Cuba part 1 - "Hasta La Victoria Siempre"Alter a boat, bus and then a plane journey we arrive in Havana airport quite tired and not really sure what to do being guidebook-less. We jump in a taxi and a really official looking lady asks us where we are staying and we tell her we don't know. This apparently is a big no no here and with lots of disapproving looks she gives us a card for a family we can stay with. In cuba if your not in expensive hotels you stay in casa particulares (with a family)! On the 8th floor of an apartment block with the lift not working we get to this tiny 2 bedroom flat of which one of the rooms was ours. We had great views over the city from the balcony and an ensuite bathroom so it wasn't so bad. The nice lady who owed the place showed us where to go on the map and gave us lots of help. Her mum also lived there who was this crazy old lady who spoke with the strongest Cuban accent so Danni couldn't understand a word she said and even though we couldn't understand she carried on talking at us anyway.Havana was cool, we walked around for 3 days and still didn't see it all. Its right on the coast and the sea crashes onto the sea wall. The night life was very cool, loads of bars and salsa. We drank daquiris at the same bar Ernest Hemmingway used to. Just like every other capital city it has a china town with nice cheap food (good attempt) but not a single chinese person in sight! Walking down the street is quite a strange experience. Driving past are massive American cars from the 50s, ladas from the soviet from the 80s and the odd horse and cart. A very strange mix. Every 5 metres guys are offering you "real" fake cigars which are probably made from banana skins. The capital buildings are amazing but then opposite will be big colonial houses from the 1900s that haven't been touched in 100 years and are falling apart and derelict. All the plazas and stuff dedicated to the revolution was facinating. All the people are really friendly, but it can be tricky working out which ones are genuine. One evening we went down to the front to watch sunset and there was a guy playing a guitar to himself. We went up to him to ask where in Havana was good to see some music and we ended up chatting, watching the sunset and him trying to get us to sing beetles songs with him for about 3 hours. We got on really well and he was just generally pleased to have some company. All in all a pleasant experience. However??..1. The Con Is On:Let me set the scene. On one of the nights, it was late, we had argued. We were hungry and most food places were shut and we were walking through the wrong part of town. A smart looking young guy asked if we were hungry and said that he had food at his house. Normally we would have just kept on walking but before we left steph (beach and barnicott chef) had told us that him and pen went into a lovely persons house for food getting great food really cheap. It is illegal and so they had to lock the doors and shut the windows etc but was a real Cuban experience with really nice people.We were also still high off meeting the nicest Cuban ever earlier in the day so we thought wed go for it. He said it was just one block away so we followed and after 10 blocks we went into some stairwell so he could get his wallet. All the while having to walk 5 metres behind so the police didn't stop us. Maybe that should have given us a clue, but we knew it was illegal. After another 10 blocks we stopped and the guy bought us coffees from a little old lady in the street. We said no but he still gave it to us, meaning we owed him something, clever. A further 5 blocks (really bored of walking now) we arrive. The building looked really run down but on the inside it was immaculate and we were taken into a proper (still illegal) restaurant after thinking we were going to their house. We sit down and they join us and the waitress gave us the menus. It was really expensive - more than England. Before we had time to look at the menus properly they ask if they can eat on us (on the way he had picked up his girlfriend, his mate and his girlfriend!). Cheeky b*****s. Embarrassingly we explain to them we cant afford it for ourselves let alone them (not that we would have bought them any anyway). So after walking out they (very disgruntled) said they would take us to a place selling fajitas. There was nowhere open now and so we had to follow. So they lead us to a bench and tell us to give them the money while they go and get it. Yeah right, no chance. So we say will go with and off we all go again. They make quite a distance between us and get to the vendor long before us. As we are walking up they are taking down the price board. Unbelievable. I managed to catch a glimpse of the price and when we asked how much it was they said $5 even though I saw it was less than $1. After again explaining that we weren't going to buy them anything or pay the ridiculous prices so they could blag us they started to give us agro saying I was a bad man. I gave them $1 and thanked them for the coffee but that wasn't good enough. Luckily just at the end of the road was china town and we managed to slip into a crowded restaurant and have some nice cheap food - sorted.2. Taking Candy From a BabyAfter meeting a couple of cool English guys who insisted they buy us all our drink because we're travelling we walked home just like the other nights. We felt really safe in Havana walking everywhere day and night. We were just saying this as we entered our apartment block having walked home. We nodded to the mostly asleep security guard and decided to take the stairs because the lift looked like it was on its last legs. As we got to 3rd floor 3 teenage boys ran up the stairs behind us. They looked like they wanted to get past so we stopped to let them. At which point the first guy put his hand around my throat and started to try and get into my pockets. Danni suddenly realised what was going on and started to ask them what the hell they were doing in Spanish making the 2 others grab her and put her arms behind her back. Then off back down the stairs they went with my wallet. All in all not the most enjoyable experience but we weren't hurt and all they got was 5 quid because all my money was in my sock! In hind sight I would probably still chose that over getting stuck in that lift all night!We loved Havana all the same and had a great time there.