I like the shock of arriving somewhere new with few if any plans, and little if any idea of what will happen next. The routine is always the same: For the first 24 hours hours, recover from the travel, try to find something to eat or at least a decent drink, peek outside at a new world, and generally hope for the best. The second 24 hours is generally made up of actually going outside to encounter this strange new world and trying to get the compass set. By the third day, I'm comfortable, have my bearings, and am ready to explore. Today is day 4. Things are good.
I'm in Old Havana, at a nice old hotel from the late 1800's pretty much in the centre of things. Water is a short walk away (strangely, it was much farther before I got me bearings properly set and actually used a guide map), and there are many historic buildings, castles, and early fortifications complete with cannons that got back to about the 1700's.
I've been delighted by the surprises: very good coffee rather than the rumoured plonk, and yesterday, a great paella dish putting rest to my fears of boring food.
Today, I change hotels to the Hotel Riviera in Vedado, another district of Havana, and hook up with my tour group. I'm feeling a little cocky, as I have the lay of the land and have figured out the basics of getting along, while they will have to go through the 72 hour process of getting comfortable.
Much to my surprise, I still have more than enough Spanish to get along, but I've found most people here have passable English. No communications worries.
So this is it...off to meet some new people, get resettled, and get started.
