Cuba - Part 8 - Heading Home

The week was over and it was time to head home.  Our flight was at 11am, but we had an hour and a half bus ride to the airport.  Because we had to stop at all the other resorts to pick others up we had to allow enough time, which meant we had to be at the front desk to check out by 5am.  While we were waiting for the bus to arrive, I decided to have one last kick at the cow and sat in the lobby drinking one of my favourite drinks.  Why not??  How many other times will I be drinking at 5am?  The bus was late arriving and to make a long story short - our 1.5 hour bus ride ended up being 2.5 hours.  Here is our journey to the airport and the sights from our bus ride.

Royal Palms - the national tree of Cuba; these lined the roadways.

Approaching the Causeway; a stretch of roadway joining the islands.
It took 10 years for it to be built. 

Sometimes it was a bit scary when you looked out the window
and could really only see water and not the road. 

Seeing the poverty throughout the town really puts things into perspective.   

Local vendors.  I would like to have stopped,
however we were already running late. 

The oldest church in the town. 

The following pictures are of some of the architecture and of particular interest to me... the iron works that covered the windows of the houses.

Notice the iron work staircase.  Very cool. 

Now, while I love the iron works - I found this quite odd.  We came upon a playground, and the swing set grabbed our attention right away.  The bus was going too fast so we didn't capture a proper picture, but the swings - instead of having wooden or cloth seats, it had flat metal seats. We referred to them as 'the machete swings.'

Next we came upon the Eiffel Tower of Cuba. 

Next was an odd site; a bus full of people - and when I say full of people - I mean Full!

Like Canada has its national symbol of a beaver; Cuba's is a crab.
This is the town's landmark.  

We finally arrive at the airport and enjoy a some time in the VIP lounge while we wait for the plane to arrive.  If traveling to Cuba, I would recommend the VIP service for the extra $20.  This allows you the privilege of not waiting in line to check in at the airport, you get to sit in the air conditioned lounge and you are served a lunch, then you are the first to board the plane.  A nice little perk.

Our plane has arrived. It's good to see that Maple Leaf. 

Goodbye Cuba. 

Flying over Niagara Falls.  If you zoom in on the picture
 you can see the falls and the Rainbow Bridge.

Flying in over Toronto. It's good to be home - and especially nice
to see that the sun was shining and it was not snowing! 

Arriving home was the same day that Holly's company was having their Christmas party, so she invited me to go as her guest.  We couldn't wait to get to the restaurant to have a 'real' steak and enjoy our Canadian food.  The trip was fantastic, but really... there's no place like home; there's no place like home. 

I hope my trip relieved any winter blahs you may have had.  It certainly helped me. 

Bonnie