after downloading, it takes me an age to upload... about a month and a half in this case. Thoughts from the deep will have to come from even deeper as "they" have lowered the water level in Lake Geneva...

Although, in truth, we have been to Cuba so our time has been spent negotiating a country that has almost no road signs.

Neither has it many reasonable roads. They haven't a lot of money, the Cubans, and even less since the Russians stopped pumping money into their economy...

So we decided to go see the country before Fidel died. As it happens the day after I gave the verbal go ahead to the agency to book the accommodation and deduct huge amounts from my wife's credit card, Fidel retired.

Even so, Bush could invade at any moment, and the decision to book a vacation there, was fired up by the number of rabid comments read on various Internet newpaper websites from equally rabid Americans. All of whom seemed to very fearful of this little country, that, as far as I could see, merely nationalised a whole load of businesses that were mafia fronts, and liberated about $800 million that no doubt would have found their way to the US authorities in some form or another (taxes/handouts/bungs).

What was good to see; was the huge number of Canadians holidaying in Cuba, spending lots of Canadian$$$$$'s and also befriending and supporting local people, and shipping out Canadian school buses so that Cuban school kids have a way to get to school and go on the odd field trip and such like.

Way to go, Canada !!