YanetT's VirtualTourist Home Page

I suppose I should have photos of my hometown on here first,, or family history, but this is a travel forum and my travels have taken me mostly to Cuba, some travel in the US and of course, Canada.

So I hope you will enjoy the photos and stories of my trips to Cuba and elsewhere.

I recently spent two weeks in Havana and generally walked around the city, seeing the sites and listening to music, visiting with old friends and meeting new ones.

Havana is a bustling city and I basically walked everywhere, no taxis and got familiar with Centro and Vedado areas of the city.

One of the many narrow streets of Havana in very bad condition. This beautiful city is in need of repair. The Malecon and old Havana are being restored and hopefully the rest of the city will, in time.

I went to Santiago de Cuba as part of a day trip from Farallon del Caribe. I loved the City and saw many sites, cigar factory, El Morro, Cespedes Parques, Casa de La Trova, Tropicana Hotel, Cenetary, Bacardi Rum Factory - all in one day, believe it or not.

After 6 visits to Cuba, I returned in April 2003 to Havana and Santiago de Cuba.

I spent a wonderful 5 days with my goddaughter and her family in Santiago de Cuba. On one particular occasion I took her to the pool at Hotel Santiago de Cuba, for the day. You pay a small fee to get in. She enjoyed her lunch and day at the pool, swiming with me and other kids.

Each trip we get closer, but I have to brush up on my Spanish for next trip. She is a very bright little girl and is not fooled by my bad Spanish. I try to teach her some English too and gave her mom some cassettes and books to study English.

I am blessed to have this wonderful experience and Cuban family in my life.

Here is a photo of my dear goddaughter in Santiago de Cuba. This was taken in 2000 on the occasion of her baptism (el bautizmo) and my becoming her godmother.

She is now 7 years old but was almost 3 when I first met her in 1997. She now has a 3 year old sister named after me.

I have spent vacations with them at their house in Santiago and am trying to brush up on my Spanish for this visit in April.

Yanet

I have been to Marea del Portillo, Granma Province Cuba 5 times, first trip in 1996.

I have stayed at both Marea del Portillo and Farallon del Caribe resorts, as well as visiting my Cuban friends in the area.