Varadero, Cuba
After being in Cuba for 3 days we decided to do a Varadero city tour. Our bus, no. 4523, arrived on time right to the minute. The insanely pleasant guide’s name was Susana and our group was made up of about 15 people, 3 of whom were about the size of the rest of the group! Our first stop was a house constructed by Al Capone in the 1940s. Unfortunately, because of the Revolution, he never got to see it in its completion. The house was amazingly lush by Cuban standards, it was the equivalent of a 4 bedroom Canadian house. It featured a back terrace that overlooked a beach that met the Caribbean Sea.
Our second stop was a makeshift craft market. It consisted of about 30 booths made from plywood and covered by tarp tent. The air in the enclosed market was extremely humid. So much so that at times it was hard to breathe. How the local vendors stayed beneath the tarp covered shanty town was beyond me. The vendors were very polite and not too pushy with the exception of one hyperactive lady that would not stop trying to sell us handbags. After 30 sweat-filled minutes, we were off to another craft market. This market was well constructed with log booths and palm leaf roofs. There were about 40 booths all about the same size as the last market and all with much the same merchandise for sale, the only thing that varied was the jewelry and there were much more wood carvings. There was also a small bar/snack bar in the center.
Our next stop was at the Varadero Golf Club where DuPont mansion once stood. This was a massive mansion converted into a hotel, country club, and bar. We headed upstairs through a really slender stairwell. It was only wide enough for 1 person. This lead to a bar on the top floor. Our fat friends had to take the elevator because they couldn’t fit in the stairwell. The bar was surrounded by the best view of the vacation so far. We had our complimentary Cuba Libre and then shortly after headed back to the bus.
The last stop was at “La Casa de Cafe” which was coffee, rum, and cigar heaven. There were some hipster kids sitting out front getting loaded which, I’m guessing, is what the Cuban youth does on a Sunday afternoon. The selection of rum and coffee was the same 5 brands that had been repeated throughout our vacation in gift shops along the way but the cigar selection was vast. After some testers and a couple of purchases, we climbed back on the bus, slightly buzzed, to head back to the resort. As we were passing by the rum soaked teens I couldn’t help to think that maybe they had the right idea because the Cuban sun suddenly seemed more tolerable.
Travelling Trev.