Day 19 - And so it ends...

Managed to upload last night’s electrical storm video.

And so Cuba - It’s time to leave. We’ve had fun. Thanks.

• Humidity

• Big, blue water barrels on rooves

• Great cars - everywhere

• Tossing your house rubbish into street bins from a distance so you don't get hit by the fly swarm

• Ernest Hemingway

• Humidity

• Looking and failing to find butter

• Good coffee

• Friendly people

• Whistles of street vendors selling biscuits

• Power Outages

• Running the gauntlet of laminated menus waved at you

• Daiquiris

• Great buildings - Also, everywhere

• Humidity

• Air-conditioning

• Rum

• Cigars

• Hola (Hello) Happy Holiday (Thank you) Where are you from? (England) Want to buy a cigar (No, thanks). -- Repeat a thousand times.

• Insecticide

• Humidity

• Reading

• Things you can’t find: Butter, Cheeseburgers (nice ones), Ethernet Cable.

People with what I assumed were either Ghostbusters or flame throwers for sealing tarmac are actually petrol power insecticide machines for pumping out billowing clouds of the stuff.

Had a nice walk along the Malecon and watching the waves crashing in.

Edited: Toronto airport. Ahhhhh, a burger.

Day 18 - Close, but no cigar

Up, coffee and out.

We walked what I can only assume was a million miles to the cigar factory. They had some tourists there but didn't really seem to know what to do with us. We were told to sit on a bench. Finally someone come over and pointed vaguely into a corner and told me to leave my camera there. Erm, no?

Back out and went to get a coffee and snack. It's odd that they've nailed the biscuits and cakes, but can't make anything savoury. I had a cheese pasty that was lacking (pretty much) in having any cheese. So dry was it that my can of orange was drawn closer to through some sort of osmosis. The lemon cake was nice though. I'd kill for a pasty.

To Hemingway's favourite Floridita bar again for a Cuban sandwich, beer and some Daiquirís. It's so rare that I get to drink on a holiday, as I'm always driving everywhere.

“IBA specified ingredients:
4.5 cl / 1.5oz (9 parts) white rum
2.5 cl / 5/6 oz (5 parts) lime juice
1.5 cl / 1/2 oz (3 parts) simple syrup

Preparation Pour all ingredients into shaker with ice cubes. Shake well. Double Strain in chilled cocktail glass.”

— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daiquiri

I think today must have been the hottest, most humid day so far. I now have the same water content as sand.

I'm cracking on through my book pile and have finished book ten.

So far, it's:

1. Any human heart by William Boyd

2. All that remains by Sue Black

3. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

4. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

5. This book will blow your mind by New Scientist

6. Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker

7. The Pearl by John Steinbeck

8. The virgin suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

9. The great divorce by CS Lewis

10. Rebel Rebel: How Mavericks Made the Modern World by Chris Sullivan

Currently reading: Utopia by Sir Thomas More

Update: Jane noticed a massive electrical storm in the distance at around 8pm. We took video, but the Internet would be too slow to upload it until we get back home. Here’s a screengrab from the video.

Day 17 - Sleeping

A short and dull blog I fear. Woke up. Went to the shops for food. So hot I fell asleep on the sofa for 3-4 hours.

Woke. Read a book.

Went into town for coffee and some daiquiris.

Ate. Read a book.

---

Interestingly, though perhaps obviously, a lot of websites don’t work in Cuba. Amazon, eBay, American Express.

Day 16 - Burgers, Not Burgers

I feel this blog is mostly about shopping (and the humidity). We went morning shopping for food. Into the shop were you want to die with the heat. A tin of peaches and some burgers. In the shop was a box of apples which were so rotten but people still picking through. A moderately fresher box came out and hands were everywhere.

We went to the shop we like best for veg. Found some onions, limes and sweet potato.

Unpacked at home and the smell of the burgers was Not Good (TM). As much as it broke my heart. Bin. Word to wise: "In a Tin - It's a Win.

In other news: last night we cut open what we assumed was a guava, but - surprise - an avocado. So much bigger than at home.

Coffee situation: Critical

Back for a shower and a cool down. Got a lot of reading done.

To the market to buy some things for town. To the bar for some beers. Into a shop to look for things (we found a nice tin of peaches and some tomato sauce stuff for the pasta). A coffee at a bar, then home.

Coffee situation: Resolved.

Day 15 - A tale of two burgers, Havana, Cuba

There was heard tell of a burger place. Somewhere with a logo laughably stolen from Burger King. It was a mission to go and find it. Slogging through the heat we went until there in front of us lay the holy land. "One of THOSE, please." *points at menu. A cheese bacon burger. And so the wait began. And continued. And continued. After about forty-five minutes it arrived. Oh such a disappointment. Now, you can play the same game as me. Mould or Blue Cheese (I'm 90% sure it was blue cheese).

As we headed towards John Lennon Park (and away from the stupid burger place) a very skinny dog followed us from road to road to road. Of course Jane said we had to feed it so we found a place that sold burgers and after getting a bowl for water, gave it the burger. Here's the kicker. The dog's burger looked like it was five times as nice as mine, and for a fifth of the cost.

Day 14 - Havana, Cuba

Around 630am - 8am from the apartment window.

Day 13 - Havana, Cuba

A weekend, so a lay in. Went to the shops and picked up some carrots, limes and onions and a huge tin of tomato puree paste stuff. Then onto the supermarket place where you point out one of the, perhaps, fifteen things they sell in the glass cabinet and someone goes and gets them off the shelf for you. A bit like a food Argos. Milk, orange juice and a tin of peaches. But most excitingly of all - written on a whiteboard; "burger". Two frozen burgers in individual plastic packets slowly getting hotter. Bought them and ran home (okay, no running) because I would have KILLED for a burger. In other news - that shop - God, it's just hot. However hot you're thinking it is - it's hotter. Just five minutes and sweat was dripping from my face onto my shoes. I just don't see how you build up a tolerance to that sort of heat. It was hotter in the shop, than outside (I guess down to the mostly empty fridges). I think ten minutes max and I'd tap out and have to leave. Jane cooked the burgers and it was so nice to have one. Pasta is all very well, but I was really wanting something different.

After the burger we decided to go and get more limes to make whatever drink it was we had yesterday (though the chances of finding somewhere that sells mint is about as likely as finding butter).

Walked North (?) back to the market and bought things to take home. We passed a house that seemed to be a cat sanctuary. Tonnes of cats and kittens lounging about.

Had a beer at the same bar we'd been to last week. As we were drinking crowds started gathering. I went to the roadside and a police were escorting a funeral procession. Everyone started to clap and film it with their phones. It was a singer apparently.

On the return trip we passed the cats and kittens and some kids were causing trouble to the kids so we shooed them away, much to their indifference. A woman was putting out food for them so we gave her 5 CUC for food.

Down a side street with no other shops we came across one that had pallets of eggs. Thousands of the things. It's odd that you can assume something is hard to get then you come across a shop that sells just that one.

Someone knocked on the door with a pen and pad. We said we were English and she went away.

Did I mention I had a cheeseburger. Oh happy day.

p.s. I don't want to worry anyone, but we're running very low on nice coffee.

Day 12 - Havana, Cuba

One day will come a morning where my first thought is not; "Oh, the humidity." Today is not that day.

Had some of the pate/sausage thing on a toasted bread roll for breakfast. It has such a dark red colour, I wonder if it's perhaps some kind of blood sausage.

Into town to look for food. We got the last pack of pasta sauce. *high five* (though, we're eating mostly pasta - and it's not through choice). Picked up the other staple of tomatoes, carrots and we got some sweet potato. I'd kill for a cheeseburger - I really, really would. The local ATM didn't want to work.

It’s so hot even the biscuits are feeling ill.

Showered (again) and walked into Central Havana. Found a working ATM. To celebrate we had a daiquiri in Ernest Hemingway's joint at ...

A nice walk around the Museo de la Revolucion. Something about a guy called Che Che Guevara. Best known for his line in student posters and t-shirts. Did a bit of a revolution as a sideline. Tried to bring the beret back in.

Day 11 - Havana, Cuba

Up early. A walk to the cigar factory in the main part of Havana. The heat of the day was somewhat at bay as we walked over. Compared to where we're staying it seemed like a bustling metropolis. Turned out the cigar factory was actually a shop and the factory was another 3km or so. Tomorrow then.

We walked towards the museum and approached by a guy (Mikey) doing hour tours of Havan in a nice convertible, so we hopped in. That’s the driver in the photo (whose name I sadly can’t remember).

He regaled us with lots of interesting facts and it would be really good for the blog if I could remember any. Stuff about the revolution.

We stopped off at a few places en-route. There was a park with a statue of John Lennon in. Lennon never came to Cuba but the park is where kids would defiantly sing and play rock 'n' roll, even though you could be locked up for it. Also, Mikey said, you could be sent to a camp for five years just for speaking English. Fun days. Then we went with him to a bar with more live music (Jagger and Harrison Ford had been there according to photos on the wall) and had a Mojito. We then headed back to the main square with cigars, and nice rum.

We'd lost a couple of litres in sweat by then. Found a pizza place about ten minutes walk from the house so had some lunch. About £4 for two pizza and three soft drinks, so we tipped another £4.

Day 11 - Havana, Cuba

The aircon was set to 20 degrees in the bedroom, so not really that cold - but going through to the front room this morning my glasses fogged up with humidity so much I couldn't see a thing. 100% opaque.

Out for supplies. Went into a shop that just sold one type of salami, or some sort of cheese. There were less flies around the meat so I went for that. I indicated how much to slice off. 2 CUC. He handed it to me. "A bag?" I asked hopefully. Nope. So I just took my meat home. (I'm not sure what the meat was. It had the texture of pate, and tastes okay.) The more supermarket shop had the pasta sauce locked away I glass case, such as you might find a Rolex in. No dice pasta thieves.

Back out into the death humidity. Went to a market and got a couple of little model of a Cuban taxi. Got the guy from one for six CUC to six for two. An okay deal? No idea.

Had a few beers in a bar with live music. A guy (unbidden) did a characteur of me. He seems to think my forehead is my most prominent feature.

An insistent kid followed us home saying; "Money. Dollar. Money. Dollar. Money. Dollar."

Day 10 - Havana, Cuba

In Cuba. Internet bad at best. Blogs may be infrequent.

Woke at 730am to the crowing of a cockerel and the tink tink tink of a hammer from across the street.

A man pushing a cart down the street and blowing his whistle. It was hard to see from the fourth floor what was he selling, but it looked like baguettes.

Popped out to see if we could find some bread (spoiler alert: no). Holy mother it's hot out there. Saw a group of people outside the hospital queuing up by a small table with a nurse sat at it. I would imagine they were getting a the flu jab.

Came home with a LOT of (over ripe) bananas.

Fell asleep due to the heat.

Back out to look for food. Still stupidly hot. Bought a big bottle of rum (£2.50) and some pasta, coffee, milk and orange juice. Walked into one shop. The place was thick with a smoke-like mist of insecticide (it smelt like the same one as the one they’d sprayed in the plane before landing). With a lungful, we resolved to give it thirty minutes before returning.

On first glance, it's one of those places where everything is always getting repaired, yet nothing is ever fixed.

Day 8 - Niagara, Canada

Up early. Read. Breakfast.

Walked towards the river, but stopped off to take the elevator up to the observation deck of the Skylon Tower. The elevators are called; “yellow bugs”.

Then onto the Daredevil Exhibit to look at barrels and such that people used when then thought it would be a good idea to go over the edge of the falls.

There were a big group of Amish looking round the exhibit so I had a chat with a guy called Reuben. They’re over from Indiana. I asked for a photo (obviously) but he declined (obviously) on religious grounds. I asked why they’re against photography and he didn’t seem to know. Since photography is so new I asked whether it was a more general idea about making images. He said it was to do with the Ten Commandments, but he wasn’t sure which one. Perhaps, I figured, it was just a modernity thing. They they went to watch a movie in the IMAX theatre, so perhaps not.

From the Rainbow Bridge you can (with the relevant paperwork) walk from Canada into America. You pay your dollar and walk through the turnstile before noticing the long line you need to join to get back in. We walked on both sides of the International Boundary Line between Canada and the US before joining the queue (only forty minutes in the end).

Back home for pizza, packing and flight check-ins ahead of tomorrow’s flight to Cuba.

[The sporadic Internet may make blogging similarly intermittent]

Day 7 - Niagara, Canada

After the 3am start and long journey I was asleep before eight, so was up at six-thirty. Read for an hour, breakfast and we left by nine or so to walk down to Horseshoe Falls.

So far we’ve shopped at Walmart, eaten at the International House of Pancakes and had a coffee at Starbucks. If we even so much as drive past a McDonalds we’ll be ejected into America where we so obviously belong.

Spent the evening in “Knuckleheads”. There was a band called “2 hot 2 handle” which I assumed might be be a jazz quartet playing standards. No, turns out it was a nineties covers band. Blur’s “Song 2” was the only song I recognised, but I think in the nineties I was probably listening to music from the seventies.

A hockey game was on the television. Maple Leafs vs. Red Wings (?). The Maple Leafs won (which Max supports). The owners supported the opposition.

Day 6 - Iceland / Toronto, Canada

The thing that always struck as about the house in Iceland is that however windy is was - and it was REALLY windy - you couldn’t hear a thing inside. Therefore, disappointing to note that the whole house rattled with the ferocious winds on the night we needed sleep as we were getting up before 3am to drive to the airport. The thought of a really high winds, gravel paths and no lit roads didn’t fill me with joy.

Spoiler Alert: We didn’t die.

Got an uncomfy plane and five and a half hours later we landed in Toronto.

Had some lunch in a place called Grimsby.

Found a little shop called “Walmart” and picked up bread, cheese, eggs, coffee, etc.

Found the house, which is lovely.

Walked down main street. Had a beer at “Knuckleheads". Lots of houses had Halloween decorations up.

Noticed that the Cardiac Diagnostic Clinic is opposite the Funeral Home

Day 5 - Iceland

A very clear night out of the bedroom window last night.

Set off with no real plan. As we headed towards a church seen from the road we came across the Shark museum that had eluded us for a couple of days. There was the offer to trying some putrefied shark but I don’t eat fish (yes, it’s a fish and not a mammal) and Jane wasn’t keen either. Also, who wants to have to explain to the car hire people why the car is quite so full of sick.

Then outside to see the shark drying. If you can imagine how it smells, then you’re probably right.

The woman in the shark museum said the church was the oldest in Iceland. Google doesn’t agree. (Google: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/grafarkirkja)

“This church belongs to the Stykkisholmur benefice in the Snaefellsnes- and Dalir Deanery. During the Catholic period, the churches were dedicated to St. Nicolas. The present church was consecrated in 1857.

It is a little, wooden church, the pride possession of the farmer at Bjarnarhofn. It is the home chapel of Bjarnarhofn and has no other parishioners.”

— https://www.nat.is/bjarnarhofn-church/

Talking of churches. After heading back to Stykkishólmur to look for bookmarks and grab a coffee we found the road that lead to Stykkishólmur church. The church had a Steinway grand piano which sounded wonderful, even if my playing didn’t.

“This church belongs to the Stykkisholmur benefice in the Snaefell- and Dalir Deanery. Until 1878 the hamlet belonged to the Helgafell benefice, when a new parish for the people there was established. The old church of the small town has been renovated and still protrudes into the main street. It was built in 1879.

The new church is a concrete architectural adventure with seats for 300 people. It was consecrated in 1980 and has been used as a concert hall as well from the beginning. Its stands rather high and is very prominent from land and sea.”

— https://www.nat.is/Churches/stykkisholmur_church.htm

Down to the harbour and bought a little model of a viking boat for the back room.

Took more photos on the way back. The wind was so strong it was hard to open the car doors (even taking into account my well-renowned upper body strength).

An early night as we’re up at 3am to drive to the airport for the flight to Canada.

Day 4 - Stykkishólmur, Iceland

Woke to a much colder, windier, wetter, blusterer morning. The vague plan was just get in the car and drive in the opposite direction to normal. A crazy, foolhardy plan. But a plan.

The first thing we came across was a graveyard (not church though). Who doesn’t like a graveyard?

Into Stykkishólmur. Car filled up with yet more petrol.

When in Iceland… a Belgian bun. Coffee and the World’s stickiest bun at Nesbrauð Cafe.

In the distance we could see Stykkishólmur church, but try as we might we couldn’t find the road that led up to it. A series of dead ends.

It never takes us long to hit another bit of coast.

If you don’t want to imagine what hundreds of dead starfish in a skip might look like then look away now.

Popped down a side path and found a couple of heads on poles. Perhaps not the most welcoming of sights.

Drove home. Can you see the house? It’s the red one.

Day 3 - Snæfellsjökull National Park, Iceland

The plan was the Bjarnarhöfn Shark Museum (as we’d past the sign a few times) the on to Snæfellsjökull National Park. The sign was at the end of the long gravel road that linked where we were staying to the main road. It helpfully said it was open from 9-6pm but sadly chose not to say where it was. We tried in vain to find it, but nope. Had we found it there was the opportunity to try putrefied shark meat. To be honest that sounds like a hard no from me.

The sun hit this mountain in a pleasing way which made me think of a Turner painting (though probably not if you’re looking on a tiny phone screen).

Into Olakfsvik (Sker restaurant) for lunch and a look at the church. The church was consecrated on November 10th 1967. It’s the first modern church in Iceland.

A sculpture by Jon Gunnar Amason (b. 15 May 1931). “The Ship": We all have our dream boat and we all dream of sailing deep into our dreams. These boats reflect my own imagination, my precision and my knowledge about simple boat builders of the past centuries."

And by contrast a few hundred feet away was the self-proclaimed capital of the World.

Onwards where we laugh in the face of danger (totally turned around and didn’t go up there).

It looked fine from the bottom.

Onward to a black-sanded beach (yes, I Photoshopped out some people who had the audacity to be in my photo).

One more waterfall then home.

Day 2 - Grundarfjörður, Iceland

A short thirty minute drive into Grundarfjörður. The landscape on the drive over felt as thought it was caused by volcanoes then taken over by moss. Can someone check that for me, please?

A hike (okay, just about forty-five minutes - shut up) to a waterfall. The sky was annoyingly pale.

Coffee, yoghurt and a cold drink at Cafe Emil which managed to combine a library, coffee shop, museum and photography exhibition in one. A look at Grundarfjörður church (closed, of course).

“Kirkjufell, or 'Church Mountain', is a distinctly shaped peak found on the north shore of Iceland’s Snæfellsnes Peninsula, only a short distance away from the town of Grundarfjörður.”

Day 1 - Iceland

Up at 3am. Taxi at 4am. Bouncing over a slick motorway through the rain.

Landed in Reykjavik but had to sit around on the tarmac as someone had become ill and the paramedics treated them before taking them away in an ambulance.

Almost two hours to get the hire car because apparently a storm had stopped flights for a couple of days and they had a backlog. Eventually got the car and if you think you’ve ever had a worse hire car than this one then I had a bet to make with you. Rusty, cracked windscreen and a clutch so unresponsive I genuinely just figured the car didn’t work.

We picked up some food at Bonus Supermarket (as it’s supposed to be the cheap place to shop). About £50 for our snacks, bacon, pasta, milk, noodles, etc.

A good three hour drive in total through nice scenery and we FINALLY go to the nicely remote house in Snæfellsnes. Also, see below the crappy hire car - do please feel free to call it names.

Allergies aside, it’s nice to see horses out of the house window.

Flights, Cars, Accommodation, Money, etc.

The plans so far are:

In Iceland we’ll drive a couple of hours to the famous mountain “Kirkjufell” then cross East towards the glaciers.

In Toronto we’ll drive to Niagara and stay around there.

Then onto Cuba. I guess we’ll predominantly stay around Havana.

✔ Flights booked - Iceland, Canada (Toronto) and Iceland.

✔ Canadian Visa - Accepted

✔ Cuban Visa - Form complete, Postal Cheques picked up

✔ Ordered 30,000 Icelandic Króna.

✔ Booked hotel in Iceland.

✔ Booked flat in Cuba.

✔ Car hired for Iceland.

✔ Car hired for Canada.

Cuban currency (CUC) will be exchanged at the airport.