Viva la Revolucion

I had read about the launch of Cuba Cruises and this reminded me to post the photos (with comments of course) I took in Cuba while on a cycling tour.

I did the the tour some 5 years ago and I forgot the name of the company that organized the tour but there must be many of them by now.

What I remember is that first impression was not good at all. It was at the airport in Havana, so many questions, and the officers so serious. Couldn’t help it but compare with Mexico where we were waved through, no questions at all, and the officers were smiling, after all tourists were coming to the country.

Also, during the tour our guide asked at one of the hotels why the portions were so small and he was told something about how they were the ‘approved’ quantities. Again what a difference to Mexico. We checked out on Dec. 31 and our bus to the airport was supposed to leave around 9 pm. So we were not entitled to the festive evening meal but they gave us blue bracelets anyway so we could go to to the ‘big’ evening meal, they didn’t seem to care. No wonder I would go back to Mexico but not to Cuba, at least no too soon.

It is a church, but the flag has to be there, at least there is no portrait of Fidel

Cars from the Eastern block period – Polsky Fiat and Lada

Cars from the American period

Poster with Fidel – not the best place to put it – someone could inadvertently hit it with the foot

“Soviet tank used by Fidel Castro to hit the “Houston” warship equipped by the Yankee (!?) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for the mercenary invasion of April 1961 in the Bay of Pigs”

Could not figure out whether the painting had been defaced (a child with a mustache !) or it was the original and the message was that any child is man enough to defend the revolution