That was a crazy story Terry!

My latest Cuba adventure had some oddness to it, that is for sure.I was walking alone one late night down a dark street when I noticed a small restaurant that I had heard the name of before. Curious, I walk up to the door and it was locked even though the lights were on inside. I peaked in and saw a naked person walking around. Finding that quite weird, I peak in again to make sure I was not imagining things and sure enough there was some naked guy in there walking around. And just as odd was the fact that this dude did not look Cuban at all. I decided right then and there that this restaurant was not for me and immediately turned around with no plans to ever go back! The place in question shall remain nameless but strange enough, they have fairly good reviews on the internet.

HA! I had forgotten about this thread, CW - thanks for pulling it back up to the top with your new story. And that IS strange! But was that restaurant also a casa? I'm thinking that perhaps that person was living there too in a Cuban paladar and just milling about in the buff after the doors were closed and locked. You mentioned that he didn't look Cuban, but he probably was. I've met many Cubans there in Cuba who are as white as snow and with natural red or blonde hair and blue eyes too that fooled me into believing they were foreigners. It's likely they're the sons or daughters of Russians - the reason for their super white skin. Case in point - I had mentioned before that I once dated Yessica, the sister of Maikel, my best friend in Camaguey. But Yessica, Maikel, and Arisbelis (the other sister) each came from different fathers. Yessica's father was Russian - hence the reason for her tall, slender, and statuesque appearance with natural blonde hair and snow white skin too. If you ever met her and didn't know she was a cubana, it would be very easy to think she was a tourist - until she opened her mouth and started machine gunning Spanish at you of course - always the give-away! jaja

Is it time for another drinking injury story from me?? Ahhhh! What the heck! I like to tell those stories because even I sometimes can't believe that I've survived Cuba without breaking anything. This one is a shorty! After marrying Yudith in Cuba, of course I could then stay with her 24/7 in her casa (now our casa) without any worries from the authorities, and without needing to visit the Cuban immigration office for the A2 family Visa upgrade. Cubans are by and large much shorter than us foreigners - I'm over 6 feet tall, and Yudith is only 4 foot 10 inches. She had no problem entering our bathroom in our casa. But ME?? That was always a risk because the door frame was only 5 foot 5 inches tall. You can probably guess where this story is headed. One time after drinking heavily out on the back patio with friends, I needed to use the bano. And because I always wear a ball cap when there and generally look down as I walk (force of habit in Cuba due to the pot holes everywhere)... you got it, I very quickly walked straight into that upper door frame and cracked my skull on it which also yanked my feet out from under me and had me fall hard backwards cracking the back of my skull on the concrete floor too. You know that image of the little birdies flying around one's head that you've seen in the cartoons?? Well, that was ME! I think I suffered a concussion. I was in really bad shape. No blood - but for a short time, I didn't know where I was. Everyone came running again and helped me to my feet, and of course - Terry! Hospital! Hospital! Once again! But I just wanted to sit to clear my head and self-medicate with another cerveza. To finish the story, I told my wife to get our construction guy over to the casa immediately to rebuild that bathroom door frame much higher, which she did on the spot. The guy was there in a flash and had the problem solved within an hour - only cost me 10 CUC at the time, and a cerveza for him afterwards. The first of many construction projects on our casa over the years - but the one that I remember most fondly for providing me with some peace of mind - or for whatever piece of my mind that was still working after that terrible skull cracking experience. Even after that was fixed, I'd still find myself ducking for awhile afterwards when entering the bathroom - force of habit again. jaja Terry

You guys are wild! Why do I not have stories like that? I guess that the wife will not allow it.
Thanks for the entertainment!

CCO, your crazy stories always happen when you are on the sauce. Let that be a lesson! Jjjj
I do not know if that restaurant was part of a casa but l do declare that if that was a female in there walking ‘round in the buff, I would have been doing a lot of loud knocking!

🦟

I became quite sick for about a day when I was at the beach. I was getting bit by mosquitoes there and got worried that I caught one of those skitter viruses. I started sweating profusely and that was a bad sign. I later reckoned that I had gotten a flash flu, or even stranger still, that I was in love!

❤️

jajaja YES! That "sauce", while absolutely delicious and quite satisfying, makes for sloppy salsa with this hombre in Cuba. But CW, now-a-days, I just drink enough to catch the buzz and ride the snake. I never drink to get borracho anymore. My wild-one days in Cuba like Iggy Pop are long gone. Just an old fart now still searching for my nirvana in Cuba. If I fall these days, it's only to fall asleep in my big easy chair out on the back terrace.

".... or even stranger still, that I was in love!" Is that you talking in code to mean that you met some cute little chica there at the beach in Cuba, CubanWaters?? Did she "give ya fever"?? jaja In truth, it's far too easy to fall in love with those incredibly enchanting and beautiful Cuban women. I highly recommend that! Mine helps to keep me young. Very therapeutic! jajaja Terry


1

A few years ago while strolling the streets of Santa Clara, a house cart with 3 senior gentlemen stopped beside me and attempted to unload a fridge. Of course the area was empty except for me, so I felt obligated to help. Fast forward about 10 years, I was a few blocks away from my casa and I saw a horse cart with 3 senior gentlemen and a fridge on the back. I thought to myself "you've got to be kidding". Nope. Nobody was kidding. So again, I did the heavy lifting for the 3 older guys. About an hour ago, my landlady knocked on my door and said they needed some help. I come out to 3 senior gentlemen, trying to hoist a fridge from the ground floor to the 4th. Since when did I become the young and strong one? Anyway, we got it up there and then brought the old one down the same way. Now I am tending to my sore muscles with my 8 year old rum.

Where do guys get these stories from? I need to spend more time in Cuba off resort.

I was on resort in Cuba at the late night disco in Guardalavaca and ordered a beer that came in a plastic cup. I took a drink and noticed that it tasted like javex. I gave the cup back to the bartender and he smelt it. He noticed nothing and then took a small sip and still didn’t notice anything. I told him that I didn’t want the glass back so he then drank the rest of the beer in one chug. It was then that his eyes got big and he admitted that the drink was tainted with cleaner. The next drink he gave me tasted fine!

Edit to my post. First instance was also a horse cart. Not a house cart. The 2nd part the city was Las Tunas. 3rd part the city is Havana.

Gheeepers, Simon, if I ever run into 3 senior gentlemen and a fridge in Cuba, I would surely hope that you be around… to help out!!!

This past January, I paid a visit to the small fishing village Cojimar just outside Havana. it was a Hemingway hangout for those who are not aware. After I had finished touring the small town, I was having trouble securing a taxi back to Havana. I noticed an asian guy down the street so I decided approach him.
I asked him if he was going back to Havana and he said yes. He told me first he needed a photo of himself with Hemingway. I thought that he meant a foto with the Hemingway monument but he immediately said, “ No no photo with real Hemingway!”. I said, “Impossible Jack, Hemingway passed over 60 years ago!!”
He kept repeating, “photo with real Hemingway “ in his asian accent. “Photo with the Hemingway!”
The next thing I know some guy walks over looking exactly like Ernest Hemingway.
I could not believe my eyes and I started talking to Hemingway asking him his story.
He told me that he was visiting from the U.S. and that the guy from Asia seemed to think that he was really Ernest Hemingway!
Well we all went for a drink to Hemingway’s hangout in Cojimar. While there I took their photo together under a painting of the real Hemingway with Fidel Castro. We all had a good laugh about that one and the guy with the thick Asian accent got his foto taken with 2 Hemingways. The painted real one and the imposter! Jjjjjj.

Photo with Hemingways!

That's an incredibly funny story, CubanWaters! Hay Dios mio! jajaja

Welcome back from Rome too, btw. What on earth took you there all of a sudden? Anyway, I feel your pain about Cuba too. Still waiting for Alejandro Castro Espin as the head of GAESA to do the right thing for his people. Miguel is just a figure head - the real power in Cuba lives elsewhere. Terry

You guys have the best stories!! One that I can think of was the time my friend Larry let one fly at the back of the bus to the airport. Luckily I was sitting at the front of the bus because people started yelling one woman in particular that the back of the bus reeked like a farm animal and Larry couldn’t hold it in or stop laughing. Must of been a weeks worth of all you can eat buffet in him that needed to be let out!!! An all time memory!!!

A few posts have been deleted. Please remember this is a travel forum, not a personal Facebook group.

I really enjoy this thread however bizarre it gets! I agree that the stories should not get too personal.

Well, it's pretty difficult for us Canadians to talk about travel to Cuba when there's no flights available to even get us there at the moment. Hence, why I provided another of my "bizarre times in Cuba" stories to provide some comic relief and to help pass the time while we're waiting for available flights to return. At least it was still related to Cuba - that should count for something. Terry

This story is so unbelievable, I am sure that no one will believe it.

I was half-way through my flight back to Canada this past January when I quite SHOCKINGLY remembered something that I forgot in Cuba. In all the trips to Cuba over 20 plus years, I have never forgotten this.

I somehow, somehow! somehow unbelievably forgot to buy RUM before leaving. How is that even possible??? I was not late for my flight or in any sort of rush. I could not believe it!!!

Thinking back to waiting at the airport, there were some things that got me distracted. I was perturbed about paying an exorbitant price for a crummy sandwich, a drink and some chippers but airports all over the world are similar. I walked around quite a bit but was not able to find the right tobacco product for a friend in Canada, but what really must have got me distracted was the large sign advertising the sale of both Valium and Viagra! I guess it sent me so into shock, that I forgot me Rum. Believe it or not.

That's very sad CW. I haven't bought rum at the airport in a long time. Always buy at local stores in CUP. I hope my mind doesn't start turning to mush when I'm your age.

Terry, have you & Yudith ever chanced across the Havana-based ex-pat Canuck (from Canmore) named Terry Marsh? He and his fiancé Mona have long owned down there and I believe that he does some of his film biz work whilst in Cuba as well.
Terry was once a major presence on the old Lonely Planet forum called Thorn Tree, going by 'CheersTerry'.
Just curious.
I am done. the end

Hey there, zebec. I've known Terry Marsh, aka Martian24 from the old TripAdvisor Cuba Forum days, or as some also call him 'Cheers Terry' from the old LP Thorntree Cuba Forum as well. Terry doesn't visit Cuba anymore - he hasn't been back there to Cuba for many years now. His last stint in Cuba was hanging back stage with Mick and the boys when the Stones did their concert together in Havana. He sent me fotos. The last time that Terry and I talked on the phone, he told me he's living here in Ontario now up near Tobermory in his mother's house and caring for her in her declining years. But prior to that after finishing with Cuba, he was making his home for a number of years in a small fishing village on the Mekong River in Laos where he was living like a KING. He bought up a bunch of fishing boats there and was regularly renting them out to the local fishermen - even cutting himself in on a percentage of their daily catch. I think they elected him mayor of that little fishing village. jaja Naaa! Just joking. But Terry told me that even though he's currently obligated to be here in Ontario and caring for his mother, he's also having a 50 foot long metal hulled flat-bottom houseboat custom built for him in Laos with an inlaid teak-wood deck at the same time so that it'll be ready for him to sail up and down the Mekong after his mother passes. The guy is still living the life. Well, that's temporarily on-hold due to family obligations at the moment. But Terry is doing well otherwise. Just itching to get back to Laos and begin living like a local and living the life there again too.

Terry Marsh was the one who took me under his wing and initially taught me everything that I needed to know about Cuba - back when I was a newbie and his protege. I have amazing respect for that guy. Tremendous person. Terry