Mexico. Cancun, Tulum, Merida, Uxmal

Mexico - Cancun and Tulum 20 December

We left Cuba with a one way ticket to Cancun and got to Mexico with a lot of hope to find different people
and a friendly atmosphere.
Yes, fortunately Mexico is a very nice place and with so much to see.

Cancun although is a quite touristy place (full of Americans) and in fact we stayed there just 2 days.
We left to Tulum.

Tulum does have marvellous beaches. Spent two nights there sleeping in a "cabana" on the beach without
any sort of comfort, what a lovely experience!!


Abbiamo lasciato Cuba con un biglietto di solo andata per Cancum e siamo arrivati in Messico con tanta speranza
di trovare gente differente ed un'atmosfera amichevole, sincera.
Si`, fortunatamente il Messico e` un paese molto bello e con molti posti da visitare.
Direzione Tulum.

Cancun comunque e` una localita` molto turistica (tanti americani) ed infatti ci siamo fermati solo 2
giorni.

Tulum ha delle meravigliose spiagge. Abbiamo trascorso due notti dormendo in una capanna "cabana" sulla
spiaggia senza nessun tipo di comfort, che bella esperienza.


Mexico - Merida - Natale 2006

After some days on the beach, we decided to spend a few days inland, here in Merida, Yucatan State.
We have spent 4 days here and had a very "different" Christmas' dinner with all the people at our hostel.
Mexican, European and also Asian attended the lovely night.

Went also to a day trip to Uxmal. A speechless ancient Maya city. What a place!!

We are now heading south, to Belize.

Dopo qualche giorno in spiaggia, abbiamo deciso di trascorrere un paio di giorni nell'entroterra, qui
in Merida, stato della Yucatan. Abbiamo infatti trascorso quattro giorni qui ed avuto una cena di
Natale alquanto differente, con tutta la gente qui dell'ostello.
Messicani, Europei ed anche Asiatici hanno partecipato alla bellissima notte.

Siamo inoltre stati per un giorno a Uxmal. Una citta` Maya che ci ha lasciati senza parole. Che posto.

Ci stiamo adesso dirigendo verso sud, in Belize.

Typical street of Cancun, full of fancy hotels and bars.



This is one of the lovely beaches you can find in Cancun.




This is Luca at the door of our "cabana" in Tulum.




This is the view from the "cabana".





Davide doesn't believe how beautiful the place is.



Nice picture taken from the beach of Tulum.



And again the beach. In the background you can see a Maya pyramid.



The bar on the beach in Tulum.



This picture shows the many kiosks outside the main square of Merida.



This is a nice picture taken from the square at sunset.




The entrance of the government buiding.



Our Christmas dinner in a very good company of people of all over the world.






The above pictures show the amazing Maya ruins of Uxmal. Beautiful.

Su

Su, te quiero muchisimo!!
Luca

Cuba - Havana

Havana
Nice lady in a colonial costume and Luca in Havana enjoying a Cohiba (best Cuban cigars).




Davide chatting to a Cuban guy in the lovely Plaza De Simon Bolivar, while there was no
police officer around.

Davide che chiacchera con un ragazzo cubano nella deliziosa Plaza De Simon Bolivar, mentre non
ci sono poliziotti nei dintorni.

Cuba - Trinidad

Here we are on a lovely day trip just outside Trinidad. An amazing two hour horse-riding
excursion to a pretty waterfall in the middle of the countryside.

Eccoci alla partenza di una bella gita appena fuori Trinidad. Una spendida escursione di
due ore a cavallo presso una bella cascata nell'entroterra cubano.


Davide ready for a dive into the cristal water of the waterfall.

Ed ecco Davide pronto tuffarsi nell'acqua cristallina della cascata.




Nice library in Trinidad.










Pictures of the lovely streets of Trinidad.

Cuba - Santiago de Cuba

Taxi driver.





Our fridge.




Santiago's market.




Typical Cuban "bus".




Nice picture of Davide with one of the many chicos selling fruits and vegetables on the street
just outside our casa particulare.

Una bella foto di Davide in compagnia di uno dei tanti ragazzi che vendono frutta e verdura
per strada, appena fuori la nostra casa particulare.





Mirtha and I in her casa particulare in Santiago. She has been so nice and genorous with us.
One of the best person we have meet so far. Great Mirtha!

Mirtha ed io nella sua casa particulare in Santiago. E` stata cosi` gentile e generosa con noi. Una delle
migliori persone che abbiamo incontrato fino ad ora. Grande Mirta!



Luca getting drunk.

Cuba - Varadero and Santa Clara

Hello everybody, here in Mexico Internet is widely available, it costs very little and uploading photos is easy, therefore we are going to post all the pictures that we were not able to post earlier in Cuba.


Varadero 1-2 December 2006

Here we are in Cuba!!! Sorry for not posting anything earlier, but in Cuba it is very hard to
find an internet point and when you find one it is usually very expensive.

First picture taken in Varadero, very turisty place.
Beautiful beaches, it does not seem to give you the feeling of being in Cuba though.

Eccoci a Cuba! Scusate per non aver dato aggiornamenti prima, ma a Cuba e` molto
difficile trovare un internet point e quando se ne trova uno e` normalmente molto costoso.
Prima foto scattata a Varadero, posto molto turistico.
Spiagge bellissime, purtroppo il posto non sembra trasmettere la sensazione di essere a Cuba.





3 December 2006

Here is Davide on the beach in Cayo Santa Maria, a pretty island about one hour from Santa Clara.

Ecco Davide sulla spiaggia di Cayo Santa Maria, una bella isola a circa un'ora da Santa Clara.




3 December 2006

Luca trying to catch the best waive in Cayo Santa Maria. Got many!!

Luca che cerca di prendere l'onda piu` bella a Cayo Santa Maria. E quante ne ho prese.



3 December 2006

And here we are together again in Cayo Santa Maria before getting burnt by a very strong sun.

E qui siamo tutti e due assieme, ancora in Cayo Santa Maria, prima di bruciarci sotto il
sole cocente.(Ci siamo bruciati veramente!!).





4 December - Santa Clara

Here I am in front of a shop in Santa Clara, surrounded by many local people.

Eccomi qua davanti ad un negozio a Santa Clara in compagnia della numerosa gente
che popolava le strade.

4 December 2006 - Santa Clara

Luca and our favourite taxi driver.

Luca e il nostro taxista favorito.




4 December 2006 - Santa Clara

A lovely picture of our first Casa Particular's family.

La nostra prima Casa Particular, con la famiglia al completo.


Santa Clara

From Cuba to Mexico

After having decided not to spend Christmas and New Year's Day in Cuba, here we are in Cancun, Mexico.The first impressions are very good, the weather is fantastic, people seem very friendly, the food is good, and our mood is back to a high level. See you soon.Davide and Luca.
Dopo aver deciso di non passare Natale e Capodanno a Cuba, eccoci qua a Cancun in Messico.Le prime impressioni sono molto buone, il clima e' stupendo, la gente sembra molto amichevole,il cibo buono e il morale e' di nuovo alto. A presto.Davide e Luca.

Trinidad

Santiago Trinidad 9-12 December
Dear all After 5 days in Santiago and a 12 hours bus trip, we now are in Trinidad where our travellers are planning to spend a couple of days in this very small but so nice colonial town. Trinidad is one of the most visited location in central Cuba. It has been declared UNESCO World Heritage. Infact the old part of the town is charatherised by narrow streets and colonial houses. Very nice indeed.
Things done: horse riding (amazing Alberto), bath in a cascade and half day on a lovely beach.
Habana 14-19 The capital is an amazing city. The old part called Habana vieja is definitely the best part with its centuries-old buildings.Being around for 4 days and visited also the local University. Though we have decided to leaveCuba and go to Mexico.
Cuba is definitely a nice country. To us quite overrated though. Nice beaches, nice towns (Habana above all) but its system and the contradictions that go with it, did not allow us tolive and sample the country as we wanted and expected.
Next destination is Mexico, specifically Cancun.

Update from Satiago de Cuba

Santiago 5-8 December

After Varadero, Santa Clara, Remedios and Cayo Santa Maria, we are now in Santiago de Cuba.
We must say that this place is much different from the other towns we have been, much more
lively. However, the locals, as everywhere else in Cuba, generally speaking can't have contact
with foreigners and this does affect the atmosphere of the country.
Anyway, we have begun our spanish lessons/tuitions with a private University teacher, professor Gumersindo,
who speaks 5 languages and earns less than a taxi driver (this is one side of Cuba, one of
the many contradictions).
We hope to be able very soon to post other comments and pictures. Again, here it's so difficult
to find an internet point with proper working machines.

Food section: we are feeding ourselves with plenty of meat, very little vegetable and strange
fruits. Yesterday we tried some "platano" kind of banana, fried!! Delicious.

Hasta pronto!

Dopo Varadero, Santa Clara, Remedios e Cayo Santa Maria, adesso ci troviamo a Santiago de Cuba.
Dobbiamo dire che il posto e` molto differente dalle altre citta` in cui siamo stati, molto piu`
viva. La gente del posto, comunque, come in tutta Cuba, in generale,non puo` aver contatto
cogli stranieri e questo condiziona l'atmosfera nel paese. La polizia e` molto presente.
Abbiamo iniziato le lezioni di spagnolo con un professore universitario privato, el professor Gumersindo che
parla 5 lingue e guadagna meno di un taxista (questo e` uno degli aspetti di Cuba, tra le tante
contraddizioni).
Ci auguriamo di poter presto scrivere piu` spesso e pubblicare le gustose foto gia` scattate.
Come gia` detto, qui e` molto difficile trovare un punto internet con dei computers che
funzionino bene.

Gastronomia: stiamo mangiando quasi solo carne (qui abbonda), poca verdura and curiosi frutti. Ieri
abbiamo provato del "platano" simile alla banana, fritto! Minchia che buono!

A presto!

First impressions of Cuba

Sorry but all the material that we prepared for the blog can´t be posted because it was related to the pictures and also we only have a limited time for Internet.

Scusate ma tutto il materiale che avevamo preparato per il blog non puo´ essere pubblicato perche´ si riferiva alle foto ed inoltre il tempo a nostra disposizione per internet e´ sempre limitato.

Cuba is a lovely country but quite different from what we expected.

Cuban´s version of our blog ...... Versione Cubana del nostro sito

Dear all,

unfortunately in Cuba seems not possible to upload photos and change settings on our blog, and we managed to delete the previous postings (instructions in Spanish).
We are sorry about that and for the moment we will only post messages of our experience.

Sfortunatamente a Cuba non sembra possibile caricare foto e cambiare settings al nostro blog, e siamo anche riusciti a far sparire le precedenti entrate (istruzioni in spagnolo).
Ci dispiace e per il momento posteremo solo messaggi del nostro viaggio.