05TH APRIL, 2019

Today we had to go to the market in Santiago.  We were told it was the best place to buy veg’ and fruit.  Local farmers selling their produce, but not much.  We managed to buy some long green beans, aubergines, tomatoes, mangoes, chives and two small pineapples.  We then went to the ‘Grand Hotel’ to go on the internet where you could buy an hours worth on a scratch card.  It was good and fast so I was able to send off photos etc. and Jonathan was able to download documents from our lawyer.

When we got back to the boat we noticed an English yacht had arrived and was on the pontoon.  They were John and Sue Chadwick who were OCC members and friends of the Bellamy’s who had mentioned them in the past.  Drinks ashore with them and and another Swedish couple also OCC members.   After drinks ashore we got a cab, driven by a guy who was French, and had lived in Cuba for four years, he said he had left France to get away from Macron, we have a feeling he was most probably escaping for other reasons as well…….. the ‘Taxi’ was a 1953 large Peugeot with bench seats and hardly any suspension.   We went to IRIS to listen to Jazz after having a pizza in a roof top cafe.  The Jazz started eventually at 10.00 hrs and finished precisely at 11.00 hrs, we and one other couple were the only audience, it was good jazz, more New Orleans style,  but they felt it was not worth carrying on……. so sad.  We then wondered down the road and went to 'Casa de La Trova' where there was great music and dancing but lots of tour groups and not many locals, this finished just after 24.00hrs.

We got a taxi back to the marina, this time it was a very clapped out Buick, huge, but no suspension and took awhile and some sorting out to get going!