Christmas is upon us, and with just a few days to go, I am finally feeling in the mood. Not sure why it’s taken that long – early work Christmas party, busy days, or maybe because I bought the presents last month? For sure this year the weather is very December-like and we are freezing in the mornings and nights. Last year at this time, I was actually in Havana so I thought it was the perfect occasion to share with you what it is like to spend Christmas under the sun in Cuba…
1. The weather. Out of the three times I went to Cuba, December was by far the best. We did have a couple of strong showers, but otherwise it was bright, warm and dry, however not unbearable. The average temperature in Cuba in December is usually around 27 degrees. Going away to a sunny country is always welcome when at home the sky is grey and the clouds are threatening to explode in raindrops. It’s a sweet escape that offers this well-deserved break we all need in winter.
2. The decorations. Even though Cuba is a communist country, the people still have access to items from the western world and so it is not uncommon to see fake Christmas trees and inflatable Santas inside restaurants or at the entrance of tourist shops. Waiters often wear Santa hats along with their regular summery outfits. Decoration won’t be overwhelming though, more like little touches like in the photo below, at the El Dandy bar (http://www.bareldandy.com/), with Christmas baubles on the wall. All in all though, it is still a little bit unexpected!
3. The food. For Cubans Christmas is an important moment of the year where families get together for a delicious dinner. Just like the New Year’s Eve meal, it is essential for Cubans to have enough food on the table and they will spend until their last penny (centavo) to make sure they can provide for everyone. It’s not necessarily elaborated – last year with my husband’s family we ate lime breaded pork escalopes, with congri rice (it’s a mix of rice and black beans), yuca (sort of potato) and a tomato and cabbage salad on the side, but it is flavoursome and most importantly fills you up!
If you spend your holiday in a resort, it’s probably very likely that the establishment will have made all the efforts possible to accommodate the westerners with their idea of Christmas, so I am guessing there are more Christmas trees and tinsels there!
Where is your favourite place to spend Christmas? For me I think I quite like it in Europe, so to still have my dose of sunshine I’d organise a winter sun getaway on either side of Christmas
