Northern Nigella: Return to Cuba

I don't really know what happened to February, but here we are in March and I'm vowing to be a better blogger this month.

Okay, actually I do know what happened to February. I was busy moving and getting settled, and then I snuck away for a week in Cuba. This time I was in Santa Clara, which is in the north of the country. The weather could have been better, but it was a nice week all the same.

Here are some photos from the trip.

We took a day trip to Santa Clara and Remedios, which was about 90 minutes from the coast and the resort area. The drive to and from the airport is interesting and we passed directly through some "real" cities in Cuba.

Here's the main square in Remedios. We saw lots of horse and mule transportation throughout the trip. Note the ribs on the horse. All the animals in Cuba tend to be insanely skinny.

Another shot of Remedios. I love the colour of this building, and the lone hand, just resting on the gate.

This is a store in Santa Clara. It was actually one of the better-stocked ones we encountered, but note the limited selection. Want a bucket? Hope you like orange.

While this sign doesn't have Raul's face or name, I did notice more Fidel and Raul signs this time around. The Cubans seem to be slowly inserting Raul's name into the iconography, if the limited state advertising is any indication, anyway.

Some school kids in Santa Clara. There was an international book festival going on and there were tons of people lined up at booths to buy and look at books. A nice sight to see, especially when contrasted with the fact that none of these kids were texting or listening to ear buds!

Here's a view from our resort, looking down to the beach from the main lobby. You can see the whitecaps on the beach rollling in, as it was fairly windy for most of the trip. Did I mention Sting stayed here? Yep...I know how to roll.