Melia Long-stay Photos Uploaded

Ta-dah!  The photos are HERE.  As always I will promise to do captions, but...

Trip Home

Fine trip home though the airport way busier than we have ever seen it before. Even an American AirlineS flight to Miami (passengers all seemed to be travelling on Cuban passports). Julio in the VIP lounge took great care of us and as a result we got through the flight in Canjet's tiny Seats well enough. Cabin crew great too.

One note of interest: the bus guide reminded us all that the CUC is soon to disappear. While a date has not been announced he did strongly recommend that we convert all our pesos to CAD as we might not be able to use them on a future trip, depending on when the change happens.

Friends (you know who you are) picked us up at the airport (on a Friday afternoon no less, that's love) and drove us home in short order.  Better yet, when home we were presented with a package of emergency rations.  The package included a bottle of white and one of red.  While the resort wines were inoffensive they weren't all that interesting either (one pay-for bottle of a Chilean chardonnay that Geri had one night aside), so they were were VERY welcome.

Photos going up thoughout the day. Links will be posted later. Also look for a short note on our visits to the Sol CSM and the new Valentine's resort tour we took (will be posted in the apporpriate discussions along with links to resort-specific photos we took).

More from the Melia

Random notes again.

1.  On Xmas day there was a water ballet display in the main pool.  It was combined with a display of excessive tolerance of small children as three 10 year olds were allowed to pretend to join in.  The team, from the uni at Santa Clara, did a nice job of avoiding them but their parents deserve a whack.  I wouldn't have minded seeing one of the performers crush one of the kids by the time they were done, so long as none of the ballet types were injured of course.😃

2.  Years ago, in Veradero so must be 25 years ago, we remember seeing a man standing on the beach with his hands over his head rotating in the sand.  Rotisserie tanning we called it.  Saw someone doing the same here.  Gotta admire the dedication.  😃

3.  Another of the 'I enjoyed many years ago' books that I brought along to re-read before passing along to the stepson who owns Toronto's best second hand bookshop, Re: Reading on the Danforth just west of Pape on the north side, is Orhan Pamuk's The Black Book.  Not just still a great read but also, as with others I brought, a very different read as I have now spent time in Istanbul.  Even has a scene on isstikal Caddesi.  Found memory of walking along it just after dark and hearing the tiny tap-tap of dozens of shoemakers at work. 

4.  I have well and truly fallen into a daily rut.  Nice to have a (quite good) cappuccino waiting for me each morning at 0700 though.  At my table even.

5.  The server providing poolside drinks started a conversation with the folks sitting next to us one morning.  Turns out they live literally a stone's throw from us in Cobourg.  Small world.

6.  Another book to get a positive notice even if recently published is The Tailings of Warren Peace by Stephen Law.  Look for it.

7.  Lots of great weather but a couple of days really toasty.  The afternoon of one we retired to the lobby bar and sat in the shade and breeze, read and directed new arrivals off the airport bus to the bar's washroom.  In the old days the busses had their own and a bar at the back to boot.  Getting old...and so is my bladder. 😳

8.  One of the reasons we so love building 17 here is that with an Oceanside room on the 2nd floor you can get a blistering breeze by opening both doors.  Much better than a/c.

9.  I'm reassessing my plan to get a bus pass when I retire.  I think maybe an electric golf cart.  Had a couple of runs in one.  Quiet, feels fast in confined spaces and clean. 

10. Scorned Woman Sauce a great general purpose sauce for adding a bit of zest to resort food and drinks.

11. The Mambi Lounge on the Danforth in Toronto comes highly recommended by folks here as a Cuban bar and restaurant.  Music pretty good too they say.

12. We slid over the Sol for their weekly suckling pigs BBQ.  Kinda fun, they make a bit of a party of it.  Kinda reminded me of 20 years ago at the Guitart Cayo Coco when they would roast a few on the beach once a week.  A Cuban navy patrol boat would always anchor off the beach that morning, causing much anxiety among the tourists.  The crew would paddle ashore in an inflatable and spend the evening flirting with tourists and enjoying the party.  The boat would be gone the next morning.  😄

13.  Who says beach vacations aren't learning experiences, a chance to expand your mind?  Today I learned that before it became a mouthwash Listerine was a topical treatment for gonorrhoea. 😄

14. Shared a table at lunch with the cutest young couple from a village near Munich who are on a beach stop in the middle of their tour of Cuba.  Much fun.  A reminder to always take advantage of a shared table.  In the dozen times we have we've never had a bad time.