I’m glad we went in January as it’s apparently normal for it to be 45 degrees in the summer. One cool thing I wouldn’t mind seeing in the summer though is one of the crazy downpours where the streets flood and kids play in the water, surfing on pieces of styrofoam while holding on to the back of buses.

On our last night in Havana, it poured rain for the first half of the evening and we enjoyed it from the rooftop of our casa. The rain poured heavily on the tin roof while sheet lightening flashed outside. I love rainstorms on a warm evening. When the rain died down, we caught a beautiful old taxi with a bright red interior (a 1950’s Chevrolet, I think) to the Casa de la Musica to enjoy a live band. The band didn’t come on until after 1:00 a.m. but we stayed and danced for awhile. Everyone was paired up dancing salsa like professionals and Danielle and I made our way up to the front and did our own crazy dancing. haha. I’m hopeless at learning dance steps and wouldn’t try to out-salsa a Cuban anyways! Not possible. Afterwards, we went back to our rooftop patio, put some music on the portable speakers Danielle had brought (genius Danielle) and danced in the rain puddles on the roof. The night staff at the casa lit candles for us and made us drinks. Our very own DIY Havana nightclub. : )

Our last morning in Havana we had delicious cheap pizza for breakfast and got picked up by our taxi driver Rainel, who had been referred to me by an avid Cuba traveler before I came. I’ll leave off here and continue my next post with our journey to Trinidad, my favourite place we stayed in Cuba. Click here to view that post.

I don’t know if you can quite see it, but the lady below is smoking a cigar while doing her laundry. =)50 cent churros! YumCute little girl doing her best to wait patiently for the above churros.We stayed at a Casa Particular (Cuban version of a B&B) in Havana called Casa Emilio. The rooms were very simple but the cool lounge and our awesome rooftop patio made this place a winner in our books! Also, the food was awesome!Danielle (left) and I (I was having a bad hair day, ok? Cuba is humid! haha).Left: Dan & Danielle. Right: Random person checking out Danielle’s tattoos. This happened constantly and was highly amusing. 😀 Cubans found Danielle pretty fascinating! Tall, beautiful, blond and covered in tattoos – she stood out a mile away! haha.

Oh, Dan and Danielle. I love you guys. Traveling with these two was so incredibly fun. They have the best love story ever! I am not going to do it justice so I will just give the quick version. Twelve years ago, they were each others first kiss. They kept in touch over the years and really started to reconnect a few months ago (pretty sure they kept Skype in business in that time). Dan has been traveling for the last decade, working as a scuba diving instructor and was not too far away in Guatemala when he decided to come meet us for our trip in Cuba. It was obvious pretty immediately how perfect these two are for each other. It was pretty fun having front row seats to one of my best friends falling in love with a guy who has fast become a really good friend of mine too. I felt like I was watching an awesome romantic comedy the whole trip (where was the popcorn, Cuba?). I mean, just look at that grin on Danielle’s face in the photo below. She’s little-kid-in-a-candy-shop happy. : D I made sure to get lots of photos of these two as I thought it would be pretty special for them to look back on someday.