TR: raquelle261 & colleagues do Cuba - Page 2

gingele · 10-30-2007

Dang! I was just about to call it a night...

think I'll stick around and read this TR. Looks like it might be a good one!!!!

Keep it comin'!!

Brent & Kim · 10-30-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by woodman

Give me the word in question and i'll translate

champers.

woodman · 10-30-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by raquelle261

sorreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, but there really ARE hundreds for me to post later on

(btw: pic tally is gonna be light until we actually properly arrive but there’s zillions to make up for it once we get there, I promise!)

Well you do know how to build suspense

redhairgirl1 · 10-30-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by woodman

Give me the word in question and i'll translate

She did mention farmers, and sheep

woodman · 10-30-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent & Kim

champers.

#$@% off

woodman · 10-30-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by redhairgirl1

She did mention farmers, and sheep

Don't know anything about sheep since my navy days

raquelle261 · 10-30-2007

Day 1 (Thurs 19 May) Pt2
It’s now 4pm-ish and we are finally on our way on our “direct” long haul leg of the journey.

So…… we have been “travelling” all in all for about 8 hours since originally checking-in in London, and Air France helpfully pop up that “lets have a look at where we’ve got to” map on the telly. Hurraaaaaaaaaah!! And they gleefully wiggle the little line-with-the-plane-on-the-end thing out from Paris and over the English Channel, over London, make it hang a right and wiggle it up the map over the north of England (from where I set off yesterday - grrrr), then hang a left headed towards Ireland. We have been travelling 8 hours and they are telling us we haven’t even got out of British airspace! B@$tards.

But not to worry!! Noooo, because not too long after, the line-with-the-little-plane-attached wiggles itself over a blue screen, to signify we are over the Atlantic. Oh yes. Hurraaaaaaah, we are feeling like we are getting somewhere! Then the main telly breaks.

And the wiggling plane-on-the-line-over-a-“map”-thing becomes all we have by way of in-flight entertainment for the next 13 hours. If you can call looking at a blue screen for hours on end entertainment, we didn’t actually have a “map” to look at until about 10 hours later…….

We are also informed by the lovely [read: surly and miserable] French air stewards that we are flying on a “dry” plane too and there is no alcohol on board to be purchased. Well wonderful. There seemingly was hardly any food on board either, as we only got one meal the entire flight. Which for a flight this long, was quite surprising. I would hope they are not all like this, and it was probably something to do with the sheep-strike-rubbish affecting supplies getting on board or something, but I perhaps wouldn’t recommend flying Air France btw!!

So, we make our own entertainment…! Yeyyyyy…… we get chatting to some Cuban musicians who have been touring Europe with the Buena Vista Social Club and are headed home. These are backing musicians, young guys (some real hotties in there girls – think “Rey”….. think “Antonio”…. think “crumbs-no-kicko-out-of-bedo-foro”) who are highly entertaining company. Some of these naughty chicos have managed to sneak a few hip flasks of happy juice on in their carry-ons and they generously share this with us.

I am happy. The company I am in is fantastic. We are laughing. We get told off by the hormonal air stewards.

Cosmo · 10-30-2007

edit

Quote:

Originally Posted by redhairgirl1

She did mention farmers, and sheep

Brent & Kim · 10-30-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by redhairgirl1

She did mention farmers, and sheep

You need to change your avatar, I feel myself holding back on my comments because of her age.

raquelle261 · 10-30-2007

Day 1 (Thurs 19 May) Pt3
AND WE ARE HERE!!!! HAVANA!!! AT LAST!!! And now having to line up in front of THE SCARIEST LOOKING CUSTOMS BLOKES I HAVE SEEN IN MY LIFE...!!!!

This is seriously scary. And like no other airport ritual I have been through. We all have to line up, then individually go in booths with some chap in army fatigues carrying a big gun and an incredibly stony face. (you definitely wouldn’t want to nick the sound system out of this guy’s truck, that’s for sure….)

Anyway, a whole bunch of questions and earnest frowning and staring to-and-from us and our passport pics later, and we are in. Phew. And we are met on the “other side” by the really lovely [read: hot as heck woof woof] Alexis (we girls were a-swooning) and Naya (the guys eyes were on stalks – this chica was hotter than hot), who, it turns out, are to be our 24-hour live-in guides for the duration of our stay……!

Naya and Alexis (after we had forced him off duty and to let his hair down):

Alexis (did I mention he was a bit of a hottie btw??) sees us on to the private air-conditioned-fully-stocked-free-bar-with-private-decicated-driver coach that we are to have for the duration of our stay. We drive a few 100m – until we are just outside the airport perimeter fence – where we park up.

Naya comes on board serving us our first mojito’s of the trip – breaking my mojito-virginity as these were also the first ones of my life!!! My GOD there were good! Mmmmmmm, very strong and minty….. The bar is now officially open and Ms Betty Ford is well on her way to getting some new customers!!! Lol.

We are staying at a gorgeous and elegant 5-star hotel in La Habana Vieja – the NH Parque Central. “La Habana Vieja” – old Havana – is the historic quarter, a designated World Heritage Site and is jam packed with old Spanish colonial architecture. Old Havana is simply stunning – as is the hotel – and I have loads of pics coming up for you in Day 2. By the time we have arrived it is pitch black and we are right royally knackered, so cameras weren’t really a-clickin just yet…..

In the meantime, to round off what has been a marathon day, we meet at the hotel’s rooftop bar “Nuevo Munda” for a welcome reception with local snacks and enjoy the spectacular views over Havana by night. Here are a few pics to get you in the mood for the hundreds I have from Day 2 onwards to choose from. The last of these 3 pics probably sums up the state most of us were in by the time we fell in to bed!

Welcome Reception:

raquelle261 · 10-30-2007

Right... that's your teaser for tonight! Its 3.45am and I need to hit the pillow. More to follow tomorrow......

gingele · 10-30-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by raquelle261

(you definitely wouldn’t want to nick the sound system out of this guy’s truck, that’s for sure….)

And If I may translate the following:

Quote:

Originally Posted by raquelle261

By the time we have arrived it is pitch black and we are right royally knackered,

it means this......

Quote:

Originally Posted by raquelle261

missixty · 10-31-2007

Great report so far!

Can't wait to read more!

raquelle261 · 10-31-2007

WARNING – YOU SAY YOU WANT PICTURES…. YOU ARE ABOUT TO GET PICTURE OVERLOAD
(I have the pics and clips from every camera that was there so you’ve asked for it…..)

Day 2 (Fri 20 May) Pt1 – pre-meet
Early call this morning, as we have a full day organised for us. (In fact, they crammed so many organised events into this trip for us, we did more than most folk would do in a trip in 3 weeks, this first full day alone we did enough to fill a week in itself, hence most of the days are coming to you in several “parts”! Hopefully you won’t get bored……) <<crosses fingers>>

My body clock is shafted. Reeeeeally struggle forcing myself to get up out of this ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE bed:

(In fact, being in this bed was really disorientating. When my alarm clock went off, I rolled over and slung my arm out to turn it off – but couldn’t reach so had to roll again. And roll again. And roll again. I am not joking. I mean, look at the damn thing. The bed was so huge it was ridiculous. The clock was literally almost in another time zone.)

A bit blurry eyed partly due to the 6 hour time difference, but mainly due to the lack of sleep and the 24/7 free bar (refer back to last pic from Day 1!), we all meet up for a gorgeous buffet breakfast in the main restaurant “Mediterraneo”. There was every type of breakfast style you could think of on offer here and the exotic fruits especially were out of this world.

Mediterraneo:

After breakfast, we meet in the hotel lobby before going for (several) tours of Havana.

Lobby:

Our hotel (the NH Parque Central):

The square opposite the hotel:

And a few views from the hotel balconies:

missixty · 10-31-2007

Loving it! Keep it coming!!

We had a bed like that at the Allegro, me and Ste were slept about 3 feet away from each other lol...

10-30-2007	#22 (permalink)
raquelle261 añejo Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Hull, UK Posts: 1,702	Day 1 (Thurs 19 May) Pt2 It’s now 4pm-ish and we are finally on our way on our “direct” long haul leg of the journey. So…… we have been “travelling” all in all for about 8 hours since originally checking-in in London, and Air France helpfully pop up that “lets have a look at where we’ve got to” map on the telly. Hurraaaaaaaaaah!! And they gleefully wiggle the little line-with-the-plane-on-the-end thing out from Paris and over the English Channel, over London, make it hang a right and wiggle it up the map over the north of England (from where I set off yesterday - grrrr), then hang a left headed towards Ireland. We have been travelling 8 hours and they are telling us we haven’t even got out of British airspace! B@$tards. But not to worry!! Noooo, because not too long after, the line-with-the-little-plane-attached wiggles itself over a blue screen, to signify we are over the Atlantic. Oh yes. Hurraaaaaaah, we are feeling like we are getting somewhere! Then the main telly breaks. And the wiggling plane-on-the-line-over-a-“map”-thing becomes all we have by way of in-flight entertainment for the next 13 hours. If you can call looking at a blue screen for hours on end entertainment, we didn’t actually have a “map” to look at until about 10 hours later……. We are also informed by the lovely [read: surly and miserable] French air stewards that we are flying on a “dry” plane too and there is no alcohol on board to be purchased. Well wonderful. There seemingly was hardly any food on board either, as we only got one meal the entire flight. Which for a flight this long, was quite surprising. I would hope they are not all like this, and it was probably something to do with the sheep-strike-rubbish affecting supplies getting on board or something, but I perhaps wouldn’t recommend flying Air France btw!! So, we make our own entertainment…! Yeyyyyy…… we get chatting to some Cuban musicians who have been touring Europe with the Buena Vista Social Club and are headed home. These are backing musicians, young guys (some real hotties in there girls – think “Rey”….. think “Antonio”…. think “crumbs-no-kicko-out-of-bedo-foro”) who are highly entertaining company. Some of these naughty chicos have managed to sneak a few hip flasks of happy juice on in their carry-ons and they generously share this with us. I am happy. The company I am in is fantastic. We are laughing. We get told off by the hormonal air stewards. __________________ Cuba TR: "la, la, la, laaaaa, la bloody bamba...."

10-30-2007	#25 (permalink)
raquelle261 añejo Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Hull, UK Posts: 1,702	Day 1 (Thurs 19 May) Pt3 AND WE ARE HERE!!!! HAVANA!!! AT LAST!!! And now having to line up in front of THE SCARIEST LOOKING CUSTOMS BLOKES I HAVE SEEN IN MY LIFE...!!!! This is seriously scary. And like no other airport ritual I have been through. We all have to line up, then individually go in booths with some chap in army fatigues carrying a big gun and an incredibly stony face. (you definitely wouldn’t want to nick the sound system out of this guy’s truck, that’s for sure….) Anyway, a whole bunch of questions and earnest frowning and staring to-and-from us and our passport pics later, and we are in. Phew. And we are met on the “other side” by the really lovely [read: hot as heck woof woof] Alexis (we girls were a-swooning) and Naya (the guys eyes were on stalks – this chica was hotter than hot), who, it turns out, are to be our 24-hour live-in guides for the duration of our stay……! Naya and Alexis (after we had forced him off duty and to let his hair down): Alexis (did I mention he was a bit of a hottie btw??) sees us on to the private air-conditioned-fully-stocked-free-bar-with-private-decicated-driver coach that we are to have for the duration of our stay. We drive a few 100m – until we are just outside the airport perimeter fence – where we park up. Naya comes on board serving us our first mojito’s of the trip – breaking my mojito-virginity as these were also the first ones of my life!!! My GOD there were good! Mmmmmmm, very strong and minty….. The bar is now officially open and Ms Betty Ford is well on her way to getting some new customers!!! Lol. We are staying at a gorgeous and elegant 5-star hotel in La Habana Vieja – the NH Parque Central. “La Habana Vieja” – old Havana – is the historic quarter, a designated World Heritage Site and is jam packed with old Spanish colonial architecture. Old Havana is simply stunning – as is the hotel – and I have loads of pics coming up for you in Day 2. By the time we have arrived it is pitch black and we are right royally knackered, so cameras weren’t really a-clickin just yet….. In the meantime, to round off what has been a marathon day, we meet at the hotel’s rooftop bar “Nuevo Munda” for a welcome reception with local snacks and enjoy the spectacular views over Havana by night. Here are a few pics to get you in the mood for the hundreds I have from Day 2 onwards to choose from. The last of these 3 pics probably sums up the state most of us were in by the time we fell in to bed! Welcome Reception: Last edited by raquelle261; 11-17-2007 at 06:21 PM..

10-30-2007	#16 (permalink)
gingele añejo Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Chicagoland Posts: 2,652	Dang! I was just about to call it a night... think I'll stick around and read this TR. Looks like it might be a good one!!!! Keep it comin'!!

10-30-2007	#26 (permalink)
raquelle261 añejo Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Hull, UK Posts: 1,702	Right... that's your teaser for tonight! Its 3.45am and I need to hit the pillow. More to follow tomorrow......

10-31-2007	#28 (permalink)
missixty life=playa Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 585	Great report so far! Can't wait to read more!

10-31-2007	#29 (permalink)
raquelle261 añejo Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Hull, UK Posts: 1,702	WARNING – YOU SAY YOU WANT PICTURES…. YOU ARE ABOUT TO GET PICTURE OVERLOAD (I have the pics and clips from every camera that was there so you’ve asked for it…..) Day 2 (Fri 20 May) Pt1 – pre-meet Early call this morning, as we have a full day organised for us. (In fact, they crammed so many organised events into this trip for us, we did more than most folk would do in a trip in 3 weeks, this first full day alone we did enough to fill a week in itself, hence most of the days are coming to you in several “parts”! Hopefully you won’t get bored……) <<crosses fingers>> My body clock is shafted. Reeeeeally struggle forcing myself to get up out of this ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE bed: (In fact, being in this bed was really disorientating. When my alarm clock went off, I rolled over and slung my arm out to turn it off – but couldn’t reach so had to roll again. And roll again. And roll again. I am not joking. I mean, look at the damn thing. The bed was so huge it was ridiculous. The clock was literally almost in another time zone.) A bit blurry eyed partly due to the 6 hour time difference, but mainly due to the lack of sleep and the 24/7 free bar (refer back to last pic from Day 1!), we all meet up for a gorgeous buffet breakfast in the main restaurant “Mediterraneo”. There was every type of breakfast style you could think of on offer here and the exotic fruits especially were out of this world. Mediterraneo: After breakfast, we meet in the hotel lobby before going for (several) tours of Havana. Lobby: Our hotel (the NH Parque Central): The square opposite the hotel: And a few views from the hotel balconies:

10-31-2007	#30 (permalink)
missixty life=playa Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 585	Loving it! Keep it coming!! We had a bed like that at the Allegro, me and Ste were slept about 3 feet away from each other lol...

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