Revolution & Sunset in Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is a very important place in Cuba for what happened on the morning of the 26th July 1953. Fidel Castro led a group of over 100 rebels on an attack on an army barracks, generally accepted to be considered the start of the Cuban Revolution. The attack itself was more or less a complete failure and most of the rebels were either killed or captured and then executed shortly afterwards.…
Santiago de Cuba: Prostitutes, chess and chickens Santiago de Cuba is probably the strangest place that I have ever been to. I don’t know if it was the heat (over 30 degrees at 11PM) or if there is something in the water, but I had a very surreal experience in the city. In some ways I feel like I am doing it a disservice as I was only there for 2 nights but it was the first night that was…
I’m Never Hiking After Drinking Rum Ever Again! On my trip to Cuba, this is what I was most looking forward to – hiking and camping in the Topes de Collantes region. I was in the area for two days and the hiking on the 2nd day was supposed to be the hardest. That was until I drank a litre of rum with a Cuban and Argentinian couple in Trinidad the night before, see here. Oh and it was 32…
My Fantasy Woman – Does She Actually Exist? In 2011, Alexandra Kovacova a.k.a Crazy Sexy Fun Traveller made a list of her ideal man and his 55 things that he needs to have/be. You can check out her list here and here. I enjoyed this list as a bit of fun. A couple of years ago my marriage ended and I thought that I would be on my own for the long-term. Recently though, I have been talking to people that are unlike…
Saint Patrick’s Day in Cuba It was mid afternoon and approximately 32 degrees and I was hot. The kind of hot where all your clothes start to stick to you. I was walking through a side street in the city of Trinidad in Cuba on St Patrick’s Day when I heard something. I had to do a sort of double take and replay it in my mind to make sure I heard it correctly the first time. I was right, someone…
The Best Music and Dancing in Colourful Trinidad Trinidad is a slightly strange place. The streets are cobblestone and a lot of the buildings are falling apart. It made finding my casa at 3 in the morning an interesting experience, especially with almost no street lighting. I think if it was ever cold enough to have mist or fog, it would look like a scene from Resident Evil. This is one of the streets to show you what I mean….. …
Wieliczka – The Mine With Walls You Can Lick In Krakow, it is impossible to avoid the Wieliczka Salt Mine. EVERY company does tours to the place. I had a limited amount of time in Krakow, so thought why not!? The mine is over 700 years old, 300 metres deep and 170 miles long and yes you can actually lick the walls! The tours of the mine only cover about 2 miles of the tunnels, so you only get to see a…
Music and Dance on the Streets of Havana What is the first thing that comes into your mind when you imagine what it is like in Havana? Chances are that music and dancing come high on the list, along with classic cars and rum. Music and dancing are impossibly to avoid ANYWHERE in Cuba. Here is a quick sample from the streets of Havana. And if you like this, just wait for what is coming up from Trinidad! A little…
How to write a couchsurfing request Want to know how to write a couchsurfing request? Read on…… I am relatively new to Couchsurfing in that I have been doing it for just over 2 years now. Like most new things which become popular, some of the original members complain that its not as good as it used to be. I can’t make any comments on those claims but I know that I have received a lot of requests from people…
Walking Tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau Auschwitz. Is there any other word or place in the English language that can cause people to have such an immediate emotional reaction as this one? I have wanted to visit Auschwitz for many years and recently I took a trip to Poland (Krakow and Wroclaw to be specific). So I simply had to visit. Imagine being so close and not going. What would that say about me as a person? My time in…