Cuba Day 3 ~ Las Terrazas

Today we had a bit of an earlier start, as we headed out after breakfast (and coffee on the porch!) at 8:30. On the bus we headed to Las Terrazas, which was west of Havana. There we visited a small community of about 1000 people. 

We enjoyed a welcome cocktail (Vitamin R) while listening to a Cuban musical group, (Find name of group). Music is a big part of the culture here and every where we go musicians are performing. This group was the best that we had heard so far, they had actually just returned from a tour in the US! 

Our first stop on our tour of Las Terrazas was the town center. In the small center there was a doctors office(that also included a dentist), library, cafe and grocery store. The store wasn't like what we would think of in regards to a grocery store, it was rather a counter that you could approach and get your monthly rations (and maybe a few extra things if you had the money). Each Cuban family gets a rations book, and is able to receive an amount of eggs, bread, rice, etc a month. We saw women filling their bags with their monthly bread rations, and for 50 cents one of our group members purchased enough for our entire group to try. We enjoyed a coffee at their local cafe, we all tried their local favorite which was like a Frappucino. It was delicious!

the "grocery store"

a local picking up her rations

After enjoying our coffee we went to the local elementary school building and learned about their school system. Here we were able to drop off some of the donations that we brought. We then took a walking tour of the town, stopping by the local artist's shop along the way. 

the playground at the school

We ended our visit to the town with a lunch at the top of the hill at an old coffee plantation. We were served what would now become a typical meal of rice, beans, potatoes, and chicken/beef. 

After lunch we returned to the hotel. We spent some time relaxing by the pool. Unfortunately it was raining so we were unable to get some sun, but we did sit and enjoy some pizza and drinks before heading up to the room for a quick nap and to get ready for our evening activity. 

Rosie & Tony picked us up at 7:45pm and we drove to the Hotel Nacionale, the beautiful hotel up on the hill that all of the famous people stay at. (We kept our eyes out for Stephen Colbert!) After enjoying a dinner of the same old we attended the Cabaret Parisien. It was a two-hour dance performance. It was a very colorful production, but was a bit long for us!