Cuba

This was my average day in Cuba.

0830: wake up
0900: breakfast (with mimosas)
1000-1130: ocean swim
1130-1300: dry off on a lounger; read a book
1300-1500: lunch (with sangrias)
1500-1600: read/nap (with mojitos)
1600-1700: ocean/pool swim
1700: random activities**
1800-1900: get ready for dinner (fancy dress!)
1900: pre-dinner cocktails in the lobby bar (more mojitos)
1930-2100: dinner
2100-2300: post-dinner cocktails in the lobby bar, listen to the band, plays a few hands of hearts.
2300-2359: read
0000: sleep
**= archery, skeet shooting, catamaran riding, pool-volleyball, salsa/rumba/mambo lessons, etc.

Some nights we went to a show instead of post-dinner cocktails; some nights we went to a disco.  Most nights, I was happy with Blue Hawaiians, Mudslides and Pina Coladas.  The resort was pretty amazing - we felt safe enough to leave our cameras/books/towels on the poolside loungers while we wandered off to the ocean or to lunch.  Clothes were hung to dry on the patio (to take advantage of that morning sun).

We did get into Havana for a day, which was amazing.  It was like stepping into a time warp - old cars, old houses and old architecture.  Except that none of this stuff was museum quality.  People were living in abandoned mansions, squatting in what used to be the Bacardi rum factory and tending goats on the Capitol lawns. 

And the people?  Here's a country that knows what it means to be a service industry.  They are warm, friendly and, somehow, genuine.  They go out of their way to accommodate you and most times will do so for no compensation to them.  Tips, as we were told, are appreciated but it would be impolite for anyone to ask for them.  Our Breakfast/Lunch waitress (whose name I could not pronounce for the life of me) was so sweet.  She found us on our last day (as we were heading back from the lobby bar) and said she wasn't going to be with us for breakfast the next day so she wanted to say goodbye: hugs and kisses all around.

Considering how I usually spend my vacation time, I was really worried that a do-nothing vacation would be boring. It really wasn't.  Between the salty ocean, the random activities, Havana and the food... I was amused.  And, for the first time, rested upon return.  Would I do it again?  Sure!  In deference to my need to see everything, though, I will probably go to Belize next.