oh the places we'll go | cuba edition!

On this dreary last day of September, I sit here patiently awaiting October and everything fall: apple picking, pumpkin carving, autumn scented candles, fresh crisp air, cider donuts, beautiful New England foliage, etc. However, with the coming of fall also means winter is just around the corner... and while winter holds the holiday season and the start of a new year (one which I'm getting married!), it also holds freezing cold weather and more snow than I'd like to see. Even one snowfall is too much snow for me...

So, rather than work myself up over the snow that isn't even here yet, I decided to introduce a more personal aspect to my blog by highlighting our travels. To start, I'll reminisce on the trip to Cuba that Mike and I took for his birthday back in August. We'd been hearing of colleagues' and friends' experiences traveling there and, to be honest, we wanted to see for ourselves what all the fuss was about. Americans still can't travel freely to Cuba for obvious reasons, but we identified a valid reason to travel, purchased our Visas, and headed off!

We stayed in Varadero mostly, at Bareclo Solymar resort. The resort was beautiful and felt very authentically Cuban. We had our own two story bungalow (ours on the left side below!) which overlooked one of the 3 huge pools on site. Everything felt so tropical and once we took our post-flight nap we finally had some time to lounge around and enjoy our surroundings. You can scroll through the pictures below to see our bungalow and the resort!

Our Resort

After a bit of relaxing at the resort, we took one day to tour the city of Havana. I'd seen pictures of Havana showing cool old cars, colorful buildings, and amazing city life so, naturally, I wanted to explore the land and see for myself! We were picked up in a 50's Ford Fairlane (although, since all the old American cars no longer have American motors, is it still even a Ford?) Nonetheless, it was still really neat and on the way to Havana, our tour guide stopped at an overlook so we could see the highest bridge in Cuba and, of course, enjoy a fresh Pina Colada in a hollowed out pineapple! This was already a highlight of the trip and we weren't even at our destination yet!

Pit Stop in Bacunayagua

After enjoying our amazing Pina coladas (floated with Cuban rum, obviously), we got back in the car and headed to Havana! Here are a few of my favorites from the city of old cars and colorful buildings!

Havana City

And what kind of trip would it be without a dulce de leche churro?

During our day we also stopped at a few spots including the famous Jesus statue (locals apparently joke that it looks like he should be holding a cigar), Revolutionary Square, and the famous Hemmingway Hotel, the place where Ernest himself used to stay! You can look through some more pictures below.

After we finished our sight-seeing expedition in Havana, we headed back to resort for dinner and rest, then spent our last day soaking up the sun. In case you're wondering how the beaches are in Cuba, they are absolutely stunning (at least in Varadero). On our second to last morning, I ended up waking up before the sun and decided to take a stroll to the beach to capture the quiet beauty that sunrise in Varadero had to offer.

The Beach

And no trip to Cuba would be complete without Cuban rum, cigars (pictured below), and coffee :)

With that said, if you're considering traveling to Cuba, I can't say enough great things about our experience. My heart especially goes out to the people of Cuba who are still devastated by the recent hurricane, which came just one week after our visit. We were certainly lucky to have seen it when we did and hopefully will have an opportunity to go back at some point.

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