A friend asked me whether I wanted to take a Cuban taxi or a tourist taxi.  Always up for an adventure, I asked for the less expensive Cuban taxi.  I hopped in the one that she hailed and joined two Cuban ladies in the back seat.

The radio blared upbeat Caribbean rhythms and no one talked over the music.  The stoic driver efficiently dropped people off and picked up new fares without saying a word.  I suspected that he passed my destination, but wasn’t certain because he was driving through neighborhoods unfamiliar to me.

When I had been in the car awhile and all the original passengers were gone, he lowered the music and asked me again where I wanted to go.  I told him.  He smiled and jovially responded, “You’ve been on a tour of Havana!”   How right he was!

I enjoyed my mini-adventure cruising around Havana in a beat up classic car, observing where others wanted to go, and feeling the springs in the seat push against my back each time he braked hard.