Mojitos at last

By the time we got to the seafront (where the guidebook said Havanatur was) we were exhausted. Havanatur wasn't where it should have been so we went into a shopping complex at the end of the street instead. It was quite unlike any other shops I've seen in Cuba so far - shelves were well stocked, window displays were attractive and the lights were on. My inner capitalist was satisfied.

Mum hadn't had lunch yet (it was about 4pm) and was feeling rather unhappy as a result, so we went upstairs to a bar/restaurant. Although it was quite clean and new, the music was too loud, it was too dark and too cold. Also too empty (only one other table was in use) to pull off the dark-with-loud-music vibe. But we had pizza and mojitos, which made us feel better. They were the first mojitos we'd had in Cuba (about bloody time) and they weren't great. The glasses weren't big enough so there wasn't enough room for a sufficient amount of lemonade. I suppose that wouldn't be a problem if you liked rum but I'm not a fan.

Feeling suitably revitalised we walked back along the seafront to try to find Havanatur. A policeman gave us complicated instructions involving the Karl Marx Theatre so we walked to that but it wasn't there. The car park attendant didn't know where it was either.

Beginning to despair (it was approaching 5pm) we asked at a taxi rank and they told us where it was (Calle 6, for future reference). The Havanatur man was very helpful, telling us that Havanatur do indeed do transfers from Trinidad to Vinales, stopping in Havana for a break, and that they also do day tours from Vinales around Pinar del Rio.

We were thinking of eating in Miramar but it was only 5pm and we didn't really know what to do with ourselves in the meantime so we decided instead to get a taxi to the Hotel Nacional for that long-awaited cocktail.

The Hotel Nacional is our little (big) foreign haven. We sat outside for a while drinking mojitos, writing postcards and listening to live music (with the most wonderful flute parts) but it had got pretty damn cold with the northerly wind blowing across Havana bay.

Then we thought we'd treat ourselves to the 20CUC buffet in the Hotel Nacional basement, but it didn't open until 7 (it was 6.30). We decided to wait, but while we waited we realised we'd only eaten a couple of hours earlier and we really weren't that hungry. So we went to the cafeteria we'd eaten in on Sunday. Mum had a hamburger and I had chicken with vegetable soup (not vegetable with chicken this time) followed by chocolate ice-cream with banana.

Then like the great wimps we are, we went back to the casa for another early night.