An extra day in Havana and other news

Good news! Just found out from our travel agent that our flight time has been moved up from 5:30pm to 6:20am, effectively giving us another day in Havana. Since our flight goes into Varadero, we'll now be taking the 2 hour bus trip to Havana during the daytime when we can actually see some of the countryside. This should put us into Havana by early afternoon, so we'll be able to check out Habana Vieja, have lunch/dinner, and even hit some bars. Much better than arriving after midnight!

We've booked a one day tour with a local guide for the 2nd day of our trip to orient ourselves to the city, learn more about it's culture and history, and hopefully experience a few things we wouldn't on our own. The plan is to start at 10:00am at the Museo de la Revolucion, then take a walking tour of Habana Vieja.

I've been in touch with Not Just Tourists again, and it's confirmed that we'll be able to take up to four suitcases (1 each) of medical aid. We've submitted a request to Sunwing for an exemption to their baggage weight limit. We're allowed 20 kg, and the NJT suitcase is 10 kgs. With a fee of $10 per excess kg, this could be an expensive proposition if we don't get the exemption. Hopefully we'll get a favourable reply soon.

Spanish class goes well. My vocabulary, pronunciation, and written comprehension are progressing nicely, but I'm beginning to realize how difficult it is to converse in a new language. When asked a question, I will normally have a long pause with a blank look on my face while I translate the question internally to English, try to formulate some type of reply in English, then try to convert it to Spanish. As often as not, what comes out at the end of this long process is, "No entiendo". Sad.

Cuba photos

Here are some great sites with photos of Havana and other Cuban places of interest - stunning - can't wait to see the real thing!

Rado Vleugel: http://www.cuba-photos.net/category/havana-i

Kees Terberg: http://www.pbase.com/terberg/cuba&page=all

Atsushi Tsunoda: http://flickr.com/search/show/?q=cuba