Arriving in Nueva Gerona; los dos amigos

Arriving in Nueva Gerona we got surrounded by people offering us taxis and casa particulares. But we ignored them all, and babbled in Irish to one particularly persistent lady until she went away.

Nueva Gerona is rather charming, and the atmosphere is so much more relaxed than Havana. It's got a village atmosphere despite being the only real town on the island, and there aren't many vehicles at all.

Nueva Gerona church

Nonetheless, we managed to get royally lost on our way to the casa particulare. The guidebook said it was behind the hospital which, when we eventually found it, was true I suppose, but it really wasn't helpful for finding it. We went up the wrong side of the hospital, then found we couldn't cross behind it for some time. We eventually found a road heading the right direction, but it took us into an unnervingly run-down part of town, particularly when we'd been robbed the day before. So we stopped and asked a lady. She didn't speak a work of English but we managed to communicate where we wanted to go, so she hopped off her bike and walked us to the street we needed, then cycled on ahead to tell the owner we were coming. She was so kind, which was much needed because by that time I was getting pretty fed up with Cubans and their inefficiency and the way they're constantly trying to get money from you.

Our casa is lovely. Unfortunately there's no twin room so we're sharing a double bed, but otherwise it's spot on. The owner is a professional chef (although it seemed to me as though the maid was doing the cooking) and extremely friendly. He lives with his "friend" Ray, who works for the ferry company. Our host (something like Havaha, so let's call him Harry) speaks a bit of English, which is an enormous help.

But the best thing about the casa is the fabulous rooftop terrace (built by Harry). It's on two levels. The big lower section has a roof and walls made from what looks like palm trees and bamboo, and the upper section just has a low wall and a fabulous view. There's a fountain in the lower section housing two terrapins, and two beautiful parrots in cages. Our (delicious) meals are served in there with Cuban music played on the tape deck. It's loverly!

Aside from a quick walk through the town where we bought some biscuits and tried some of the famed Coppelia ice-cream (rather under-whelming) we didn't do much in the evening - far too tired!