Day 1 (night)
So we enter the convent….it has an open court yard with a water fountain and you can hear the birds chirping….so peaceful
The nun behind the counter is very nice and lets me know that Pedro Alfonso (our connection for basketball) had called and asked me to call him when we got in….there is a FREE phone behind the counter (there is also a pay phone by the stairs)
I call Pedro and he agrees to meet us for dinner with his son (a Havana university grad who met Brandon last time and has exchanged emails with Brandon since Christmas)
We check out the rooms and they are GREAT….A/C…TV with 13 channels including the very important ESPN…it is about 9 pm and we go out to the Beer Garden which is at the corner of Plaza Vieja…
We order one of the TALL beers you see in the picture….everyone orders dinner…the young boy getting a burger…lol…and Austin notice it comes with a FREE beer…he reminds the waiter…lol
About an hour into the meal, Dr. Alfonso and his son arrive…and also order the burgers…(Austin reminds the waiter about the FREE beer….lol)…we order another tall beer..and later on another….final bill was $50
Craig asks me several times if this could be possible…..7 people ate and 3 tall beers for only $50…welcome to Cuba (but don’t wait too long…these prices are surely to go up once they Americanize Havana….soon very soon)
While we are eating and talking (Dr. Alfonso is having a great conversation with Craig about the Olympics in Seoul and Cuban sports in general)…we are delighted to hear that indeed we will be able to play hoops at 12 noon on Friday with some coaches and players at the same place we played last time
A magician shows up at our table…he is fantastic…definitely a Las Vegas act….he performs magic tricks with cards for about an hour….we are all laughing and there are about 20 people watching…including the Polacia…the Magician made our $50 disappear at the end…but it was ok…he was worth it…HOMERUN !!....what a great way to start our trip
It was 11 pm and we decided to go for a little walk…and then headed back to the rooms, got to bed by 1 am watching ESPN
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