59.   Wednesday morning brought torrential rains, which was convenient as most guests slept in and missed the worst of the wet weather.

58.  

57.   By mid afternoon the skies cleared and we enjoyed the day at the pool and in the lobby.

56.   Spanish coffee, a delicious mix of booze and espresso.

55.

54.   Thursday Clarence, Marg, Dad, Iris, Sandra and I booked a taxi through the hotel lobby and headed into the town of Moron for the day.

53.   Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo part of the Jardines Del Ray archipelago are joined to the main island of Cuba by a 19 kilometre causeway that has restricted access to local residents.

52.

51.

50.

49.

48.

47.   We didn't know exactly what to expect on our adventure as it wasn't a standard tourist excursion and our driver didn't speak English.

46.   Our first stop was in a shady part of town and was the workshop of a local artist who makes wooden tourist souvenirs. Cubans have very little money so re-purposing equipment is very common. This old singer sewing machine was modified with a belt drive and old electric motor, the needle replaced with a saw blade to create a scroll saw! His miniature table saw & sander was similarly concocted. The amazing part was the high quality pieces he created!

45.   Next we stopped at a market in the centre of town where we were introduced to our two tour guides for our walking tour of town. These guys were fantastic, had excellent knowledge & great stories.

44.   Some of the old buildings have been beautifully re-purposed, this one is now owned by the local wireless & internet provider.

43.  

42.  

41.  

40.  

39.  

38.   This blue building is the former Royal Bank of Canada which was seized by the new socialist government after the revolution in 1959. It is now a shadow of its former glory and operating as a print shop using 100+ year old printing presses!

37.

36.  

35.  

34.  Our next stop was the Fonda "las Fuentes". According to our guides, Hemmingway spent a lot of time here writing. It was a beautiful bar/restaurant, clean and immaculately maintained like a snapshot in time to the glory days of the town.

33.   Their modern day claim to fame is the best Mojito in Cuba. It was hand made with fresh ingredients and was truly spectacular.

32.

31.

30.  

29.  

28.   The symbol for the town of Moron is the Rooster, this rather large statue is situated with prominence in the middle of town.

27.   Our final stop in town was an amazing local restaurant El Angel where we shared an amazing "at the table" buffet of local cuisine.

26.   We were started with bread, fruit, and salad.

25.   This amazing hot dish contained cabbage, peppers and seasoning that was superb.

24.   Plantains, black bean rice and sweet potato fries were our sides for the main course. These sweet potato fries were white & had the same texture as regular potato but were quite sweet, unlike the gross sweet potatoes we get in our supermarkets.

23.  

22.  The main course consisted of Soup, Lobster, Deep Fried Salt Fish, Pork, Chicken and Shrimp. It was all amazing, especially the salt fish. It was a real treat to try real local cuisine seasoned with local spices.

21.

20.   The restaurant was on the second floor of the building accessed through an outdoor staircase.

19.  

18.    On the return drive a cow casually walked out in front of our taxi which was no big deal as our driver was excellent. The old Russian Lada behind us that was either following too close or travelling too fast ended up out on the gravel to avoid a collision!

17.  

16.  

15.   Towel Creature Day 9.

14.  

13.

12.   Thursday night the shenanigans continued with more drinks and a game of Cards Against Humanity which carried on with lots of laughs late into the night.

11.

10.   Friday was the coolest day of our trip. The wind finally subsided a bit, but overcast skies and misty rain meant cooler temperatures than we experienced all week.

9.  

8.

7. Towel Creature Day 10.

6.   Our last night in Cuba ended with another party in the Lobby with tunes going and a crowd on hand.

5.  

4.  

3.   Before we knew it Saturday arrived and it was time to say goodbye to Cuba and many many new friends.

2.  

1.  All in all it was a fantastic trip. We would have travelled anywhere in the world Steve & Kailee decided to get married and we had an awesome time in Cuba. It was great to spend 7-10 days with family and friends to truly get to know people unlike a traditional wedding where you only have a couple hours to mingle. Sandra and I met a lot of truly great friends and we cant wait to see you all again!

Cheers, MIKE