Heading home - for real

Left the hotel early in the morning. Beautiful sunny morning – a bit cold though. No problems getting to the airport, Madrid seems to be fairly quiet in the morning. 

Got to the airport lounge and had a bit to eat before updating pictures, reading emails, facebook and everything else online. Got on the plane to Copenhagen – Iberia still sucks – but it was a nice flight and we were in Copenhagen on time. Got our luggage and was a bit surprised when we left the customs area – to be greeted by our parents (all of them), Malenes sister and a couple of our friends and their kids. So we just stayed there in the airport for about an hour – talking and talking. We finally managed to persuade everybody to split up – most of them decided to head for our apartment – the next little surprise.

We’ve rented our apartment to a couple for our entire trip and apart from a couple of mails this year (stating that we would be back as planned), we have not really been in contact with them. Much to our pleasant surprise we returned to a perfect apartment, clean and even with a “Welcome home” note on the whiteboard. Given that we had a whole group of eager family members with us we persuaded them to head for the attic and help us get some of the boxes down. So in half an hour we managed to get all the necessary stuff back down – but there is some unpacking left J

Spent the evening with friends and family telling stories about our trip, listening to all their stories about the awful Danish winter this year – and just connecting. Good to be back.  

Madrid

Arrived at Madrid on time – at 2 in the afternoon. Sunshine and good weather. The airport was huge and it took us a while to get the luggage and find the metro. Went straight to the hotel and had a much needed shower. Found a café around the corner where we could get some lunch. 

Did I remember to mention that Iberias breakfast also was crap. Did a short walk and enjoyed the sunshine. Temperature a bit down from yesterday. Only around 12 degrees in Madrid so it was a bit different from Cuba.

Went back to the hotel and had a much needed powernap before going out for dinner. Walked downtown and found a nice but totally packed tapas place. A bit hectic but just the place we wanted to find and spend our last evening on the trip. Had some nice tapas and some red wine before we walked through the streets to Plaza Mayor. Really impressive even at night. Walked back towards the hotel with a short stop at another wine bar for a glass of vino rojo. That’s how a round-the-world trip is supposed to end. 

So long Fidel

Last day in Havana. Decided to spend the day doing a bit of walking. The weather was actually very good from the morning. Not too hot so we got all our stuff packed and left the backpacks with the family at the casa. And then we went for a walk.

Our flight was not until late in the evening so we had plenty of time. First destination – Necropolis Christobal de Colon. Giant cemetery about 45 minutes walk from where we stayed. Walked through the various parts of the city on the way and experienced the local markets on the street where there were a lot of veggies for sale. Whole piles of carrots at one place. Got to the cemetery and spent an hour walking around looking at all the different gravesites before heading for the national memorial in front of the Cuban communist party. 

When we got there it was early in the afternoon and we had done our share of walking so we got at taxi to the centre of town, went for a last meal at our pizza place before going to the top floor of the hotel next door to enjoy their pool area. Lots of other foreigners had gotten the same idea but we managed to get a place to sit, had a few drinks before heading back to our casa. At 8 we left in a taxi and had the last weird drive out of Havana this time. No real street lights and cars, busses and trucks driving all over the place trying to avoid potholes in the road. Got to the airport and through the usual immigration hell before waiting for a couple of hours for our flight.

Left at midnight for Madrid. With Iberia. Totally crap airline. Less than good food and the inflight entertainment system was broken. At least our flight was during the night so we didn’t really need to use it. Flight crew was old and we had the old ladies as flight attendants. They didn’t look too happy. Leaned back and got some hours of sleep.

Havana sightseeing

Malene needed to sleep a bit more this morning so she stayed in bed while Frederik and I got up early to take a short walk in town. Havana has its beautiful spots – and right next to those it looks like the town has been bombed.

So nice to walk in the early morning where you could just observe people doing their everyday business and they didn’t take too much care about us. Walked by the revolution museum where there were a nice exhibit of various cold war artefacts including missiles, remains of a U2 plane shot down in the 60’s as well as the boat that carried Fidel and friends across the Mexican gulf to invade Cuba and start the revolution. Funny to observe school children and their teachers walking around talking about the revolution when the world is falling apart around them outside the museum.

Walked back to Malene and went straight for lunch – pizza again – before walking a bit more around town enjoying the sunshine. Waved good-bye to Frederik in the afternoon and walked to the Opera to get a guided trip. Such a beautiful building and our guide for once had a pulse. She actually had some kind of optimism in her voice. We enjoyed walking through the beautiful building and the grand halls. Went on walking doing more or less the same trip as Frederik and I did in the morning. Still so nice to walk around Havana. Had dinner at a small restaurant that served local food. The same as we got in the casa’s. Nothing new for us. Went to bed early. No drinks tonight.

Heading back to Havana

Got up early. Had to catch the bus in Cienfuegos at 9 so we had asked for breakfast at 8 – latest. The nice lady who was supposed to prepare our breakfast arrived at 8 – the taxi was a bit early so while she was doing our eggs we invited our taxi driver for a cup of coffee. Must leave bizzaro-land soon !

Hit yet another dog on the way to Cienfuegos. Nothing happened to the taxi but the dog is probably in dog-heaven now with the dog we hit in Vinales last week.

The bus left on time from Cienfuegos and we had a last chance to enjoy the fantastic concrete architecture as we left through the suburbs. Had yet another bizzaro-tour featuring a fat dwarf singing in a music video as the in-flight entertainment – as well as an unplanned stop along the road where our driver and his 3 assistants had to pick up some rice from a local farmer. So while the 40 or so passengers sat in the bus we could watch the entire crew wait in line for the farmer to hand out rice to them. Bizzaro-land – but that is how Cuba works. Arrived in Havana on time after doing around 130 km/h on the highway overtaking cars and trucks on the wrong side. Probably the most dangerous trip we’ve had at all. Got a taxi to our casa and had welcome back hugs at casa Mariam. They were still fully booked so we stayed across the street. They were also happy to see us back over there.

Did a short walk in the town centre to get some fresh air and some food before going back for an afternoon nap. Walked to the ocean drive with Frederik to enjoy the sunset and a cold beer later – while Malene was getting ready for the evening.

Decided to have dinner in the old part of Havana so we walked to the brew-house and had some barbequed meat and lots of beer for dinner. And later drinks and cigars at the same bar where we hung out with Anders the first evening. This time a bit more sober so it was kind of easy to figure out how he ways doing his “magic”. Had the last cigar of the trip before staggering home to the casa.