Tweet
Starting another thread as the previous grew arms & legs & this will cover the rest of our holiday, which won't take long as I was sick for most of it.
The day after the Partgas Party, we travelled to Varadero, Matanzas, which is a 3hr trip by coach from Havana. The hotel, The Grand was only 2yrs old & no complaints about the building but we did find annoying shortages, which of course is only a fraction that the local populace have to deal with on a daily basis.e.g. red wine wasn't available for half our stay,
There was a cigar lounge, where you could smoke inside, useful if raining or late at night. They had live music there & most were fag smokers but a fair few cigars were smoked. It was open two sides to other indoor spaces & one one side to the garden so any smoke was blown away quickly. And I came down with a serious case of 'manflu'. Gentlemen, I don't have to explain the severity of such a condition, as you know, just lower than childbirth on the pain in the arse scale! Especially so on a smoking holiday! This lasted for 4 days & I didn't smoke during this time.
Next day we went into Varadero town, using the bus that goes around all the hotels & picks up every half hour. We had lunch at a family restaurant, simple pizza & beer. They nipped across to the supermarket to buy the beer for us, cheap as chips in local currency. We paid in $ & received Cuban Pesos in return. Useful for small tips.
NB: We had taken Euros & Dollars, last time we were here there was a marked preference for Euro's. This time the preference was certainly for Dollars & only managed to get rid of Euros at the hotel & some shops. I would recommend carrying both & my Halifax Debit card (Visa) was accepted after several attempts to pay for cigars but not my Capital One Visa Card.
We found 'our private' beach, going through the rear of the mall, through the scrub, which wasn't easy as it had overgrown since our initial visit. We soon found the reason why, they had built a wooden bridge, just a little further down the beach to take you from the pavement to the beach so no more hacking through the undergrowth necessary. When we found this lovely beach we were practically the only ones there but now it had been discovered & there were quite a few people about but still nicer than our hotel.
After we walk miles to find the LCDH, only of course to be disappointed. Back in 2011, they never wanted to let me into the walk in humi but eventually I did blag my way in. Not so this time, they were certain that everything available was on display at the counter & the walk in just held more of the same. arguments about checking box dates are of course irrelevant as everything will have a 2025 stamp. The only temptation was a box of ERDM DT @ $8 each. As my fav small cigar & Europe prices being E12, it was tempting but I was looking for a box of Exclusivos, which I had seen & not bought at the Nacional.
The following day we took an excursion to Santa Clara, Trinidad & Cienfuegos. These were places we hadn't visited previously & we really wanted to visit them, especially Trinidad, as it has such a reputation of a beautiful city. It was a long day on the coach & the stops were necessarily short. The roads, once off the national highway were as bad as bad parts of the UK for potholes but there were so many miles of them, I did fear for my back as we bounced along.but luckily my glass back didn't crack.
Santa Clara's claim to fame is el Che & his mausoleum is there. Now I am not a fan, I read his motorcycle diaries & appreciate what he did up to then but what he did after the revolution, including summary executions on their enemies & even those who had served with them but then expect more improvements & freedoms, means he is no hero to me. I reckon if he hadn't died in Bolivia, him & Fidel wouldn't have fallen out at one point, there was only room for one. Once dead he was a convenient icon for the West & you'll see many representations of him in Cuba & almost none of Fidel, very clever.
I saw the museum which was pretty poor in detail & artifacts IMHO but would go into the hallowed space that claims to hold his ashes. The rules were no hats, no cameras, no pic's, silence & veneration. They had made him a saint, which is a bit rich for socialist/communists.
Trinidad for lunch, where we dined at the best best hotel in town, the Royalton Mystique. Lunch was simple pork & beans ect, soft drinks, tried to buy a beer but was too difficult!
After we walked into the town centre. The guide had mentioned that the cobbles on the roads were different from Havana, he wasn't kidding! Instead of round pebble size stones, there were random larger rocks, worse smooth with time but on steep roads, I imagine a nightmare to walk on when wet, especially for the elderly. The beggars saw us coming & were far more persistent than in Havana & included many children. We went to a cafe & had a local rum cocktail & had some live music. I had to use the toilet & found there was paper (never guaranteed so carry your own but & a lady at the door to take your money. No light either so the flashlight on your phone is a useful app!.
We had a little wonder & the buildings in the main square were reasonably attractive & we did climb up the bell tower of St Frances & took a few pic's. One the whole, I'd say Trinidad is over rated & probably not worth going out of your way for, glad we crossed it off our list but the West & Pinar del Rio is far more attractive & of interest to us cigar lovers.
On the way home, we stopped last at Cienfuegos, the only city in the French style in Cuba, We arrived at dusk & by the time we had got off the bus & taken a couple of pic's, it was completely dark & then there was a blackout. The only one we personally experienced in Cuba. The whole timing thing was a shame because this town looked the best preserved & most attractive & I would have liked to seen more. We had left at 07:30 & returned around 21:30 so a full day out.
The next two days we stayed around the hotel so my wife could catch some rays. After four days I was feeling up to a cigar & I smoked a giant Panatela, rolled by Papos & gifted by Andy. matched with Coffee & Club Havana 7. Followed up with a Monte Especiales No2 2008 with Crystal & in the evening, after a speciality meal a Cohiba Exquisitos 2011 in the cigar lounge, with more rum!
Next & last two days & had the runs so again no further smokes. We went on an excursion for a speedboat ride on a river & horseback riding on a nature reserve. Compared with our previous experiences these were underwhelming, the horse ride being 200 meters wasn't what we had expected but in my fragile state, probably all I could manage anyway.
The day we left we checked out at 11:00 & had to wait until 16:00 for our coach back to Havana airport. I was fined $12 for losing my beach towel on one of the sun beds, no doubt someone stole it coz they lost theirs & didn't want to pay the fine. I explained I could have done the same but that would be unfair to others & the only reply, well you need to 'find' one before you leave. So I just paid up, otherwise the staff would have had to cover for the loss.
At the airport I had high hopes for finding something interesting but in the end, the best I could find was Punch Coronations Tubos. For some reason I was rather disappointed when I opened them to find they were in the modern green livery, my prev have all been in silver tubes. Still I checked them all, no mould, lovely aroma & they are currently in the back of the Boli Cave to age. Bags went through OK, no one asked for receipts for the cigars (but I would always recommend keeping them) & I was worried about the dozen cigars I had bought from the UK & hadn't smoked due to my illness as I couldn't prove I had bought them off hte street ect. Just meant I couldn't buy a 100 duty free but not an issue, nothing else I wanted anyway.
Most annoying thing at the airport, the incredibly limited food available basically, vending machines or a burger, not even fries. Must be the worst airport for food, when they have a captive audience, hanging around for 2-3hrs waiting for a flight.
Long flight back, no delays & we got home by 21;30 to the relief the cat sitter. All in all, a nice break but we both agreed it was our Cuban swansong.
adding pic's
Saving & will continue.
The day after the Partgas Party, we travelled to Varadero, Matanzas, which is a 3hr trip by coach from Havana. The hotel, The Grand was only 2yrs old & no complaints about the building but we did find annoying shortages, which of course is only a fraction that the local populace have to deal with on a daily basis.e.g. red wine wasn't available for half our stay,
There was a cigar lounge, where you could smoke inside, useful if raining or late at night. They had live music there & most were fag smokers but a fair few cigars were smoked. It was open two sides to other indoor spaces & one one side to the garden so any smoke was blown away quickly. And I came down with a serious case of 'manflu'. Gentlemen, I don't have to explain the severity of such a condition, as you know, just lower than childbirth on the pain in the arse scale! Especially so on a smoking holiday! This lasted for 4 days & I didn't smoke during this time.
Next day we went into Varadero town, using the bus that goes around all the hotels & picks up every half hour. We had lunch at a family restaurant, simple pizza & beer. They nipped across to the supermarket to buy the beer for us, cheap as chips in local currency. We paid in $ & received Cuban Pesos in return. Useful for small tips.
NB: We had taken Euros & Dollars, last time we were here there was a marked preference for Euro's. This time the preference was certainly for Dollars & only managed to get rid of Euros at the hotel & some shops. I would recommend carrying both & my Halifax Debit card (Visa) was accepted after several attempts to pay for cigars but not my Capital One Visa Card.
We found 'our private' beach, going through the rear of the mall, through the scrub, which wasn't easy as it had overgrown since our initial visit. We soon found the reason why, they had built a wooden bridge, just a little further down the beach to take you from the pavement to the beach so no more hacking through the undergrowth necessary. When we found this lovely beach we were practically the only ones there but now it had been discovered & there were quite a few people about but still nicer than our hotel.
After we walk miles to find the LCDH, only of course to be disappointed. Back in 2011, they never wanted to let me into the walk in humi but eventually I did blag my way in. Not so this time, they were certain that everything available was on display at the counter & the walk in just held more of the same. arguments about checking box dates are of course irrelevant as everything will have a 2025 stamp. The only temptation was a box of ERDM DT @ $8 each. As my fav small cigar & Europe prices being E12, it was tempting but I was looking for a box of Exclusivos, which I had seen & not bought at the Nacional.
The following day we took an excursion to Santa Clara, Trinidad & Cienfuegos. These were places we hadn't visited previously & we really wanted to visit them, especially Trinidad, as it has such a reputation of a beautiful city. It was a long day on the coach & the stops were necessarily short. The roads, once off the national highway were as bad as bad parts of the UK for potholes but there were so many miles of them, I did fear for my back as we bounced along.but luckily my glass back didn't crack.
Santa Clara's claim to fame is el Che & his mausoleum is there. Now I am not a fan, I read his motorcycle diaries & appreciate what he did up to then but what he did after the revolution, including summary executions on their enemies & even those who had served with them but then expect more improvements & freedoms, means he is no hero to me. I reckon if he hadn't died in Bolivia, him & Fidel wouldn't have fallen out at one point, there was only room for one. Once dead he was a convenient icon for the West & you'll see many representations of him in Cuba & almost none of Fidel, very clever.
I saw the museum which was pretty poor in detail & artifacts IMHO but would go into the hallowed space that claims to hold his ashes. The rules were no hats, no cameras, no pic's, silence & veneration. They had made him a saint, which is a bit rich for socialist/communists.
Trinidad for lunch, where we dined at the best best hotel in town, the Royalton Mystique. Lunch was simple pork & beans ect, soft drinks, tried to buy a beer but was too difficult!
After we walked into the town centre. The guide had mentioned that the cobbles on the roads were different from Havana, he wasn't kidding! Instead of round pebble size stones, there were random larger rocks, worse smooth with time but on steep roads, I imagine a nightmare to walk on when wet, especially for the elderly. The beggars saw us coming & were far more persistent than in Havana & included many children. We went to a cafe & had a local rum cocktail & had some live music. I had to use the toilet & found there was paper (never guaranteed so carry your own but & a lady at the door to take your money. No light either so the flashlight on your phone is a useful app!.
We had a little wonder & the buildings in the main square were reasonably attractive & we did climb up the bell tower of St Frances & took a few pic's. One the whole, I'd say Trinidad is over rated & probably not worth going out of your way for, glad we crossed it off our list but the West & Pinar del Rio is far more attractive & of interest to us cigar lovers.
On the way home, we stopped last at Cienfuegos, the only city in the French style in Cuba, We arrived at dusk & by the time we had got off the bus & taken a couple of pic's, it was completely dark & then there was a blackout. The only one we personally experienced in Cuba. The whole timing thing was a shame because this town looked the best preserved & most attractive & I would have liked to seen more. We had left at 07:30 & returned around 21:30 so a full day out.
The next two days we stayed around the hotel so my wife could catch some rays. After four days I was feeling up to a cigar & I smoked a giant Panatela, rolled by Papos & gifted by Andy. matched with Coffee & Club Havana 7. Followed up with a Monte Especiales No2 2008 with Crystal & in the evening, after a speciality meal a Cohiba Exquisitos 2011 in the cigar lounge, with more rum!
Next & last two days & had the runs so again no further smokes. We went on an excursion for a speedboat ride on a river & horseback riding on a nature reserve. Compared with our previous experiences these were underwhelming, the horse ride being 200 meters wasn't what we had expected but in my fragile state, probably all I could manage anyway.
The day we left we checked out at 11:00 & had to wait until 16:00 for our coach back to Havana airport. I was fined $12 for losing my beach towel on one of the sun beds, no doubt someone stole it coz they lost theirs & didn't want to pay the fine. I explained I could have done the same but that would be unfair to others & the only reply, well you need to 'find' one before you leave. So I just paid up, otherwise the staff would have had to cover for the loss.
At the airport I had high hopes for finding something interesting but in the end, the best I could find was Punch Coronations Tubos. For some reason I was rather disappointed when I opened them to find they were in the modern green livery, my prev have all been in silver tubes. Still I checked them all, no mould, lovely aroma & they are currently in the back of the Boli Cave to age. Bags went through OK, no one asked for receipts for the cigars (but I would always recommend keeping them) & I was worried about the dozen cigars I had bought from the UK & hadn't smoked due to my illness as I couldn't prove I had bought them off hte street ect. Just meant I couldn't buy a 100 duty free but not an issue, nothing else I wanted anyway.
Most annoying thing at the airport, the incredibly limited food available basically, vending machines or a burger, not even fries. Must be the worst airport for food, when they have a captive audience, hanging around for 2-3hrs waiting for a flight.
Long flight back, no delays & we got home by 21;30 to the relief the cat sitter. All in all, a nice break but we both agreed it was our Cuban swansong.
adding pic's
Saving & will continue.
Comment