Varadero
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Some facts about March 11th: It is Natalie’s birthday. In 1918, the first cases of Spanish flu were reported in the US. And in 2020, WHO declared the coronavirus a pandemic. We didn’t know about the latter two until after we returned from this trip. However, chaos ensued for us this day as well. Luckily, we were able to recover by its end!
After sleeping for a much needed and glorious 10 hours, we ate some of the delicious fruit treasures gifted to us the evening before. Then, Carlos was back to drive us to Varadero. The price is 100 CUC one-way and the trip takes two hours on the crumbling and cratered Cuban roads. We arrived at our casa particular (booked via Airbnb) in Varadero around 1:30 pm. The booking said it was by the beach and located on the third floor, but we didn’t realize it sat directly on the beach and had the most amazing view!! Score!! The owner led us to our room and asked for our passports, which were not on our person. We were told to put them in the safe in Havana and never take them out. We replied that we didn’t have them with us, but we had our IDs and asked if that was okay. She responded in detail to Carlos in Spanish how the immigration officers check frequently to make sure nobody is staying illegally (especially Americans) and they must document each room’s patrons. By this time, Natalie is in tears and Carlos tells the owner that it’s her birthday, but there is nothing she or we can do. We are told we can use the common areas, but cannot use the room itself until we have our passports.
Carlos takes us to three other casa particulars in town he is familiar with, tries to sweet talk the owners, but no luck. Everyone must have passport documentation in order to stay. Another four hours in the car to Havana and back doesn’t sound appealing, so we head to the beach where we try to relax but can’t. As we were about to give up, Carlos and his mother (Blanquita) saved the day by finding another driver who was heading to the airport to pick up a couple and drive them to Varadero. Blanquita gets our passports to him for delivery to us. Man! These Cuban people are AMAZING! So friendly, helpful and caring. Where is this love in the rest of the world?
While we waited for our passport delivery (and worried if we could trust a stranger with our passports), we got lunch at Pequeño Suárez, which consisted of the standard rice, salad, protein thing. However, we learned this time and shared a meal, plus a “bruschetta”’ which was just tomatoes on wonder bread (ha ha!). We happily bought Carlos’s lunch and beer because he absolutely deserved it for helping out with the situation. We also had our first mojito’s of the day (the running total for the week is now at 4 each). Alcohol was definitely needed!
With time to kill waiting for our passports, we went back to the casa particular to enjoy the view from the common area’s balcony and said goodbye to Carlos. After a short while, we decided to lay on the beach instead of the balcony’s chairs. However, once we stretched out on the beach, we discovered it was an extremely windy day. We all know sand and wind don’t like each other, so we’ll just say that even after several showers we were still brushing sand out of our hair and places we didn’t know sand could find its way into.
We head back upstairs after a stressful beach hour worrying whether our passports will be delivered, only to find we can’t get back in the common area of the casa particular. We knock for a while, but no one answers, so we sit on the dunes and wait. We try again later and get lucky that someone let us in, so we are able to enjoy the balcony view again.
However, we can’t completely relax. Natalie is frequently checking the time and starting to get worried. And then at 7 pm, the miracle happened! The owner enters with a man holding the most beautiful standard white letter envelope we’d ever seen with our passports safely sealed inside of it. Thank you, Alain!!!
After finally being allowed to put our bags in the room, the incredibly sweet and thoughtful casa particular owners brought out a birthday cake they baked for Natalie! While enjoying a slice, we watched the sun slowly sink into the sea from our balcony view. Then, it was time to get cleaned up and wander around Varadero.
We get about two blocks away from our casa particular when we hear the faint sound of music playing down the street, which leads to some of the best advice we can ever give you: FOLLOW THE MUSIC. It can’t fail you! We soon discovered the source: an unsuspecting hotel (Hotel Los Delfines) on the beach with the best mojitos of the trip and a lot of French people and/or French Canadians singing karaoke! Natalie leans over and says to Kevin, “This is crazy! We’re in Cuba and French people are singing in English!” Our night was made! Another round, bartender!
After our second round of mojitos each (total trip mojito count: 6 each), we decide that we need some sustenance and settle on Bodeguita del Medio. The spot is replicated from its original Havana location, made famous by Ernest Hemingway enjoying their mojitos. In our opinion, we find their mojitos to be not as good as the karaoke place, but their ajillo (garlic) shrimp still has us drooling. It arrived plated with a large lobster tail, and you guessed it…more rice and salad. Did we mention the salads almost always consist of sliced cabbage, tomato, carrot, cucumbers, and maybe a little romaine?
As we’re eating, suddenly a band appears. Seven people, three of them singers. They all randomly appeared out of the ether, sang four songs just mere inches directly behind Kevin, brought a cup over for tips, and then vanished like Batman into the night before we knew it. At one point, the band was swaying from side to side in unison, so Kevin started to do the same. However, he wasn’t quite in sync with them and couldn’t turn around to look due to their proximity. Natalie nonchalantly helped him get in sync and he became a silent eighth member of the band. He not only entertained Natalie, but the entire restaurant!
After dinner, we needed more French karaoke in our lives and headed back to Hotel Los Delfines. We watched them finish up and then some chill DJ music started. A little cute and sweet street dog cozied up with us for a bit, then moved on to another couple, before settling with a lone woman. When Natalie became a little envious the puppy was spending more time with the single lady than us, she struck up some travel conversation with her. Her name was Tracy and she’s from Winnipeg. We had a nice conversation that lasted over an hour about travel, politics, her life, etc. As we were working on finishing up our 9th mojitos of the trip, two of the drunk French karaoke girls began fighting in the bar area. Full-on punching and slapping. It was short-lived, but certainly an entertaining way to end the night! Despite the earlier chaos, Natalie’s birthday didn’t turn out so bad afterall!
