Tash and I were up for breakfast at 7am after not having much sleep. However, we knew that today we would be able to sleep because we were heading to Varadero by taxi. The first hour and a half leg of our trip was driven by a CRAZY driver. He stopped in a parking lot and passed us off to another driver whose car was much smaller and had no A/C. Wait what? You took my money at the beginning of the trip only to pass me off into a shittier car part way through? Not only was there no A/C in this car, but we were packed with three in the back and one in front. When I leaned back to close my eyes I realized that there were no tops to the backseats. That's right, it's like someone just sliced off the top half of the entire back row. I figured if this guy drove like the last guy, at least we would get a good breeze coming in through the windows. To my disappointment, only the front windows rolled down. It started pouring rain so not only did the front windows have to go up, but the driver passed around papers that he motioned for us to shove in the cracks of the doors and windows so that we would stay dry. The car became so hot that the windows started to fog. My tired, hungover self was not happy. After all of our travels I'm not sure why Tash and I fooled ourselves into thinking this would be an easy excursion day. Once the rain finally let up, our driver rolled down his window. We noticed that anytime he passed a car the same as his (I use the term "same as his" loosely because I can't imagine cubans seek out cars with no tops to their backseats, but who knows?!) he would "whoop" loudly and wave his arms. After four hours I was definitely ready to be passed along to yet another driver. The car this time was much, much bigger but there was still no A/C. I was able to lay down in the backseat and was able to get a bit of rest once the hills became too much for me. Upon arrival at our casa we were STARVING. Our host however, was beyond excited to have us and was talking a mile a minute about everything under the sun there was to do in Varadero. He had multiple maps, pamphlets and personal anecdotes to share with us. Because we were worried that if he kept talking we might eat his face, we nicely excused ourselves claiming that we were in need of lunch. He recommended a great place, but made us promise that we would continue our discussion with him when we returned. Yeah buddy. Absolutely. Whatever you say. Tash and I wandered down the street, crossed over the door in the middle of the road and into the building with the tree growing out of it-- I tell you, these cubans are very creative with their cityscapes. Not only did the city have charm, but so did the restaurant. A small old man with no shirt greeted us and took our order. We got spaghetti with camarones. I truly believe the little old man had to go down the street to gather his family because he returned a little while later with a few more adults and some ingredients from the store. One of the women pulled the little old man into the backroom to have a chat with him. Upon his re-entry to the restaurant he was wearing a shirt. Tash and I were incredibly amused by the whole ordeal. Our food came and the portions were MONSTROUS. We could have easily split a dish. We felt so badly leaving food on our plates that we asked if we could have to-go containers. The poor little old man had to consult with his back of house staff before emerging with a paper plate. He put our spaghetti on the plate and then tied it up in a plastic bag. Tash and I headed back to our casa to rest. We then showered and tried to sneak our leftovers out of the refrigerator but the man running the house saw us. Our story gave him a hearty laugh. He then shared it with his wife who also had a laugh at our expense. She heated up our pasta in the microwave and we sat on the back patio to eat it. Tash and I then headed out to explore the cobbled streets. It was much, much cooler than during the day. We got gelato for dessert. While wandering we noticed there was a ton of live music, so we stopped at an outdoor patio to listen. We met a solo traveler from Norway and an old cuban man who spent the rest of his evening with us.
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