Flashback Friday: Cuba
- Lisa Tierney
- May 29, 2015
- 4 min read
This time last year we travelled somewhere I'd never really thought about visiting...a place I really only knew in history as having pissed off the US in the 60's, for being the birthplace of the image of an anti-communist icon (Che Guevera) and for bright vintage cars. And what a time was had. Good friends, bad food & glamorous crumbling buildings. Following, is a few of the highlights (and lowlights) of our time in Cuba.
The Saratoga Hotel (above), our grandoise (by Cuban standards) hotel opposite the famous Capitol building in Old Havana. Felt pretty ballin' sipping drinks on the rooftop pool bar thinking that Beyonce & Jay Z were maybe up here enjoying the same view when they stayed at the same hotel during their controversial Cuban trip.
(View of El Capitol from the Saratoga Rooftop Pool Bar)
Our friend Fry Zee made a new best friend for life...
The locals in Cuba were friendly, although - everybody is out to make a buck. Given that most Cubans earn just 225 pesos a month (US $9), this isn't surprising. It still does my head in that a brain surgeon in Cuba earns the same $9/month salary as a guy who picks up garbage. It also does my head in that anybody would actually bother going to University for 6 years to earn $9/month. Our first night out in Havana, where Fa & Andrei announced their engagement, Iven got behind the bar and showed the Cubans how to make an old fashioned, a drink outside their mojito and daquiri repertoire. We then somehow wound up at an ocean side party sipping straight Havana rum while I performed a dance move I like to call the 'Lazy Man's Twerk'.
(Iven at home behind the bar)
(Andrei, Fa, Fry Zee, Kiara, Iven & I after too much Havana Club) The next day, while our two newly engaged lovebirds were a little worse for wear, Kiara, Fry Zee, Iven and I ventured to the markets, where Kiara and I got some ghetto-fab braids. Fa didn't mention it, but I think she must have been pretty jealous of how awesome and glamorous we both looked. We took a guided tour of a cigar factory, where we encountered this badass grandma.
And we learnt the art of cigar rolling...
From Havana, we relocated to the resort town of Varadero to the Iberostar hotel....More like i-DERO-star. Whilst it looked pretty, the 'all inclusive' food consisted of non-descript mush and day old croquettes & the cocktails were almost undrinkable....almost. And luckily for us, we also found an arch nemesis crew to hate on for the duration of our stay, which really added to the whole experience. Honestly, who brings a boombox to the dining hall? Ass hat.
(Iberostar Laguna Azul in Varadero)
One by one, we all seemed to succumb to illness in some way or another. Drei was the first to be hit, and had been on struggle street since Havana. Once in Varadero he took a needle filled with unknown substance in the butt and was told by the hotel doctor to steer clear of the fish at the buffet. Here's a thought iDEROstar...if the house doctor tells patients to steer clear of the fish at the buffet, maybe you SHOULDN'T SERVE FISH AT THE BUFFET?!?! With Drei down, Fa started getting what we thought, was 'sympathy sickness'. That is, until we took shots at a little bar on the main strip of Varadero and 3 minutes later, Fa rushed to the footpath (near another groups table, thankfully not ours) and proceeded to blow chunks everywhere, leading to an early bow out. This couples illness later inspired a few lines in the following (poorly shot) video of our ride home in the "Brum" car, making up our own words to the famous song, Guantanamera.
Next to get sick was Fry Zee, coming down with a cold which unfortunately cut short our much anticipated Mexican fiesta night which consisted of no cheese fajita's, no guacamole, no corn chips and stale bread rolls. Oh, the first world horrors!! We took a boat out one day, where all we caught was poisonious Barracuda and a severe case of the drammo drowsies.
(If the party boat's a rocking, don't come a knockin'.....because we all took Dramamine and are now taking a really solid nap)
We also took a day trip out to swim with the Dolphins. We were paired with an evil genius dolphin named Poncholo, who I am pretty certain wanted to drown us all. We did get some cute photos with him before he turned surly though.
(Poncholo the Dolphin)
With Fry Zee & Kiara down for the count, Drei, Fa, Iven & I hit Varadero's premier nightclub...the name of which I forget. I think we could call it 'Mr World Wide' though - because it seemed to only exclusively play Pitbull. Exhibit A:
Our final night in Cuba was spent watching the sunset over the beach at a mansion looking place called Xanadu, drinking mojito's, smoking our Cubans and enjoying the company of good friends who live too far away. All the while looking forward to the next crewtang trip to Rio De Janeiro.
Is it October yet???
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