Dog On A Root

The food seemed much better overall this year. There is a new 24 hour snack bar where french fries, hot dogs, hamburgers and coffee along with a limited assortment of liquor to make drinks such as Spanish Coffee are always available. Preparing Spanish Coffee in Cuba is a work of art and well worth waiting for. But there were no buns for the wieners or hamburgers as there is a flour shortage due in part to Trump’s embargo. The hamburger patties however, were the best I have had anywhere in Cuba. Enough flour was available for their delicious homemade bread in the buffet and about 50% of the time we could even get a bun for our hamburgers at lunch in the buffet. I was amused by the “Kids Station” that was set up in the buffet for the children as it often consisted of food left over from the previous meal of adult food but cut into smaller portions. But there were few children here right now and of course they were also welcome to enjoy food from the adult sections anyway. Th...

It was the first morning of our vacation when we ran into Bob. We became friends with Bob and Joanne last year. Bob is a gentleman in the purest sense of the word and Joanne is elegant and classy. (I don’t know why they hang around me.) Bob had already met the other Santa and then, mistaking him for me, engaged in a conversation with him. Coincidentally, the other Santa also mistook Bob for someone else he knew and it took them awhile to realize their mistake. Santa Glenn scolds Joanne for tugging on Santa jim's beard. Unfortunately we didn’t get to go out for our planned dinner with Bob and Joanne as Joanne became ill the last couple of days of their vacation which ended a week before ours did. Later in the day we met Glenn - the other Santa - at the beach bar and we instantly became good friends, often hanging out together, sharing stories and of course posing with the guests who wanted their pictures taken with both Santas. Two Santas meet in Cuba. Glenn and I l...

Check in was smooth although a couple of Canadians with European accents behind us complained that they felt they were not getting the VIP service either here or in Toronto that they had paid for. These same two ladies later complained to us that their rooms were unacceptable. I don’t know what made them think we would care. We seemed to be running into a lot of negative people that we made mental notes to be sure to avoid over the next couple of weeks. I had requested a room on the ground level as close to the pool bar as possible as walking long distances is often difficult on my back. We were shown to a room on the ground level as far as one could possibly get away from the pool bar. After making a request to move us closer the next day, we were told there were none available, but we could switch next week as many of the guests would be leaving. But after spending our first week there, we decided it was not worth the effort to move. The extra walking, although sometimes painfu...

We had upgraded to Elite Plus primarily to permit us to bring an extra suitcase which we had filled with clothes and toys for the Cuban children as well as a number of sundry essentials for their parents. As an added bonus we were among the first to board the plane and would be among the first to leave it when we landed. From our seats we noticed a few more familiar faces as they boarded including Nadia. Nadia is a party girl. Not in the demeaning sense of the phrase - Nadia just likes to party. We would spend quite We introduced Nadia to Spanish Coffee. a bit of time with Nadia as we did last year. That is to say as much time as one might expect of a girl who is constantly wandering. It wasn’t long before we were on our way. There was a young child on board who was mostly well-behaved; her mother and grandmother, not so much. While in a lineup to use the washroom we found ourselves herded into the cramped flight attendant area to allow a flight attendant with a cart to pa...

An online definition of vacation describes it as “an extended period of leisure and recreation”, so I don’t really know what the hell I’m doing taking a vacation since my whole life now is pretty much an extended period of leisure and recreation anyway. But now that I have nothing to “get away” from, it makes our vacation coming to an end easier to accept. So there’s that! As we headed down the highway the snow was falling hard enough to justify the snow plows being called out. “Damn!” I thought to myself. “I might be missing the last good snowfall of the season.” You see, I like winter so we had planned our trip to hopefully get away from some of the ugly of spring . But we were on the road and there was no turning back now. A stopover at my sister’s in Barrie would break the trip up and the following day our stretch limo arrived on time to take us to the airport. That sounds pretty extravagant, but it’s not. Last year we drove to Toronto the night before and stayed in a ...

- jim Young 20190504 “Our house, is a very, very very fine house.” - Graham Nash William was my grandfather. He built this house for my parents in 1960. This is the House that William Built. My parents made it the third home for 3 of my sisters and I, and the only home for 2 of my youngest sisters until we each decided to make our own way in life. At the risk of speaking on behalf of my siblings I think it may have been the location of some of the happiest times of our lives. George Young 1925-1991 My father once told me he chose this property, that was “in the country” at the time, to “get away from other people”. Many years later he told my son “when the bulldozers get too close, I will move.” In 1991 the bulldozers began their work in building a subdivision in the farmer’s field across the road from our family home. My father promptly cashed in his chips and left this world. We had never considered he would take this promise so literally. ...

Dogs The first critters you are likely to Resting while patiently waiting for dinner to be served. meet in Cuba are the dogs. Dogs are everywhere beginning right at the airport as a friendly little spaniel scurries about sniffing for contraband as all new arrivals pass through security. But they are also in the streets and often in the resorts. At Marea del Portillo there were several very well behaved dogs that quickly learned which guests were most likely to share their dinner with them and which guests would shun them. Sometimes they didn't even want food, just a friendly petting on the head or scratching of their bellies. Not once did we step in, or even see dog poop so they were either trained to do their business elsewhere or the gardeners were very efficient at cleaning up after them. Waiting for the Water Ballet to begin.  Of course there are many dogs off the resort as well. Some are pets belonging to local Cubans while many other run wild searching for...