Travel Notes on Cuba｜The antique book stall is filled with the fragrance of time. I wonder if I met you in my previous life.

When I first heard this name, my memory was pulled back to April 2018.

The time in Cuba with Grace

Drinking Mojitos at the Five Cent Bar

After watching the MV, my eyes filled with tears. It turned out that the filming location was Cuba.

It’s the familiar Cuban street, the Corniche, the pink classic car.

There are also enthusiastic Cubans

Yes, Mojito to me is the passionate Cuba

This was my first feeling about Cuba. Because the Internet was not developed and I couldn’t use navigation, Grace and I didn’t understand Spanish. When we first arrived at the Cuban airport, we were a little confused and finally found a taxi successfully. After arriving at the B&B, we simply packed up, chatted, and went to the beach for a walk. This is how the first day in Cuba ended.

The next day I went to get a network card, but it doesn’t mean that with the network card, I can keep my phone connected to the Internet at all times. I also need to be at a fixed network point before I can use the network card to access the Internet. I downloaded the offline map before coming to Cuba, but when I use it, I found that the download was not successful, so Grace and I started walking aimlessly without navigation, until we walked further and further off the road, and rarely saw people. Amazingly, I saw a pair of shoes tied to a high-altitude wire, and asked Grace, "What are you doing?" "Why do they hang their shoes so high?" Grace looked at me in surprise and said, "I heard that Cuban gangs divide their territory by hanging shoes on wires." At this time, the sturdy men passing by from time to time asked us The two of them felt that they could no longer go forward and returned the same way...

Because there was no Internet, I really didn’t know which way to go, so I finally decided to take a taxi to the destination. Because neither of us knew Spanish, we printed out the Spanish address of the place we wanted to go in advance, so we stopped a tricycle. Showed it to the driver, and soon we arrived at the old town of Cuba. As a tourist attraction, the old town naturally had a lot of people. The two of us seemed to have found an organization. We were very happy and walked boldly through the streets. At first, Cuba’s When men meet us, they will call us "Hola China". At first, they will feel flustered and stay away as much as possible. Later, they realize that they just greet us warmly and start to respond "Hola" enthusiastically. Then everyone will understand each other. Look at it with a smile and start falling in love with Cuba

While walking, I discovered that Cuba is really a very special country. Cuba is one of the five remaining socialist countries in the world, and it is the only socialist country in the Americas, so we can see that they still go there with food stamps. In exchange for food, Cuba has been subject to U.S. sanctions for decades, so it has not developed much. The economy has plummeted and development is very slow. China has provided a lot of aid to Cuba. The words "China Aid" can be seen at the airport in Cuba, so Cuba There are two currencies in circulation, one currency for the people of your own country, and one currency for foreigners, so spending money in Cuba is extremely expensive for foreigners. My friendly suggestion is not to exchange U.S. dollars for Cuban dollars, maybe It was in retaliation for the economic sanctions imposed by the United States. It was very expensive to exchange U.S. dollars for pesos. You will feel your heart tremble. At that time, I exchanged 100 U.S. dollars for about 80 pesos.

Because of Cuban culture, it is indeed a paradise for photographers. However, if you want to take photos of people or shops in Cuba, you must first obtain the consent of the person or the shop owner. Otherwise, you will be blackmailed, and you will also see children running around on the street. Tourists shout "one dollar"

It means that it costs 1 US dollar to take a picture of him. We went to an old bookstore with a good feel at that time. With the permission of the store owner, we could take pictures in the store for 1 US dollar. When I saw this store, my first impression was that it is really cool now. It's rare to see a bookstore like this again. It's filled with the atmosphere of the old times. It's not like what we have experienced in our era, but it has an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

Speaking of Cuba, people will definitely think of Hemingway, his favorite Five Cent Tavern, and the Mojito that he ordered. Everyone who comes to Cuba will definitely have a Mojito. The Five Cent Tavern is small, but Because of its popularity, there are many people here, so it’s a bit crowded. You can order a Mojito and enjoy the band performance at the bar. Just as we were immersed in the cocktails and music, “Hello” came into our ears in Chinese. At that time, we thought we were hallucinating. Listen, let alone Chinese people in Cuba, Asians are basically hard to see. Until another "hello" came into my ears, I saw a girl, not a Chinese face, "May I ask where you ordered your Mojito?" "After a brief chat, I found out that Lily works in Shanghai, so she speaks fluent Chinese, English and Spanish. She is a Mexican girl who loves to laugh. This time she also took advantage of the holiday to meet her brother Let’s travel to Cuba together

When I was writing this article, I also contacted Lily after a long absence. When I told her that she wanted to write about our story in Cuba, she also sent me a video of us chatting together in a tavern. It was a long-lost time.

People who don’t drink often will really get tipsy after a glass of Mojito. With the noise of the voices and the music of the band, I can’t help but think that it’s no wonder Hemingway loved this place so much. He often came here to drink and write, and even wrote “My Mojito” with his own hand. "At the Five Cent Tavern" is still hanging in the store. I drank Mojito two or three times after returning to China, but I never tasted the taste of Cuban Mojito again.

As mentioned at the beginning, Cuba is a country that is difficult to describe. Walking on the streets of Cuba cannot be said to be boring, novel, or special. In short, it is difficult to find a suitable word to describe it. During the three or four days in Cuba, , we mostly come to the old town, order a drink, and chat all afternoon. There is no Internet, no outside news, only the current moment and the people across the street. Cuba is very small, and sometimes you will find out while chatting. Someone I knew sat down at the next table, and I met Lily and his brother again. While sighing about fate, I chatted about how easy it is to meet again in Cuba.

In the evening, we will all walk along the coastal avenue to watch the sunset. Enthusiastic, unrestrained, loving music and dance, and slow life. These are the Cubans in my impression. Cuban life, in the evening, there will always be people gathering at the beach. There are many small groups, and you will receive many invitations along the way. They will invite you to come to their music party at night. When you are tired, you will stop and chat with everyone. They are really cool. Although Cuba is very poor, But why do they live so happily? When Grace and I talked about this topic, we both agreed that because they don’t get much, they have few requirements, and their spiritual life is easier to satisfy. As the landlord said, “Many foreigners come to Cuba to explore. But few Cubans yearn for life outside Cuba.”

After I arrived in Cuba, I felt that Cubans were really cool. One of my wishes to Grace was "I want to take a photo with a cool black man." Unexpectedly, she always remembered it. Later, I met a cool black man on the road, Grace. I walked up to him and asked him, "Can I take a photo with my friend?" The black man readily agreed. I was really nervous and happy at the time. I thanked me Grace for fulfilling my biggest wish in Cuba. Hahahaha, in order to cater to Cuba's Atmosphere, I also asked a local to braid my braids. I think I will braid them again if I have the chance.

In addition to ordering drinks and chatting about life, we really spent a lot of time at the beach. Even though we had walked along the coastal road for a long time, when we returned to the B&B, we had to go to the beach to sit for a long time after a break, listening to the sunset music and enjoying the fishing. The sea breeze, there are many moments when I think that this is what life should be like. Cuba, which seems to be free of disputes and has a slow life, is full of passion that you can’t imagine and the romance exclusive to Cubans. It’s no wonder that “Fast & Furious” "Passion" will be filmed here, right?

"If I could, I could sit here all night with the sea breeze blowing." On the last day in Cuba, I sat on the beach for a long, long time, so long that Grace went back to sleep. I was reluctant to leave the sea and sit alone again. For a long time, I thought about going back to that noisy world. I don’t know when I will live a life like Cuba again.

"Want to leave?"

"think"

"Are you coming again?"

"Come"

This is Cuba

We were only in Cuba for just three or four days. Grace and I decided that we would definitely come back to this place, and we hope to stay longer next time so that we can better understand the culture of this country and hear Mojito. After that, I decided to write the story about us and Cuba. I originally thought that after writing the article, I would send it to Grace. I didn’t expect to receive Grace’s message first. It seemed like yesterday, but somehow it happened the year before. , after going to Cuba before, we both developed a strong interest in this country, and we hit it off and we really wanted to experience Africa. Hahahaha, I also received good news from her that day, and I was happy for her. Hahaha, well, we Let’s all do our best and look forward to seeing you again! ! !

The colorful classic cars swayed with the palms and carried the sea breeze as they eloped aimlessly.

The antique book stall is filled with the fragrance of time. I wonder if I met you in my previous life.

Noisy posters lying on lazy attic balcony

And you are the sea described by writers