DISCOMBOB'S BLOG: Fun in Havana

After struggling to find a good mix of photos to split Havana into interesting posts, I have decided to start off with some typical cheesy tourist pics of us.

On the Malecon, the Sea Point style promenade along the coast, which provides for quite a lot of excitement as the waves crash into the barrier, sending spray and splashes everywhere.

mmmmm, Pizza! Eating pizza off the street was a regular habit of ours when we wanted to save some money. Cuba is pretty confusing, as it has 2 different currencies, Pesos, and Pesos Convertible (CUP and CUP). CUC are meant to be used mainly by tourists, and for more expensive things like bus trips, eating out etc. CUP are mainly for the locals, but tourists can use them to buy street food and other very cheap items. There are 25 CUP to 1 CUC, and what gets confusing is that on price lists, they are both displayed with a $ sign, so you can't always tell right away if something is CUP, and thus really cheap, or CUC, and thus expensive.
Luckily, street pizzas were in CUP, and cost about 50p for a pizza!!

PS: Don't you dig my Che hat :o)

Our hosts for the 1st 2 nights. Zsuzsi had some contacts in Cuba, so we got to stay with some locals in their house, instead of a Casa Particular.

Zsuzsi dancing in the streets with a local Cuban Jamaican. What looks like snow is the spray from the waves crashing over the Malecon.

Outside El Floridita, one of 2 of Hemingways favourite bars.
Sadly, the timing was always wrong for us to go and get a drink, and we always planned to go back and get one, but it never happened.

More spray from the waves.

Our first taste of Cuban coffee. I am not a big coffee drinker, but enjoyed the Cuban coffee quite a bit, It comes in really small shots, and is semi-strong and really sweet. This particular cup cost us about 5p - bargain rate!