NO getting used to this heat!

I thought the second day would be easier, but it wasn't. The heat was almost unbearable and all I wanted to do was swim! After breakfast, I packed up and headed by cycle taxi to my new casa.

He had his boom box blaring! 

I had received information from my tour leader at my last casa and I was kind of disappointed to be leaving to a new place as it was where we were meeting that evening. After dropping my bag off at the new place, which seemed pretty nice, I headed to find a pool. I went to Parque Central where the Iberostar pool is rumoured to let in outside guests for a price. Nope, turns out they don't, or they don't admit it. Next, I went to Hotel Saratoga which was also on my list, but they also said they don't allow that. The other hotels on my list were also nos. While I understand, I'm kind of bummed to not be enjoying the heat from the water. The beach would be lovely too but I'd need an umbrella, which I don't have. Instead, I wandered around, snapping pictures, before finding a nice place for lunch. 

I had a lemonade, and pork tacos. They were delicious. 

I sat for awhile, watching people, as I enjoyed the breeze of fans inside the restaurant. I chatted with 2 guys next to me before heading off. I went to find the train cemetery, which sounded cool, but had no luck finding it.

At this point, it was late enough to head back to my new casa and check in. Plus, I really needed a cold drink and a break from the heat. When I arrived, the guy brought me up a winding staircase to the top floor, where I was sharing a room with another girl on my tour. I knew that this was a possibility as when I signed up I said I would share. But now that I'm here, I have to say I am sort of disappointed. It was so nice to be able to have my own space. As we made our way up, he handed me a letter from my tour guide and a souvenir from my tour company. Once I put my stuff down, I showed him the other letter I had received. Both had different meeting places. He left to go figure it out. Well, it turns out there is another Kirsty and she's taking the other tour! What are the chances! Turns out the meeting place is here in my casa, thank goodness! We are also closer to restaurants here. I sat in my room with ac and a fan and finally cooled down. 

I met my tour group and they all seemed pretty cool. Although, there always has to be an annoying one in the group....My room mate Diana is really great. She's also a teacher and is from the US. Everyone is either from the US, Australia or me and a girl from Slovenia! Our guide, Orledis, is great. He spoke to us for about an hour about some of the things we needed to know, then we headed out for a delicious meal. That was the end of our night, so Diana and I went up and got ready for bed and chatted. I think I'll be glad to have a room mate after all. I am definitely looking forward to seeing Cuba! 

Havana/Habana

I woke up and headed into the dining room which was just outside my room. The table was all set but nobody was there, so I didn't really know what to do with myself. A lady stood outside the front door, on the street but didn't come in when she saw me so I busied myself looking at the artwork until other guests started to appear and breakfast was served. It turns out the other 4 guests had just finished their tour with the same company and they said it was great! Thank goodness. Unfortunately, they also told me that there is no such thing as free wifi in Cuba. You need to buy a wifi card and then find a wifi hotspot. OMG. My dad was probably panicking. Cuba, of course, is also on the list of exceptions for my ability to get a phone plan. What a bummer. I felt so disoriented and disorganized since I usually rely on Google to figure things out. I had been so busy with house stuff the last few weeks that I hadn't really looked into Havana. Plus with the doozy of a travel day I'd had, I just wasn't feeling myself. The girls were so nice and over a plate of fruit, eggs cooked my way, buns, juice, and tea, they told me all their best tips. They gave me a map and one of the girls even took me out and tried to help me find a proper map and a wifi card, before sending me in the right direction to get them. I walked along a boardwalk next to the water and enjoyed the view, and tried not to think about how hot it was. 

One of the girls recommended the hop off, hop on bus tour and I decided that might be just what I needed today. I found the place and bought a ticket. I decided to do the loop before figuring out what to do. For 2 hours, in the hot sun, I enjoyed the sights of Havana.

As we headed back, I got off at Parque Central where I knew there was wifi. I headed into one of the fancy hotels and purchased 2, 1 hour wifi cards and then enjoyed a break in the air conditioned lobby. After 30 minutes, I decided to head out and find some food. I wasn't actually very hungry, with the heat and all, but knew I should eat something. After wandering around for a little while, I finally found a small local pizza place. I got a piping hot, individual sized pizza to go. Wandering around, I munched in the shade of a square.

Some pictures from my wanderings....

I didn't want to go back to the casa until I was done for the day as it was a bit out of the way. I decided to go back on the bus tour as there was a pretty sculpture I really wanted a picture of and then I figured I'd use the wifi before heading in for the night. 

Apparently motorbikes use buses in Havana? (Update: bicycles, motorbikes, and pedestrians aren't allowed in the tunnel in Havana so they have a bus just for motorbikes)

The hot sun was so intense that once I got the picture of the sculpture I headed below to get out of the heat. My plan had been to get off and go back to the start with a different bus, but I was on the last bus of the day, so it seemed I'd have to get off and walk or stay on. It was too hot outside to do much more walking. While the inside of the bus was hot, there wasn't the blazing sun beating down on me the whole time. Beside the open window, I got a bit of a breeze. I had only slept about 5 hours so I was pretty tired, and could feel myself nodding off. The lady had said it would be a 1 hour bus ride, but it turned into 2. I was extremely groggy by the time I got back to the square near my casa. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite ready to go back as I knew I'd need to eat dinner first. I wandered around and finally chose a nice spot. There was live music and something about the place called me in. I didn't feel that hungry but knew I had to eat so ordered the stewed beef with veggies that is common in Cuba. It came with rice and sweet potatoe, and was delicious.

My menus!

I also decided to have a mojito, since Cuba is famous for their rum! It was strong!

After the great meal, where there happened to be wifi, I decided to head back.

 By the time I showered and blogged a bit, it was time for bed. Thankfully there is ac and a fan in the room!

My room.

Up, up, and away -Travel Day

I definitely know better than to be so disorganized. But with everything going on with my house, my head has not been preparing for a vacation. I could pack pretty quickly if I had to, and I had pulled several items out and laid them on the bed. The problem was more that I didn't put my load of laundry in until 10:30pm the night before my flight, and that I didn't discover I had packed (in boxes) all my travel items, such as travel towels, sleep sac, and pouches for organizing, until about midnight when I was ready to put everything together. Luckily, I found an old travel towel that isn't my favourite but will work in a pinch. I finally went to bed at 1:30 am, setting my alarm for 7:15 so I'd have more time to get organized and also because I had someone coming to pick up a dog kennel I had put up for sale. You'd think I'd have slept terribly since I wasn't technically fully packed, but in fact I slept like a log. Not long enough though, I was exhausted when my alarm went off. So not only was I racing around, throwing my still wet laundry into the dryer, but I was also trying to make sure that the garbages were all empty, and the place was neat and organized for when my realtor comes while I'm away. The plan was to leave at 9:00, but in true Kirsty fashion, I looked at the clock as we were leaving and it was 9:30. Thankfully, Ian had offered to take me to the airport and also to do the dishes while I packed, and take out the recycle and garbage. He was a life saver. You'd also think that I'd calm down once I got in the car, but no, I decided I had too much stuff and started going through my bag. This also happened when I went on my big trip....déjà vu! I took a few things out of my small bag and then decided to unzip my backpack in the back, while I sat in the front. I grabbed the bag of almonds I had bought as a snack.....and the whole thing dumped into my bag and all over the back seat. This is the point where I should have stopped. Nope, I still went through my bag and then was panicking because I was later than I thought I'd be at the airport and now my bag was wide open and had to be put back together. I managed to get it put back together and made it to security without there being too massive a line up. It still took me about 30-45 minutes to get through though. And...just because it wasn't my day, security told me I had too many liquids. Even though I've never closed the TSA approved plastic bag before, apparently now it had to seal. Annoyingly, I had to ditch a brand new jar of face and body cream, a brand new sunscreen, and makeup (which thankfully was pretty much empty). I begged and pleaded  to keep it all and I'm pretty sure the lady would have let me but her boss was watching the whole ordeal. At least I kept my bug spray! It really just was not shaping out to be a good day. I couln't relax once at the gate either because I was worried that there'd be no room in the overhead compartment since I was zone 5. There was tons of room as it turns out. It was a nice big plane and I had tons of leg room. I sat beside a nice guy named Alex who is from Calgary but lives in Toronto. He was a bit of a nervous flyer so I think the chatting helped him, and the time went by very quickly. Once in Toronto, I discovered that I didn't have to go through customs or security so wouldn't be losing any more liquids! Phew, one good thing finally went my way. I wandered around a little then headed to my gate. Checking one of the tv's I discovered my flight was delayed by 2 hours. I wandered towards the new gate on the other side of the terminal, and settled in. As I sat, my gate changed 3 more times before I finally headed to the new spot of departure. As I did, I started to worry about what would greet me in Cuba. I was already nervous arriving at 10:40, my new arrival time would be close to 1am! Usually this wouldn't stress me out because I could contact the right people, however, I didn't make the bookings and had nothing but international phone numbers to go by. My dad came to the rescue and found a Canadian number. The guy coulnd't do much but he reassured me that chances were, everything would be fine. 

Finally, it was time to board. I was flying Air Canada Rouge, my least favourite airline, but actually it wasn't too bad. I had an aisle which helped the claustrophobia. There was a substantial difference in leg room between my two flights, with Rouge being quite a few inches less. The flight was uneventful and I read for most of the time. The declaration cards were passed out and were so complicated. Everyone kept asking what we needed to fill out and one of the flight attendants was more than grumpy about it. Finally, we made it. Coming off the plane was like hitting a wall, it was so humid! I lined up for passport control, choosing the slowest line, of course! Once through I had to put my bags through a screening machine. The 5 security ladies standing there didn't even look at the screen, fine by me! I loved that they were all wearing fishnet stocking with designs in them with their uniforms! I was one of the first to leave the secure area since I only had carry on. There were names and signs everywhere, with people calling out to me. I was starting to get nervous when I didn't see my name. Finally, near the back, I saw the tour company logo and headed there. He led me to a taxi and also got in. As we were leaving I thought I better ask if it's actually me he's picking up! Luckily, I was the right passenger. We arrived at the casa close to 2 am. He rang the bell, banged on the door but, nothing. I could tell he was getting really frustrated. I asked if they knew I was coming and he said they did. Finally, the next door opened and a guy was there. My door opened too, but it was a guest who heard what was happening and came down to check, which was really sweet, but maybe slightly unsafe? Anyways, the pickup guy got out of there as fast as he could and the man from the casa led me in. I assumed that he was taking me in but it wasn't my place since we had been ringing the other bell. He led me to a room and told me what time breakfast was at, without speaking any English! Haha, there were a lot of hand gestures and luckily I could figure out "ocho"! The room was clean, there was sort of ac and at least a huge fan! I didn't think I'd sleep that well, and it did take me awhile to fall asleep but then I slept until my alarm went off. Thank goodness that travel day is over!!!