Hostal Peregrino was our destination from the airport and our home away from home for the next 4 days. Our taxi driver left us by a tiny sign in a crumbly doorway, a cat had just had a litter of kittens in the interior doorway alcove, we stepped over them as she fed them. Up a couple of flights of stairs we entered a small room where we checked into our Hostel…we were lucky enough to have our own apartment….well, it was an apartment with two bedrooms that were each rented out.
Our private room, which would have been the Master, had an en suite, it had air conditioning, a ceiling fan and wooden shuttered windows.
There was a shared communal kitchen and lounge and the other bedroom had an exclusive bathroom off the kitchen – best of all there was a balcony off the lounge that looked out onto our street. It was breezy and wonderful, full of the sounds of the street and the families that lived in it.
The hub bub of voices were constant – people called to each other from their balconies, kids played in the street, old men sat in the doorways and read newspapers and cars and bike taxis rattled past.
It was dusk when we arrived, Rosie was itching to stretch her legs and get out and about in Havana, The Operator cut the strange cable ties off the bags…and found a note from the Cuban government saying they had searched our bags….that was nice of them to say and totally put an end to our fledgling smuggling operation.
Our apartment was a couple of kms away from the city center…Rosie had a restaurant in mind to go to for tea…parked outside were bicycle taxis…our only form of transport in this area, their owners were sitting in the doorways chatting. This was going to be our first real interaction with locals, Rosie needed to negotiate a ride into town.
This is how we roll…Rosie does the talking while The Operator handles the money. We go and stand by a taxi…Hola, says Rosie…5 guys walk over, seriously?…Rosie asks in faltering Spanish if they speak English…all shake their heads in the negative…great start. Rosie points at a taxi and thrusts forward her handwritten piece of paper with the name of the restaurant and the address. The men form a huddle, alot of debate and gesturing carries on amongst them…Rosie stands smiling…si,si,si they nod. The Spokesman then holds up his hand with five fingers…5 pesos he wants to charge me.
Old Street wise Rosie has read the online scam forums…she has learnt to counter back with under half of what is quoted and also ensure that that price is for BOTH of us, so not to get double dipped.
Rosie holds up two fingers and points to both of us….no, no, no, 5….counter back the gang….Rosie shakes her head and starts to walk away…The Operator looks surprised that Rosie has ended the negotiation and has opted to walk into town….nek minute…..Ok, Ok,Ok….our bicycle taxi dude is pulling up beside us.
Relieved and triumphant from her first barter encounter, Rosie sits back and enjoys the ride. Into town we go for dinner and cocktails!
Town is dimly lit, not a lot of street lighting and once again, no street signs are apparent. Our ride takes about 10 mins and we are deposited in front of a bar…this seems to be it.
We get a nice cool seat on the balcony overlooking the street…Rosie wasn’t going to be one of those tourists turning on their mobile phone flashlight to read the menu…it wasn’t that big any way. During the research for the trip Rosie had read about how there was not a lot of variety in Cuban food and the restaurants had pretty plain unimaginative menus as most restaurants were still government run and were subject to food sanctions. Yes, it was all totally true, in most restaurants you had the choice of fish, pork, beef, chicken or vegetables, cooked one way only, the way of the house, white rice and salads were common staple side dishes, . The majority of times when we sat down to dinner we were told first up what wasn’t available on the menu…in a couple of places, that was half the menu.
Still, the meals were plentiful, but the cocktails….ooh laa laa…there was no skimping on the rum or the sizes….$3 mojitos and pina coladas…keep em coming!
Tomorrow Rosie and The Operator start to explore Cuba proper…first though, we will give you a little insight on how Cuba works.
