Saturday the 3oth of October; 20:30 left the small town in Holland, heading to Rotterdam Central Station. Traintickets to Utrecht Central Station. I took some extra time to be sure in any case of delay. Well I had to spent some time on Jaarbeurs Utrecht, this Eurolines bus was 1.5 hour late! After arriving I understood why... this woman (busdriver) was so stressed and unexperienced, it took ages to do just a simple check in. It's funny, I look like a foreigner in my own country, people start talking English to me all the time. And I don't know what's going on last couple of days, but girls in Holland became pretty direct and it seems like they like me LOL :-) After some time I could finally leave, squeezed on the backseat between another guy and my face sticked to the window on the other side. Travelling in Asia was luxury! Ok, try to slep straight for the next couple of hours driving through Holland, Belgium and France. It was easy! The douane business was one of 'excellent efficiency'. Damn, arrived around 03:00 in the night. First passport check from French Immigration, bags out of the bus, in the bus, out of the bus etc. Baggage check by the French and believe it or not, another passport check by the French. You think after 1.5 hour this is over? Nope, 20 meters further on there is the UK Border Control...coorporation my ass. They also need to do a passport check. First there was only one granny sitting there to do everything and really easy going having a long chat with everyone. Well with these sort of delays it's hard to catch my flight in London. Finally we could get in the train under the Canal to the UK. Falling asleep and waking up in London at 06:00. Wow, Wintertime and skipping some pick ups and drop offs saved us loads of time. Way to early :-) Victoria Station, get some traintickets to Gatwick Airport. 07:30 I was already checked in and my flight was delayed till 12:10. Nice :-) Time to study Spanish hahaaa. But me looking different, me travelling alone, me smiling all the time...me looking suspicious for UK Border Patrol... Luckily my story was so difficult to check they gave up pretty quick. No plans, no itinerary....see ya in 3 months!

After a sleepy ride to London I saw Buckingham Palace and the clock says 06:00 AM?! Surprised we are that early. Perfect! Jump out, jump on the Southern Railway at Victoria Station to London Gatwick Airport (11.90 Pounds). So 45 minutes later I'm at the airport, online check-in to avoid Visa issues...smart. Flight delayed till 12:10. Too tired to learn Spanish for longer than 10 minutes. Eat eat eat all the stuff from Holland. And then the flight...no interesting people. Well some of the crew members were nice and funny, although they didn't have enough crew today. They warn you that they can refuse you alcohol when you're intoxicated in the plane (also because of the high altitude). Uhm, after 2 hours the plane looked more like a massive bar for 478 people! People walking around everywhere, running to the kitchen for beers, wine and mixdrinks, grabbing snacks, screaming, sweating, stupid jokes etc. Hilarious! Arriving after 9.5 hours at communist Cuba, me nervous about the insurrance papers, visa that was not valid without extra tickets etc. Well, no questions at all, one of the easiest entries ever. At the airport the flirting already started, a local chica said I was sooo hot and gave me her details and invited me for more LOL. Sorry, not interested. The taxi ripped off me and French Louis, Cuba is expensive. Louis and his friend ended the night with a 'nice' surprise, I was way to tired after my 30 hour journey! So eating lonely in a private restaurant, it was a fucking huge and good meal though.

Monday the 1st of November; DUTCH CONNECTIONS, I LOVE CUBAN WINTER

Casa de Ania, 1 of the 3000 private houses around Havana, a nice place to stay. Ania and Alexis were friendly and tried to habla Inglis with unprepared Dutchies. Yes, 6 people staying in this house and 3 of them are guess??? DUTCH! This was the beginning of a nostalgic day. I woke up at 5am and did a 2 hour run around the Malecon, loads of police everywhere. And I was already part of a photoshoot. After the huge breakfast with the Dutchies we started a long day sightseeing Habana. All those tiny squares, alleys with romantic houses, many classical cars like Buicks and some crappy Lada's and Peugeots. But also the good old Dutch DAF! More Dutch stuff here...the old yellow and red RET, ZWN busses...even the old directions are still on there (Boxmeer, H.I. Ambacht, Den Helder). I didn't even know there was a bus here going to Nijmegen :-) Believe me, it were not the delicious Cuba Libres that make us see funny stuff. It's winter here, but still above 29 degrees. The guys like to flirt with girls here, but girls do the same! All the time I heard the sound of a leaking tire behind me....pssst pssst! Come on, be more creative chica's! AFter a luxury tapas lunch on the balcony of Cathedral Square we met more Dutch people. Time to get that Cuban experience now, jump in a green old Buick for just a few CUC's... Plaza de la Revolution amigo! Besides a few signs of Che and another dude it was not impressive. The ride was more fun though. We stranded in the Habana University (where I planned my Spanish course first) and shocked the girls after being in the wrong toilet. Well, we've never seen anything dirty like that! Shit all over. Okay, maybe Oscar stumbling over the dead rat this morning was dirty too :-) I can fully imagine why my Swedish friend left this University. More Cuba Libres at the Malecon and not to forget a big sigar. 4 crazy Dutch (Rogier, Oscar, Ronald and me) getting tipsy, enjoying winterlife in Cuba, spotting old Dutch busses. The locals didn't understand what was going on LOL. We were so tired after our search for nice pizza, Rogier was sure he knew the way to Havana Restaurant. Back to Casa de Ania, or better known as Fort Knox. Holy crap, how many keys do we need to get in and out? Takes you 10 minutes to get to your room with all that searching for the right key. And always check the toilets and showers in Cuba; it's a big surprise how something works in 2010 :-) Havana, a complete different world, living in a different time, people changing State-vouchers for food, cars that are actually Flintone-cars with no bottom, techniques on the street that were used during the Roman empire...I love this place.

Tuesday the 2nd of November; HARD LIFE IN CUBA, THE DIFFERENT SIDE HIDDEN FOR TRAVELLERS

The Frenchies didn't get my message so no car trip this week. Join the DUtchies? Nope, I'm running out of money so let's go to the bank and also buy a ticket to Guatemala at Cubana Airlines. Buying a ticket was not that difficult, allthough the prices here are way over the top! 375 USD (included a 20% creditcard fee!!!). Be prepared before you enter Cuba and bring shitloads of Euro's. Because ATM's are not common here, and they don't accept Mastercard, even Visa is not working most of the time. Banking day today, memories of good old communist Vietnam :-) Taking ages before you actually have some money. Bank 1, nothing, bank 2 nothing, bank 3 ??? A lot of banks have long lines waiting outside and the system? Some people are allowed to go in, some have to wait. Why? No habla Inglis anywhere. So after hours and hours Casa owner Ania helped me out and send my to Hotel Vevado to withdraw some money, minimum commission in Cuba; 11%. Ok, I'm sick of this, change my ticket and leave Cuba for the moment, tomorrow Guatemala!

So just walk around on my own again. Take a different route this time and get lost in the many destroyed dirty streets. Yes, different neighbourhoods, not for tourists. Locals are surprised to see someone with lighter colored eyes here. I met Luis, a local from the US that lives here with his family. Explained me all about Cuba life, showed me many areas around Habana...poor and hard life. A rediculous system with books/vouchers to receive a small amount of food every month. Earning 10 CUC (30 Peso) a month. SHools and Healtcare are free, medicines aren't. The building are around 80 years old but nothing is fixed, people live in a ghetto that looks like a warzone sometimes. For them it's forbidden to invite foreigners in their house and the police is checking constantly (the same in Casa de Ania this morning, checks checks checks). Mobile phones are rare, internet is hard to find and just legal for a few years. Major jobs; police, private taxi, private restaurant (Paladar), Casa, hairdresser of prostitute. Yes, although some girls here look young and goodlooking, a big percentage works as a prostitute. And all the other people that aren't working? Play domino on the sytreet, hang around, drink Cuba Libres, play baseball and other sports. That's also what Louis and I did today. Neighbourhoods visited like Cerro, La Habana Veja, Santo Suarez, Domingo etc. Also visited the National Baseball Stadium, Rum factories and a massive sports area where all the locals practise. Travelling between all these area's with the classic private cars...fucking awesome! You just stop an old chevy, squeeze between some other locals and jump out where you want (cost like 20 Peso). The busses are an experience; LOADED! But how cool is it to be in Cuba and jump in an old Dutch bus that actually has the sign 'Rotterdam Metro' still in front? Line 13....not a lucky number. And just like the good old days in Holland, you don't have top pay :-) It was a day full of delicious meals (fish, pork etc) and many Cuba Libres. The restaurants for locals are so much cheaper (25 - 35 Peso for a meal instead of 8 CUC), and they are open 24 hours! You can have a real good time in Habana if you know the right places and the people. AT 9pm I headed 'home', not sure if it was possible to get into the Casa without keys. Walking back in dark streets, Chicas approaching me with their cheap flirting skills 'Ey pssst Nino!'. Hilarious. All of a sudden your in someopnes house playing an old piano and trying to speak Latino whahahaa. Still living the dream!

Ania was still awake later that night, worried about me and thinking I was sleeping on the streets. Good woman. I was out of money (like more travellers here) and she offered me a free bed and stuff SO NICE. Yep a short sleep before an early pick up to the airport. Sometimes it's stupid that it's not allowed to make pictures; the immigration and the money exchange desk were hilarious! They we all sleeping with head on their desk or keyboard...what an interesting job. Adios Habana!