Back in the USA

 First, let me start with our farewell dinner last night.  The bus took us to Old Havana (same general area where we explored the four squares).  It was after seven so it was dark but there were many people around and it was lively.  No cars are allowed in the area.  The cafes are allowed to set up tables in the streets (alley). We were seated at a long table parallel to the sidewalk.  In fact, people were walking right behind me sometimes bumping in.  There were feral cats under the  table - one was under my chair and another reached up for my napkin.  It didn’t help that some of our group fed them. (Stop laughing!) Of course, there was loud live music coming out of the cafe. Ordered white wine as did many others.  Came back to say they had no white so we were then served red wine.  The meal ended with rum —-served in test tubes (think Chemistry Class) Certainly made for interesting memories. 

Today was spent getting to the Havana Airport, flying (40 minutes), Customs, etc. in Miami.  As we were walking towards the Skytrain, an announcement said that it was not working. That meant that we had lots more walking to do. Had to climb up three flights of steps to get to customs. The rest went smoothly.  As we walked out with our luggage, a young couple approached me and asked if I spoke English. “Yes.” “What flight were you on?” I pointed to my luggage tag and they could see the number. Smiled and went on their way. Funny. We are staying near the airport.  Walked down the street to Burger King for supper.  

We traveled with a very compatible group of people, with Jim our Road Scholar tour director, with Jose our guide from the Cuban tourism bureau,  and Peter our fantastic bus driver. Jose did his best to explain Cuba to us.  Many times he ended his explanation with “It’s complicated.,” which became the chorus we repeated when anything unexpected happened.  It’s complicated! And he smiled and agreed. 

I may post a couple more times after we are home and digest all we have seen and heard. Back to winter tomorrow! Thanks for traveling with us.