Cuba Day 2

It had to be a car for this blip :o)

A few more from the day here.

Locals, in fact anyone who's been in Cuba for more than a day or two, no doubt chuckle at the newcomers who coo and photograph every single classic car they see,as if it's the last one they're going to see. 

It's an amazing thing that they've managed to keep these beautiful models so pristine, both inside and out, and what's more amazing to me is that no modern manufacturer has seen fit to reintroduce these gorgeous designs to today's cars.

The day was spent in Havana. We took the random option and decided to see some key places, but in the main, to go and wander and find stuff.

It's amazingly colourful, cars and people and buildings. The people have a spirit of openness and friendliness, but inevitably most conversations you have with people on the street do turn to favours you can do for them or goods you can buy from them. It's OK if you're careful but even I who know what to expect in this aspect, found a friendly conversation about jazz music somehow led to Catherine and us being asked by his disabled brother to pay some currency (equivalent £45) to buy some baby milk for them. I gave them £5 for the conversation and we walked off. If you take a photo of a colourful lady with a cigar then she will literally barge through crowds to get to you to ask for payment for the photo! This happens the world over - I've seen in it Venice, Barcelona, etc, so I didn't even bother trying to get such photo's (and I didn't want to faff about getting the zoom lens on). 

*But* there was no con involved in this - no element of you being ripped off or being at risk, you just needed to be aware of it!

It was great to soak up the atmosphere and I could have watched the cars all day. It was a hot day and after a few hours we got back to our hotel and had a good meal (Italian. Yes I know).

In the hotel there was a cigar and rum bar, and we had to go in. As an ex-smoker of 40 a day I haven't dared go near a cigar for 15 years as I didn't want the temptation, but finally I felt confident that I could have one and not be tempted to inhale or go back to smoking. We told the man that we didn't know *what* we were doing with cigars, but we wanted to have a go. I had a Monte Cristo and I'm not sure what Catherine had, but we also had some aged Santiago rum (neat as it has to be in this situations apparently), and it was *awesome*.  The cigar tasted great and the rum even better. Other people in the bar sharing something that led to good conversation. Loved it :o)

And had no urge to take up smoking again :o)

A few more from the day here.