Hola Cuba

2007-09-17T22:43:00.003-07:00

Sarah and I just got back from 8 nights in Cuba. It was a joint (no pun intended) 30th birthday celebration as well as a long overdue honeymoon. Despite being married over two years ago, when we went on our first "honeymoon" (a trip to LA/Palm Springs), she was already pregnant and not much in a celebratory mood. Ever since then, I "owed" her a proper honeymoon.

Despite how difficult it was to leave Evann (http://evanevann.blogspot.com/), we managed to muster up the courage and go for it. With our most excellent nanny M. and the rest of the family pitching in to help, we knew that we could leave Evann with clear conscious.

Of course, our first drinks as soon as we landed were the traditional "Mojitos", but I drank more Brazilian inspired "Piroska" which were fantastic. Muddled lime, sugar, crushed ice and vodka. Wow! Strong and refreshing!

We stayed at the Super Breezes Jibacoa (my review is online at http://www.debbiescaribbeanresortreviews.com/cuba/supejibacoa.html). We met some great new friends from Hamilton, ON. Who outside of Hamilton knew that Hamilton had cool people? Ha ha! The highlight of our trip was meeting James/Jenn & Mark/Kris. They were simply "Aces!" Although I'm sure we would have had a good trip; meeting these two fine couples made this trip a GREAT trip and super memorable for both Sarah and I. Of course, I cannot forget our Asian sisters, Winnie and Flora, who after much prodding and pestering reluctantly joined our posse and had a great time (I think). Well, they're from Toronto so you'd figure it would take them a little longer to figure it out. ;) Ha ha!

We played beach volleyball everyday, hung out (crocodile style) in the pool, played "Bugger your neighbour" (a card game, not some R-rated game of the 60's) and drank and ate. Most of all and best of all, we shared a lot of laughter (somehow Molly Shannon's SNL character Mary Katherine Gallagher became our signature "move").

We rented scooters and went to the town of Hershey, which has a rich history; with the onset of World War I, the European beet sugar, which Hershey had been using to make his milk chocolate, became increasingly scarce. So, searching for a more dependable source, Milton Hershey started acquiring cane sugar plantations and constructing refineries in Cuba. Typically, he also established a planned community for the workers, called Central Hershey, based on the Pennsylvania model. So you have an American styled homes set in Cuba, it was very strange.

We also rented a couple of cars for a private tour of Havana. Havana was spectacular with lots of tourists, interesting people and incredible architecture (which unfortunately, has become dilapidated with time, but one can see glimpses of its days of grandeur). Not to mention the cool and vintage American cars which looked like they were in primo condition (other than often being broken down on the side of the road). While in Havana we had "the best cappuccino" at Casa del Coffee and "the best chocolate milk" at the Museum del Chocolato...okay, the names of the places are made-up, but it was something similar.

Leaving Cuba; the weather, the beaches, the resort and our new friends was really difficult, but it makes it all the better when we meet again! Thanks for such a memorable trip and what a great sendoff (Mr. and Mrs. Jibacoa would expect nothing less)!

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Hola Cuba