Varadero 26th January 2020
I had high expectations for this place, because of all the tourist dollars that must go through there, only to be slapped in the face with them when I saw the town and our casa
The town is run down and pretty scruffy, I suppose I was expecting something more like Mexico.
When I first saw the casa, I was ready to look on line for another one. We booked it on Airbnb and I wanted a whole casa which it was. It was by far the most expensive and worst casa we had stayed in, there are lovely casas in Varadero but because we decided to go there at the last minute they were already booked out.
Derek thought that it was ok, but you know he is really just a bushy from Cunnamulla. He recons that he has stayed in mining camps worse than our casa but the difference is that in a mining camp you get paid a shitload for staying in a shit house. The kids thought it was fine, it was just me, I should have remembered that I was in Cuba.
The casa did grow on me, it was your standard house for this area. Next door to us was a pub and behind us two old ladies who did the laundry. Juan our casa host, a lovely man, introduced me to them because I needed our laundry done. Their house was smaller than ours, when I went back there to deliver a second bag of laundry there were three young men early 20s maybe, at the house, well dressed and groomed. One could speak English and translated for me, I asked him if the lady was his grandmother, he just hugged her and said no but she is like my grandmother, the other old lady then gave him the biggest hug and said something to me in Spanish with the huge grin on her face, no idea what she said, but it was said with love. Cubans live very humbly, some more humble than others.
Juan brought us over some bananas and a fruit I had never tried before, a mamey sapote. It is the size of an orange, with a single pip. The skin of the fruit is thick with brown rough surface, the pulp is orangey red, soft and smooth in texture, the taste is unusual but sweet. A native fruit for this area.
Our casa was on the main street, BIG mistake, The old cars here have never and will never have an emissions test so they pump out tons of fumes. With the house opening right on the pavement and there being no glass in the windows, the fumes filled the house day and night from all the tourist taxis travelling to and from the resorts. Remember for next time - find a casa that is not on a major road.
