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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 4, 2017 14:18:49 GMT
I brought one back but Bixa could not because she had to change planes in Mexico City.
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Post by onlyMark on Dec 4, 2017 14:23:31 GMT
The melon/squash thing looks like the papaya we get here on the outside and the butternut squash we get here on the inside.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 4, 2017 14:34:25 GMT
In any case, the price of CUP 5 converts to 0.03 euros, so you can buy at least two at that price.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 4, 2017 14:41:15 GMT
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Post by bjd on Dec 4, 2017 15:14:19 GMT
The rum my son-in-law brought back was in unmarked bottles. One was darker and older than the other. He found it really good. I'm not much of a hard liquor drinker so didn't have much of an opinion, but it was pretty smooth. Perhaps they could market Cuba as a weight-loss destination? Not for people staying in Western-style hotels, but for independent travellers?  |
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 4, 2017 17:18:35 GMT
What are those melon looking produce? One cut in half on display. Melon or a type of squash? Casimira, I'm pretty sure those are two different kinds of winter squash, with the one in the front being a butternut or similar and the one behind a cushaw. Perhaps they could market Cuba as a weight-loss destination? Not for people staying in Western-style hotels, but for independent travellers? Well, I think we both lost weight because of so much walking, but if a person were into the adventure of seeking out good restaurants and eating three times a day, there might even be some enjoyable weight gain. Here are more pictures of markets & itinerant vendors. The first two photos Kerouac shows above are of the first time we bought produce. The two guys running the stand were charming -- a refreshing change from the brusqueness shown by many people working in government markets. I'm not entirely sure how to tell the difference between government & private markets, but apparently private ones have more and charge more. Some markets don't exactly do much to draw you in ~ |
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 4, 2017 17:41:57 GMT
The front of the Belgian-Cuban beer bottle ~  Here are a couple more pictures of Prado 264. We drank at the interior bar. The exterior part was also a restaurant, I think. Like many places in Havana, the interior bar was positively refrigerated. Also in common with many other bars there, there was astounding variety in the liquors offered ~   There were portholes in one of the walls, too. Cool!  If anyone is wondering about street food:  Kerouac might have pictures of the many sandwich shops, which were often visually appealing. Another ubiquitous street offering is pizza, which did not look tempting. This stand's display held a horrified fascination for me ~  You can see by the uniforms, the nice cart, and the prices that these churros were being sold in the tourist area ~   |
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Post by bjd on Dec 4, 2017 17:50:56 GMT
Horrified!? How can you possibly be horrified by blue icing on whatever it is? Some people are just picky.
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Post by onlyMark on Dec 4, 2017 19:16:14 GMT
It's nice that K2 decided to dress the part to blend in and wore a Spanish style white blouse.
The spam roll looks (fill in blank).
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 5, 2017 4:35:36 GMT
My respect to the efforts you took to explore accommodation options. Thanks, Mich, but I think your your pre-internet efforts in holiday planning are more impressive! Would you consider the independent option if you returned to Cuba? I am sure the contents are what is available in a city like Havana that has been through the wringer and back. No Ikea stores to peruse - Ha ha -- funny you should say that. Kerouac looked at the tag on the curtains and they were from ......... Ikea! I was shocked by the lack of cooking utensils, but light dawned when we started going around to stores and saw how little is available. The one cooking item that we did see was pressure cookers and there was a pressure cooker in each apartment, although no other pots. |
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Post by tod2 on Dec 6, 2017 15:20:49 GMT
Bixa - I look through your photos several times and I have just spotted something available in a store right here in my city! Photo headed 'One Bedroom' has a small table (on the left of the photo) with a child's reading lamp. The base is a little red motor car. I was looking for lamps only 2 weeks ago and saw that one on sale. No, I did not buy it as my boys are too old for that decor now. It was very cute.
Could I ask who slept where?
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 6, 2017 16:00:20 GMT
That was my room! And I used that lamp.
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Post by tod2 on Dec 6, 2017 16:14:38 GMT
Then you must have re-arranged the bed position or little table. I think they were ready for a couple and no reading....
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 6, 2017 16:39:01 GMT
Tod, here are some more pictures. Kerouac got the masculine bedroom and I got the feminine one.  Kitchen area ~  Living room ~  The living room had two windows & the whole place was nicely ventilated. The view from the window shown above ~  A bedroom. All the windows in the apartment were this tall ~  The other bedroom ~  The towel rack was nice little extra. There was an easy chair in that corner, too ~  Recording interior decor ~   Atop the armoire in that room -- the only items which didn't get dusted ~  |
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 6, 2017 16:40:01 GMT
Well! Someone gave the game away while I was doing a nice job of expanding on the theme.  |
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Post by tod2 on Dec 6, 2017 16:49:24 GMT
Great! That kitchen looks so nice and clean and uncluttered....where are the pots you ask...?
I don't know about the telephone being on the washing machine -
That view! WoW. I never get bored with city lights.
All I want to do is rush over and pull Kerouac's bed cover straight, pick up his shoes and put them together somewhere, and see what he has in the fridge as it is closed.
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Post by bjd on Dec 6, 2017 16:53:04 GMT
It certainly looks as though you lucked out with your second apartment. And what a great view.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 6, 2017 16:54:34 GMT
Tod, I placed the phone on the washing machine, as I didn't like it being there next to the dish drainer. Exactly one half of the cooking utensils are showing in that picture -- the battered aluminum thing for boiling water and the Neapolitan coffee pot. The other two items are out of sight under the bar area, keeping company with the quite adequate supply of dishes and cutlery. They were a small beat-up teflon skillet and a pressure cooker.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 6, 2017 17:12:08 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 6, 2017 17:53:19 GMT
Thanks, Bjd! Anyone wondering about the skinny door you can see in the picture with the macaron tablecloth? We came to think of it as the "jack-in-the-box" door. Here is a panoramic view from my bedroom window, including the right-hand shutter because that's just the way the panorama feature works. You can go here to access the full-sized photo: www.flickr.com/gp/17499332@N00/1287s2 -- Or see it really huge here: www.flickr.com/photos/17499332@N00/37989799005/sizes/o/ |
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Post by bjd on Dec 6, 2017 19:16:46 GMT
Are those blue cisterns on the roofs?
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Dec 6, 2017 19:27:42 GMT
At least the second place looks clean...I think that you did very well to secure it. AND you got a sea view....splendid.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 6, 2017 19:52:51 GMT
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Post by fumobici on Dec 6, 2017 22:10:13 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 6, 2017 22:45:08 GMT
Yes, I got that on the second link as well for the "really huge" version. But I saw it in person so no problem. |
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 6, 2017 23:00:07 GMT
"Oops! You don't have permission to view this photo."  Try copying and pasting this: https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4516/37989799005_0aaa9ca76b_o.jpg When it opens, click on the picture once and it will get really really big. |
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Post by fumobici on Dec 7, 2017 1:11:40 GMT
"Oops! You don't have permission to view this photo." Try copying and pasting this: https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4516/37989799005_0aaa9ca76b_o.jpg When it opens, click on the picture once and it will get really really big. That did the trick. impressive. Did you take that with your little Sony? |
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 7, 2017 1:20:17 GMT
Thanks! And yes, I sure did.  |
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Post by mich64 on Dec 7, 2017 2:33:42 GMT
Would I consider the independent option on a return visit to Cuba? I do not think I have the confidence to do that in Cuba. Mainly because we do not speak the language. If we went with our friends that do speak Spanish, we would probably look at that option first as we did when we went to Costa Rica. We enjoy being on our own schedule and having the option to seek out the sites and restaurants that interest us, so I do really like the independent option.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 7, 2017 5:37:11 GMT
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