Havana - Cuba

Day 1 of our Cuba adventure also marked out 7th anniversary! We unfortunately did not get a chance to do much celebrating due to most of the day spent traveling from Playa del Carmen nursing a slight hungover from our night before activities. After touching down in havana we got taken for a literal and figurative ride by a friendly but obviously scheming cab driver to our stunning hotel the Nacional. Built in the 1920's the hotel has had it's share of interesting guests, including the us mafia in the 50's. While the hotel was stunning the staff were less so, with our dinner waitress treating us with what can only be described as contempt. A bit Basil Fawlty. After we had finished our pretty average dinner and got up to return to our room, the tone of her voice sounded more like she was to say 'fuck you very much' instead of 'thank you very much'. Perhaps it was because we paid on our room, which the staff seem pissed at, perhaps because they can't accidentally forget to bring your change - which we saw happen. Alas that is what you get when you stay in hotels that are state run (pretty much all are). Public service hospitality, not a good mix.

Palacio Nacional courtyard

Day 2, happy to check out of our hotel we went in search for some more appropriate accommodation (we only intended on staying at the Nacional one night so we had a confirmed destination on arrival) and checked out a few of the 'Casa Particulars' close by and checked into one hosted by the very friendly Eddie. Casa Particulars are essentially private accommodation, like bed and breakfasts where you stay in people's homes who have spare rooms and most include a private bathroom. After 'check-in' we tucked into a bit of lunch at waoo snack bar - a bar/restaurant we had read about in an age/smh article about the cuban food revolution. We were not disappointed, especially compared to the night before's mediocre offering. We then decided to try out luck with another hop on hop off bus, however this time it was a lonely planet mention so we felt reasonably confident it would make up for our poor experience in Mexico! The bus turned out to be a good decision and we got a good view of the areas of Havana whilst sharing the roads with the many 50s model American cars (imported before the trade embargo) as well as a lot of ladas, dating back to when there was Soviet support. An interesting mix, and a lot of smokey exhausts. The smog is so strong that you wake up open the window in the morning and immediately smell exhaust fumes, similar to the smell if you opened the door to a garage with a car running and we are staying a fair way from a main road.

After the bus we had a bit of a rest and clothes wash at our casa (for the studious ones you may notice we each only packed 5 shirts in the photos) we headed out for some dinner. After the success of Waoo we tried but failed to find another of the restaurants featured in the age/smh article. Undeterred we instead happened across a rooftop bar 'CJ encuentro', well the name wass something like that. Anyway we enjoyed some great tapas, cervezas, mojitos and daiquiris and ordered with the help of a very friendly waitress who surprisingly spoke English. After it started raining (remember rooftop) we made a hasty exit. The waitress apologizing 'for my weather' fantastic and a stark contrast to the 'fuck you very much' from the night before. How quickly things can change! Note, we made a hasty exit when it started to rain. It continued for the entire walk home and more, but what it a bit of rain in the Caribbean heat, ignoring all of the Cubans looking at us like we were idiots.

Drag race 50's style

Around Havana

Centro Historico cathedral courtyard

Che, he is everywhere, but this is probably the biggest

Day 3 in Havana called for a visit to the Museo de la Revelocion to read about how Fidel, Che and Camilo delivered Cuba to freedom from the tyrant Bastila. The Museo is housed in the previous presidential palace where many generations ruled, up to Bastila and then Fidel! Even with the expected anti imperialism and viva la revelocion slant it was still interesting. However being government run, we were met yet again with the public sector customer service, which is in such stark contrast to how people treat us generally on the street and in privately run business. At trip to Cuba really is not an accurate reflection of the purple if you do not go to private accommodation and restaurants ( which sounds easier than it is, all hotels and most restaurants are state owned)

After the museo we wandered around looking at some of the eclectic and magnificent architecture of downtown Havana. Typically the highlights were the people more than the architecture. One guy from a hole in the wall eatery which sold sandwiches (battered fish or hamburger) for 50c, he was friendly and had great English. We have been surprised how many people speak English, after reports that it was a hard country to travel in! 

During our wandering we also happened across a work yard where they were restoring stream engines (looks like a bit of money is going into them), we wondered in and took a few photos for some particular family members. Satisfied with our wandering for the day we walk back to our casa via the rather long 'Malecon' to look at all the colonial magnificent buildings in various states of decay and restoration. The government, with help from UNESCO is spending a lot to restore these old buildings which would make the promenade quite a feature... well if they also did something about the exhaust fumes! Just as we were near the casa we stumbled across a band playing live music with quite a lot of people gathered around. From what a few very friendly locals have told us, today is some kind of special salsa day.

That night we again went in search and the (privately run) restaurant La Chansonnier mentioned in the age/smh article. We found it well hidden on the second floor of an amazing colonial building/house nestled in a residential area. A lot of restaurants/bars and shops in Vedado are located in colonial residential buildings. At first it seems like a quiet area with houses until you start to realise there are places dotted around everywhere. We only found the place because we knew the number and when we were out the front a guy asked if we were looking for a restaurant! he then led us in, and it felt like we were in on some kind of secret getaway. Inside it was fantastically restored with unattainably high ceilings and fantastic marble sills. The food was absolutely fantastic, Joss had prawns and an amazing $15 lobster tail, grilled and served with butter. Paul had Spicy Crab and Rabbit with fine herbs as a main, and afterwards we shared a special Cuban dessert called Flan, kind of like a pancotta, but made as large as a cake and served in slices. Delicious! Over the course of the evening we got chatting to our friendly waiter Humberto and to the only other 2 people eating; Richard (A cuban living in Florida who was part of the Peter Pan exit) and his partner Antonio (from Venice). Once we had finished Humberto offered us some complimentary aged 'Santiago de Cuba' rum served in a brandy balloon from his home town. After dinner the restaurant transformed into a bar, and Thursday nights was gay night, Humberto encouraged us to stay as his 'international friends', so we hung out and had some more drinks before heading back to the casa satisfied after a great night out.

A 'hyper realistic' wax sculpture of Che and ... in guerrilla gear

The steam train yard

A car broken down on the Malecon

Le Chansonnier

Final day of Havana part one was a bit unsuccessful, after planning to go to the Jazz Cafe for some live music we ended up spending a lot of time stuck in a spiral of yet again poor public customer service trying to; book bus tickets to our next destination, get money out, and change some flights - more on the details later but the head sales office closed at 2pm because the air con wasn't working... c'mon people it's the fucking Caribbean, surely your used to working hot weather! Certainly the rest of the country is!

Anyway after abandoning the Jazz Cafe due to time constraints we looked for places closer to our Casa, which was also unsuccessful as when we arrived to what was described as a great live music venue, it was shut (perhaps the aircon was broken)!  A little disappointed we decided to have a bit of dinner accompanied with mojitos and daquiries at Gringo Viejo ( or old gringo, after a movie with Gregory Peck, whom the owner had an uncanny resemblance) and hit the hay ready for our early morning trip to Santa Clara. It is worth noting that our host Eddie has ended up hooking us up with accommodation for the rest of our stay with his friends who have casa particulars in the various cities we wanted to visit in Cuba, very useful!

Playa Del Carmen

So instead of staying at the very popular Cancun (where we flew in and will fly out of) we decided to stay at the slightly less popular, but nicer Playa Del Carmen an hour away. We conveniently arrived just in time for beer o'clock, so after dumping our bags we wandered along the main drag, 5th Avenue which is full of bars, restaurants and shops that sell all sorts of touristy wares. After some cooling Cerveza we enjoyed dinner at one of the many establishments which also had a travelling mariachi band drop in.

Next morning we jumped on a bus to Tulum to check out some Mayan ruins in a picturesque setting by a stunning Caribbean beach. The pictures better illustrate what it was like, however they still fall short of how beautiful it was. Our only complaint was, why do civilisations always build buildings that will become well surviving ruins in such hot places? They really aren't thinking of the tourists visiting 500+ years in the future.

After returning we decided it was again time for beer o'clock, which comes around often on holidays. We ended up settling into a bar/pizza restaurant where we enjoyed a few cocktails again based on mezcal. They even made us a special cocktail the mezrioska (a caprioska made with mezcal). Over the course of the evening we got talking to a couple of the very friendly staff: Jaime(pronounced hay-me) from Oaxaca but had lived in Canada for 8 years and Victor (from Acupulco). They told us that Playa del Carmen really comes alive during Christmas and New Year and is the perfect time for (another) visit. All in all a pretty great day and night, 2 days just wasn't enough.

The ruins at Tulum

Joss, not really showing how hot it was

Paul before melting later in the day

The both of us... Paul is starting to melt

From the other side

Mexico City Mexico

After just getting over our jetlag we both had a very restless sleep worrying about waking up in time for our flight, and by the time we arrived in Mexico we were both buggered again! After an eventful ride to our hotel (Hotel Catedral) we had a sleep in order to be best prepared for our first outing in Mexico. On first impressions Mexico (and we mean Mexico city) felt a lot like a south east Asian city - traffic, chaos, street stalls, heat and lots of people. A little overwhelming on the first outing but you know you will love it! Our first evening was pretty much wandering around trying to get our bearings and looking at some of the old buildings around our hotel, one of which we discovered was the Palacio Nacional (although we could not find the entrance). We were then led into a restaurant where we had an acceptable meal with friendly service and local beers - Tecate (no Caronas in sight).

The Catedral, behind which our hotel was located

Day 2 started a bit slowly and after struggling to find the and the entrance to the Palacio Nacional or the location of the metro station (Mexico is nearly add hard to get around as LA) we returned to the hotel to gather ourselves. On our way down in the elevator our spirits were lifted when an El Niño started talking to us in Spanish. Unfortunately we couldn't understand him but when we got out a Porter told us he wanted to know where we were from, we told him, then we asked back and he told us he was on holidays from Acapulco. We then shook hands and went on our way. Re-invigorated by our little encounter we decided to wander to the close by Diego Rivera museum via a fantastic park in the middle of the city. After such a busy morning we decided we had earnt a sit down with a couple of beers and a snack - the special tacos, which we later read described as '¿super picante'. Delicious.

After a revitalising break we visited the Belles Artes to see more Diego murals before making our way back to base via a $0.50c taco shop, what a great city! After a few beers on the rooftop terrace overlooking the city we headed to dinner at the nearby Cafe Tecuba, a popular Mexican eatery with the sounds of a 7 piece mariachi band. We had a great meal and enjoyed some cocktails, Paul tried a house specialty made with mezcal and pineapple... Delicious (again).

Diego's mural of influential people in Mexico

The Belles Artes

Paul just before tucking in to some 50c tacos

Rooftop terrace looking over Mexico City

Enjoying a Mezcal cocktail

Day 3 and we decided to use the hop on hop off bus services to see a few of the sites around Mexico city: The Museo de Anthropologie to see the original Aztec calendar and a stop by the Chapultepec Castle, then onto Frida Kahlo's museum house where she grew up. Unfortunately due to our relaxed start we ended up getting to Frida Kahlo's museum too late and instead saw a lot of Mexican traffic! We have vowed off ground transport during peak hours! All was not lost however as after our arduous journey (in a very comfortable bus) we found a great little pizza bar in the Condesa district with cool music and our second variety of mezcal cocktail, this time with mint lime and lemonade with a salt and Mexican spiced rim, an even better way to enjoy mezcal than the night before!

The Museo de Anthropologie

Aztec sun calendar

Day 4 and our final day in Mexico City, we decided to return to the Frida Kahlo museum and make it a proper visit, using the most reliable method... the metro. Once we found the elusive station located nearest our hotel we were set. The museum was fantastic, many of the rooms Diego kept preserved exactly as Frida had left them when she died. After the museum we headed back to the hotel for a rest (Paul was getting a touch of Mexican Man Flu) and to book the next part of our trip. Then we were off again to Condesa for another fantastic meal and mezcal cocktails at a pretty fancy place with an indoor garden. Our cab drive home was one of those little things that just capture why traveling is so good, the driver was a friendly older Mexican guy who didn't try to rip us off,  but instead immediately turned the meter on. On the way home we/he listened to some great music with him tapping away on his steering wheel and teaching us a few key words of Spanish, all while we are driving through the happening and gritty parts of Mexico city. When he dropped us off we gave him a modest tip and he gave us one of those great big and genuine thankful smiles. It is the little moments like these that really can define how you feel about a city or place.

The Blue House

Frida's studio, as she left it

In the gardens of the Blue House

Morning of day 5 we had a bit of spare time before our flight to Cancun, the jumping off point for Cuba. We decided to try again to check out the Palacio Nacional to see some more of the large murals done by Diego Rivera. We found the entrance but it was guarded by 3 military guys with machine guns and we thought 'well that is a bit odd' (although not that odd there is a lot of security around everywhere). After asking one of the very friendly guards found out it was closed and had been for 3 months due to protests by the teachers union! Oh well next time.

What we have realised: 4 days is not enough to see Mexico city! We feel like we have barely scratched the surface, so many more places to visit and food and drinks to enjoy. We missed out on going to a proper la mezcaleria... but these are all things for next time. The metro is definitely the way to travel, at only 3 pesos (30c) a trip and with trains every 3 minutes it is far easier than the bus or cab... if a little more crowded. Something that we enjoyed but I am sure locals would hate is the hawkers who jump on and of the trains blaring music out of backpacks in order to sell CDs, it certainly adds atmosphere to the journey.

Los Angeles

So after a long flight we touched down in sunny LA, the first stop on our Mexico-Cuba adventure. We wandered to the Farmers Market near our hotel the Beverley Laurel in Mid Town (don't let the fancy name fool you, it is simply a combination of the cross streets it is on). We could tell you more about the Farmers Markets if we bothered to read anything but we were stuffed and just needed some shut eye, which we succumbed to late afternoon. After a rest we walked to sample some delicious American IPAs with lobster and clam rolls at Connie and Ted's. Although enjoyable we decided walking was not the right way to go in getting around LA.

Next day we decided to venture further afield to downtown LA, which is going through somewhat of a revival. Although our first choice of transport was the bus we instead settled for a cab and had an eventful ride with a jerk driver who firstly did not know where a pretty main attraction was, but then proceeded to tell us that downtown was crap and we should go somewhere else if we're wanted to see LA. Although committed in his argument we decided to trust our instinct and that of the author of a great travel article on LA Paul read while waiting to see the doctor in South Yarra. Needless to say the guy was wrong, dickhead. We enjoyed a few of the sites in downtown including the Grand Central Market for some very tasty Mexican lunch and then onto the fashion district where were felt we were already in Mexico! Once we had our downtown fill we decided to get the bus to Beverley Hills, which although successful was a long trip with some pretty random characters, it seems if you can afford to buy a car in LA you do.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown 

We stumbled upon Angel Park which appeared in a recent movie, 500 Days of Summer

After the eventful bus we had a stroll around Beverley Hills and settled for a few half price cocktails at a great little bar in West Hollywood before wandering home (on foot). We then enjoyed a late night meal at the diner attached to our hotel before heading to bed ready for an early morning dash to the airport.

Enjoying cocktails at West Hollywood

Santa Barbara

Monday (18th) early AM we hopped on the #11 'Coast Starlight' train from Oakland headed for Santa Barbara. Although the train name promised coastal views it was not until the afternoon that we hit the really scenic parts. Again we booked roomette accommodation and happily spent the time playing Monopoly Deal and Skip Bo. In the afternoon however we took a break to do some wine and cheese tasting in the special first class parlour car where we tasted cheese and wine from Washington and California!

Tuesday (19th) although we had a bit of an on off sunny rainy day we headed out to check out Santa Barbara. In the morning we took a stroll down and around the wharf and picked out our favourites from the many yachts and cruisers parked there. Afterward we took a stroll down state st, the main drag of Santa Barbara and down to the Court House, an impressive Spanish influenced building that is both a working courthouse and tourist attraction. After a bit of culture we then headed back down State st where we stumbled upon a local farmers market with loads of fresh fruit and vegetables, and seeing as we have been lacking in both decided to grab some fruit. This was however undone in our next destination - wine tasting in the Santa Barbara tasting room/bar for the local Kalyra vineyards. As soon as we walked in we noticed a few very Australian inspired sculptures sculptures and after asking found out that the owners were Aussies! (they live 35 min away at the vineyards). Not a bad way to spend our last full day of our adventure.

Tomorrow we make our way back to reality via the #11 again down to Los Angeles. Till next time.

Down at the wharf

The courthouse tower

Inside the courthouse

Farmers market!

Tasting in the Kalyra bar/tasting room

San Francisco

Wednesday (13th) after arriving at our fantastic Hostel, we got ourselves refreshed and headed out to see k-os (a hip-hop artist) Slim (a club) - good timing! One of the support acts was a rapper called 'Astronautilus' or Andy (it has to be noted that he was a white rapper, unlike the majority in his profession). Anyway he had great banter on stage and some very cool songs. After his set he came down to sign CDs etc and Joss had a bit of a chat with him. It started out with which was his best CD to get and went on to him telling her about his travel adventures and our trip on the trans-siberian and trans-continental...which at that point he told her his father worked on Amtrak!

A crazy diner decorated for Halloween

Thursday (14th), we had a pretty leasurely day checking out some of the local sights. We walked to the Ferry building where we sampled one of the top sandwiches in San Francisco - that we found from the grubstreet San Francisco sandwich register online! Afterwards we wandered along the water and piers to Fisherman's wharf, which is actually a bit of a tourist trap. It feels like a theme park, but without the fun of rides! Instead it has lots of shops selling overpriced and mostly useless souvenirs and crap to tourists - mostly domestic we think. Even the surrounding streets had more of the same. American consumerism at it's very best. However, the wharf did provide some good view of Alcatraz and a little further away, the Golden Gate Bridge!

Indulging at the Ferry Building

That is Alcatraz in the distance

Friday (15th) we were off early for a wine tour of the Sonoma Valley. After collecting all of our participants we travelled North to cross the Golden Gate bridge. On board we had our great driver Mitch who knew Australia pretty well, a couple from Mississippi (Liz & David) who must have been Republican (no judgement), 2 young English guys (Muz & Joe), a young couple from Texas (Caitlin & Austin) and another young couple from New York (Heather & Trevor). Before going across we stopped to take in the view. Unfortunately for us, all that we could see was a wall of white fog, which was surprising considering how nice the day was. It seemed like localised fog covering just the bridge - we could not even see the top of the bridge poking out! It was so foggy that even when we crossed over you could barely see the bridge structure and it was only a few metres away! It seems that the fog is quite typical of San Francisco. Needless to say we were a bit disappointed as we were expecting it to be a great photo op, however we had more exciting things to look forward to. After crossing through the fog bridge we made a brief stop at Muir woods, a preserved red wood forest typical of what was abundant around the bay area before humans decided to cut it all down and build houses and the like. The trees were up to about 800 years old, and well they were pretty big, but we felt a little underwhelmed as it was pretty crowded and we kept comparing it to Yakushima in Japan.

Muir woods

Cafe in Sonoma where Paul had a fantastic smoked duck sandwich - awesome

After Muir woods and some lunch in Sonoma, we got down to the business end of things, the wine tasting. Unlike nearby Napa, Sonoma is closer to the coast and a little cooler so has a more diverse selection of wines. It is known for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, as well as the big Cabernets like Napa. We visited three wineries, the first Larson estate, a family owned estate with a freindly boutique feel and some terrific wine. The second was Robledo family estate, owned by a Mexican migrant who started out working in the vineyards in Napa and moved up to own his own winery! This place was a bit bigger, and although it had nice wine did not have the same feel as Larson. Last but not least was Clarbec winery. We arrived at the vineyards to find Beckie (the wine maker) set up for tasting with a table in a clear area between the vines. She showed us the vines and the difference between the grapes that were ready for harvest and those not quite there. Of course we also got to taste her wines (in very generous quantities), and afterwards we drove to her nearby farmhouse so we could purchase some! It was by far the best wine tasting of the day, and perhaps one of the best we have done! After this winery we started to notice some of the first round wine tasters were getting quite tipsy (probably due to the generous helpings at the final winery), and afterwards Mitch told us that we were able to drink on the bus it made for a very enjoyable trip back to San Fran. After returning we all decided to carry on our own and head out to some dinner!

Outside and inside Robledo family estate

Tasting the Clarbec wines among the vines

Saturday (16th), again another bit of lucky timing found us in San Fran at the same time that the Treasure Island music festival was on! We went along to see one of Paul's favourite groups Kruder & Dorfmeister, but the other highlight was Mike Snow. The festival itself was quite good, however it would have been much better had it not been so cold! Treasure island is a man made island in the middle of the bay, so it is low and flat and gets the breeze coming off the water all the time! Luckily though we had packed warm clothes so were pretty comfortable.

Paul and K&D on stage

Sunday (17th) we did some shopping and had a generally leisurely day wandering around some of the San Fran suburbs, including the historical Alamo area. We had fun in San Fran but could not help but notice the very large number of homeless people begging in the streets, not just the main drag but everywhere. Perhaps it is the effects of the recession but we were quite surprised to see so many of them around, and considering the U.S is the richest country per capita, you can't help but judge them on how they treat their poor in a city like this.

Alamo park and the famous painted ladies