This past February we went on a family holiday to Cuba, spending the bulk of our time in the resort town of Varadero, with a day trip to Havana (which, as you’ll see in next week’s Thursday Travels, was the highlight of our visit).

We went for an all-inclusive (pretty much the only way to go in Varadero), which was an…interesting experience. I’d never stayed at an AI before so had nothing to compare it with, but Claudia, who has been to a few in Mexico, said the standard was definitely not as high in Varadero. All I know is that I probably had the worst food week of my life while there (and that’s saying something, as I’m the kind of girl who actually likes airplane food and is a big fan of theme park cuisine). The buffet consisted of stodgy, mystery-meat stews, extremely dodgy looking fish, tasteless bread, and sickly sweet desserts, while the food at the “themed” restaurants that you had to book in advance (Italian, Chinese, Mexican) wasn’t that much better. But hey, I guess it was a bit of a blessing in disguise — this was an all-you-can-eat after all, and had the food actually been good, I wouldn’t have been able to squeeze into my bikini 😉

Food aside though, the rest of our stay was fun; largely spent on the beach or by the pool of course! The weather while we were there was pretty pleasant for the most part (high 20s), though some days were pretty chilly and breezy, and the beach would be off limits because the water was so choppy.

Apart from our beach excursions, we did do other things in Varadero…

While Vardero largely consists of dozens of big beachside resorts, there is a sort of town…and one day we decided to get the bus in (it was maybe a 20-minute ride) and investigate.

One of our favourite things to do was wander down the side streets, admiring the city’s dogs. Pretty much every house we passed in Cuba had a resident dog keeping watch on the roof– so cute!

And then we somehow wound up in what may be the creepiest park I’ve ever ventured into (the Parque Josone if you’re interested)…