Tuesday 16 January 2024

Cuba Day 7, January 16, 2024

Our last day in paradise, is always a little melancholy on this beautiful sunny day. Saying goodbye to the wonderful Cubans we have met. We are bringing back lots of loonies and toonies which we have exchanged for bills as banks will only take paper money in exchange for pesos. Some visitors tip with coins which have no value. It is a hard life in Cuba. They are so grateful for any help.

At the Port Royal pavilion it was Spanish day with a tasty paella for lunch. One last swim and walk on the beach. The water was incredibly calm compared to yesterday. Gilberto’s band was playing again at the Rock House. I was happy to pass on a few sets of bass strings to the bassist, the last of what I brought down for musicians.

Tonight’s final dinner is Japanese, then to pack for tomorrow’s bus ride to the airport at 7:30am. We should be home at around dinner time. Not looking forward to the snow and cold but happy we are being picked up by Red Car for a stress free ride.














































Monday 15 January 2024

Cuba Day 6, January 15, 2024

A few days ago I was walking by the Rock House. It is a small fifteen table octagonal open air bar. Occasionally bands play there, sometimes full acoustic and sometimes with an electric bass. This day, a musician was taking a break on a bench seat. I stopped to chat, but he couldn’t speak English so he waved over the main man. I asked if he would like a tuner as I had heard that Cuban musicians are in need of tuners and respective batteries. I brought three with me and packs of batteries. I went to our room and brought them down along with a set of strings. He was very appreciative. He took me over to meet the band as they were taking a break at the back of the Rock House. I asked the bass player if he would like some strings as I also brought a few packs with me. I told them that I had a carbon fibre travel guitar. When I retrieved the strings for him, I also brought down my guitar. They were in awe. They asked me to play a song so I played Cupcake which mentions Cuban cigars and Old Havana. The guitar player really got into playing along with me as they crowded around me. They loved it. What a highlight this was. 

This morning the buffet didn’t have any coffee. A Japanese man was complaining loudly so that everyone could hear. He forgot he was in Cuba lol. After breakfast we went to the lobby bar and had an espresso. Coffee was also available at the Rock House. 

Today was Port Royal party day at the pavilion. The band never showed up but the recorded music was playing at a steady 80 decibels. Lunch was ok. We left and headed to our favourite hang-out, Rock House. We spent the afternoon drinking rose wine and listening to another great Cuban band, they were awesome - trumpet, percussionist, bassist, keyboards and singer/shaker. At the break, I gave the singer one of the tuners and battery packs. I told him about my carbon fibre travel guitar and brought it down to show him. He asked me to play a song for him and the band. We were at the back of the Rock House. Again I played Cupcake. He loved the song and the guitar and asked if he could buy it to give to his 9 year old son. At the end of the day, I gifted it to him for his son. 


Sunday 14 January 2024

Cuba Day 5, January 14, 2024

Another sunny day in paradise while the sand flea bites are becoming more numerous. We claimed loungers around the pool before we went for our buffet breakfast. Once we settled, we kept moving our loungers into the shade of the exercise building until we went for lunch at the Rock House for mini hamburgers topped with a slice of tomato and cucumber. 

We headed down to the beach and walked to the most easterly end of the Veradero Peninsula . In places, we walked in shallow water and then on sand bars. Too bad I didn’t have my phone to take pictures.  It was cloudy so the sun we got was filtered and not burning. Back to our pool bar for a rum while we watched the pool aerobics. We stopped by the Rock House and Jill asked if they had any Canadian coins they needed to be changed into paper money. In Cuba, you cannot convert coins or ragged paper money at the bank. They were grateful and presented us with loonies and toonies and ragged fives which we traded for crisp bills.

Cuba Day 4, January 13, 2024

What you have to protect yourself from is sand fleas. Despite our efforts to protect ourselves, we each have several bites. Their bites are itchy but you should not scratch. I hate being bitten which might explain us making haste through the sand to the beach for a walk and a long swim then hustling back to the pool area where the rum runs free and the water is refreshing, not like some warm pools we’ve been in. 

Today was Canada Day at the pavilion by the beach. A guitarist played along with backing tracks of rock songs while Turkey was being served for lunch. Sadly there was no tourtiere. Back to the beach for a swim and walk.

Dinner was in the Italian restaurant. Jill had spaghetti bolognese and I had pizza. Jill loved the spaghetti however my pizza was just ok. We finished our evening at the awesome lobby bar with an espresso and brandy. It was excellent. We left when the piano player hooked up with an annoying loud female singer. Yikes!

Cuba Day 3, January 12, 2024

We woke up to a clear blue sky. Breakfast at the buffet was a cornucopia to satisfy any taste. We opted for omelettes with chorizo and cheese. The buns are baked daily, soft and delicious. Butter however is in short supply and generally only available at the a La carte restaurants of which we can go to three. We are booked into Italian, International, and Japanese which is group seating around a tapan. Beach day finally. 

We were set up with loungers just long enough to lay out our towels then into the beautiful azure blue water. It was calm and a beautiful temperature. The water was not too deep so we could swim out quite far and still touch sand. It was heavenly. Beach walks seemed to go on forever, then a drink from the beach bar. We ordered two Cuba Libres. Oddly, they were missing the squeeze of half a lime due to shortages so we got rum and coke, the shortage version. Off to the buffet for lunch. Our afternoon was by the fabulous pools for the music and the dance classes, not for us but just as observers of people having fun.

Cuba Day 2, January 11, 2024

Today is still cloudy with occasional showers. We spent some time exploring the expansive property. Paradisus Princess del Mar was built 20 years ago and those who worked here from the beginning bemoaned it’s decline although it was not overly apparent. We found the food to be plentiful and generally tasty although we did bring hot sauce and salt. There is a tipping culture here which is simply to help Cubans who suffer from a low quality of life. 








Friday 12 January 2024

Cuba Day 1, Jan 10, 2024

Arriving at customs was chaos.. The lines to each agent were like a wilder-beast stampede.  It took us 1 1/2 hours to clear

We arrived in the rain. Our classic car which took us to our resort was a ‘57 piece of shit. Actually it was a Merc, with plastic covered seats, only one wiper working at top speed and rain splashing us through the space between the windows and the convertible roof. The driver had a cloth to keep wiping the rain which was coming through and to wipe down the steamed up windshield. $50 US, not worth it. It was an hour quicker than the bus, but still, not great.

Our attitude is go with the flow, so it didn’t matter. 

We met up with Jill’s brother, sister in law and their friends who were leaving the next day. We had a lovely afternoon and dinner together.



















Cuba Day 7, January 16, 2024

Our last day in paradise, is always a little melancholy on this beautiful sunny day. Saying goodbye to the wonderful Cubans we have met. We ...