Monday
Jan052004
Beautiful country, tacky hotel
Monday, January 5, 2004 at 1:18PM
Ah, Cuba. It's warm and beautiful. We're right on the ocean, and it's stunning. It's good to get away, especially since there's snow in Toronto now. Last time we were here, I felt guilty that we were living in luxury for the week while Cubans live in relative squalor. The good news this time: I don't need to feel quite as guilty. Our three star plus hotel is really closer to a one or two star place. It's old, tired, and tacky. We've got three single beds and four people. We could complain (and believe me, we have) but we got exactly what we paid for, and we're all together in the incredibly beautiful sun. And it's what we could afford if we brought the kids, so it's not all bad. Lesson learned: you never know what you're getting when you book through the Internet. I should have called our agent. Kids are at the swimming pool. I'm going to go try and find another mattress. I don't miss the snow, but life in Canada is very good. We don't always realize how good we have it. But it is sunny here, and the bananas are delicous...
Reader Comments (8)
I'd rather be there, even with single beds and all the tackyness. Eh, don't spend too much time on line!!!
Enjoy!! Though I live in deep south Texas, where it is sunny during the winter (well, it is *most* of the time), vacations are good for the soul, the family, and everything else. I will be curious to know how you handled blogging from a place not quite as "connected" as we are in the US and Canada. Last summer, I was in Viet Nam for two weeks, and I was surprised and delighted to find I could post from just about anywhere. The computers were a bit dodgy (I had to relearn using Windows 3.1), and the Internet cafes had the floppy drives taped over so I could not write a posting in Notepad, then dump it to a floppy for uploading to the blog, but I managed. Tell us about the abilty to connect - as well as whether you even *wanted* to blog. Cheers - and enjoy!
It's -9 in Vancouver today... so as long as you're already looking for an extra mattress, see if you can find 2.
I remember a cartoon in Leadership mag some years ago depicting an airplane taking off with a pastor and his wife on board. Coming out of the plane were two "bubbles" with the thoughts of the happy couple about their holiday. SHE: "Ah ! Just me and him alone without those wretched books" HE: "Ah - Alone at last, just me and my books!" There's gotta be a lesson there somewhere for Daryl !
I am sure it can't be as bad as someof the 'tacky' places we stayed at years ago? Having Charelene, Christina & Josiah with you, makes it more bearable now, than it was then, I am sure. Enjoy the sun/sea/sand.
If you were looking for sympathy, you came to wrong blog. I just spent 4 hours driving from Binghamton to Syracuse through 2' of lake effect snow. Even in a one star you'd be doing better than most Cubans. I'm sure most of them would die (some have) for the privilege of being less than happy with a vacation booked online! Enjoy!
today it is currently -11, but with the wind chill it feels much colder. the high today is supposed to reach -8 but feel like -14 .. we'll try and get things warmed up for you before you return!
Actually it has warmed up to a mild -30 in the far North - time to take off another layer!