All things Che

So am now in a place called Santa Clara, made famous by various Che-related doings in the revolutionary war so have spent a rather pleasant afternoon wandering around admiring huge statues of Che, the box with his ashes in, guns/books/hats he used once and the bulldozer his group used to derail a train (yep, its there on a plinth by a reconstruction of the train it caused to crash with some symbolic crash-type sculpture) not to mention looking at a million photos of Che as a boy, Che relaxing in the moutnains, CHe reading a book, Che smoking a cigar, Che holding a small child..........you get the picture! Apart from (despite!) all the Che-hysteria, its also really lovely town though with a rather surprising lack of tourists...I had kind of imagined hoards of day trippers from Varadero (the big resort place) or Trinidad (another tourist hot spot). And tonight, to celebrate the end of the pope-related mourning, I am off to a roof top bar I have been recommended.....just have to try not to fall off, Cuba doesnt really seem to go for safety

Spent yesterday at the beach which was lovely but also a little strange. Had been staying in Cienfuegos (horrid town, nasty atmosphere, enough said!) So the beach itself was just gorgeous, white sand, crystal clear blue water......but the best bits had been commendered by big resort hotels which (get this) Cubans arent allowed to even walk through the doors off....so naturally they are banned from the beach as well. This happens at loads of other of the nicest beaches too (ie cubans arent allowed, even if married to foreigners) and it strikes me as being completely loopy that in a society like this where everyone is entitled to the same opportunities, the government then denies its people the ability to spend time in some of the most gorgeous bits. Its also really sad that obviously lots of tourists like that kind of environment (but then who needs to actually talk to the locals, as long as they are there to serve the drinks and clean the rooms!!!) I^m sure its probably way more complex than I am getting, but theres my philosphical ramblings for today! Ill get off my soapbox now and try to find some peso ice-cream....my new favourite treat, a cone of icecream for about 3p yum yum