Cuba Trip #4 
Day 3
(Varadero Beach and Cigars)

7:30 Mass....and this time Denise joined our morning group

8:30 Breakfast...and the little nun that served us had made friends with many of the members in our Party.  She has a brother in a religious order near Salem, Oregon...we promised her we would visit him.

9:00 i walk with Jane from Cannon Beach to see if we can meet the Big Black man who offered to sell us cigars...when i asked the hotel door man...he knew the man i was looking for and told me that THIS hotel was exactly THAT a "Cigar Hotel" and they had a daily "tasting" party at 10 am

When i realized i might have gotten the Big Black man in trouble....we walked away...a young man walked up to us and said he heard that we were looking to buy cigars....we ignore him and did NOT answer his questions...he finally said that his Dad worked at the Cigar Hotel...oops

10:00 meet at the hotel lobby...and we walk 2 blocks to Van...our driver bribed the guard to allow him to get close to the convent

To the Beach we Go !! one with crutches, another with a cane...and Jimmy with HIS bathing suit
Since i knew the driver knew where we were going...i sat in the Back of the Van so that Ann and those in the back could HEAR my history and family stories....Gil sat in Shotgun

I know, i know...i talked too much, but that is just the teacher in me...and this was a rough group with half and half Republicans and Democrats...and i was also still NOT sure about our driver and how much he was "reporting" on this group

We drove through the Tunnel that goes Under the Havana Harbor.  First story, the French built the tunnel and Castro took it over and Claimed that the French had donated it to the Revolution

The group was FULL of questions about Las Tias, our house, the farm, the sugar mils, the castle, the prison stories of the sisters and Dad...how we escaped Cuba...etc

What would be next for Cuba ?  This was well educated group and world travelled.  Some had even READ before the trip about Cuba.

Then we saw it !! the Beautiful Water....we stopped at a tourist trap near a beautiful BIG bridge.  Shopping of course. Bano with no toilet paper and no toilet seats....welcome to Cuba and this was a TOURIST stop with many tourist buses....and a playing music band.

Then we drove through Matanza....where Hemmingway wrote about fishing and the Gaston had a "Beach house"....the Doloras Sugar Mill only 1 hour away !!

We see the Big Cargo ships in the Matanza harbor, now that the Havana Harbor has been reserved for the Cruise Ships....and for the first time Matanza seems MUCH bigger than it did before....maybe many of the workers fled Havana and moved here instead (??)  Yep, the population grew from 100,000 to 150,000 over the last 20 years (while the overall population of Cuba remains at about 12 million for past 20 years)

then comes the Draw Bridge (the only way onto Varadero) where regular Cubans can NOT cross over into Varadero Beach unless they have a "work permit" to work in the many Resorts on the peninsula....the Toll Plaza had been moved from the Draw Bridge to a spot West of the Bridge.

Then we first see the low income housing for the workers....then the housing for the middle class (govt and military)...and finally the Golf Course and the HUGE Resorts built by the Europeans in the 1980's BEFORE the collapse of the Russian Empire (1989).  the only way to appreciate these Resorts is to Google Earth it.  There is a private airport in Matanza where the small jets can land and wisk the tourist to the hotels (someone reported that there are 1 million visitors from Canada per year)...someone asked if Cuba was the Hawaii of the East Coast in the 1950's...i guess so
our driver finds this small restaurant called "Suarez Restaurant" !!!  amazing...the owner greets us Suarez-Rodriquez...a very proud man...and he tells me that he knows the Gaston Sugar Mill "Dolaros" very well...he has family living in Jovellanos the nearby city (20,000)

we are treat to a feast....wine, mojito's, beers, etc...final bill for 11 people (including the driver) is about $220 with $40 tip...the band plays American songs for the group....the owner gives us his card on the way out and says to tell La Familia Suarez about his restaurant in Varadero

Jimmy and Jane walked to the Beach.  By the time the group gets there....Jimmy is swimming...the ladies put their feet in the water....it is an absolutely GORGEOUS day...and the water could NOT look any Bluer.  Gil says it is the most beautiful water he has ever seen.  Gil is sporting his best Ernest Hemmingway beard.

We leave Jim there while he swims (big risk) and i take the group SHOPPING.  We eventually pose in front of this little Spanish Church and take a Group picture.  Denise knows someone who will make a picture book for all of us.  Cannot wait to see those pictures.

Back to Havana we go...but half way home we have to stop at El Banos...and some Pina Colada's.  After a few Rum drinks Cindy is feeling NO pain from her sprained ankle and dances up a storm with her husband Vern.  We have a video which i showed already to everyone in Bridge back in Oregon.

Now the Cigar Story !!