Wednesday 3rd December. Arrived at London Gatwick for my first flight using this airport at approximately 6.45am (about an hours drive from Streatham) on a very British foggy morning with my two brothers. They dropped me off and I walked into the building.

I checked in early and waited for the rest of the party (about twenty of us) to arrive. They started to trickle in soon afterwards.

When most of us had arrived we had a full English breakfast in a bar at the upstairs Gatwick Village.

After eating I went to check on the rest of the group.

We eventually took off at 11.45, my first flight since a recent lung operation so this was a barrier that had to be broken.

Pretty smooth take off, the plane an Airbus A330 was slightly cramped for my long frame so nine and a half hours was going to be quite a challenge.

Read The Guardian newspaper to get the last piece of English news I'd get for a week.

We soon encountered some nasty turbulence which turned out to be an unexpected storm. Talk about rollercoaster ride!

This is the worst bit about flying for me and my heart jumped quite a bit let me tell you and at one point I swear the plane must of dropped a little.

Anyway. It eventually calmed down and as turbulence goes it wasn’t as bad as a trip to New York in 1993. This was the second worst for me.

A slight mix up with the tickets meant that we almost weren’t going to get fed for the whole flight.

Watched a Thomas Cook video about the touristy bits of Cuba as we approached our destination. Nice.

Finally landed at Cayo Coco airport and a quite sigh of relief for me to reach land. Let the holiday commence!

First impressions of Cuba, good to get the heat and not as hot as Guyana.

This was their wintertime, December, after all and a cool breeze hung in the air.

It got dark about 6pm. Got a coach to the hotel, can't believe it, we're here in Cuba!

The hotel was classy with beautiful décor and features.Very up market.

The first dinner there that evening was tasty with a wide selection of food. All-inclusive, baby! Slept soundly that night.

The first language of Cuba is Spanish and the hotel staff are fairly fluent in other languages including English. The majority of tourists come from Britain and Canada.

The population is about 11 million and consists of Spanish and African descendants but the majority are mixed between the two.

It was a former Spanish colony, which imported African slaves to work the land until slavery was abolished.

Later it became cooler, a bit cloudy with some heavy rain.

That evening, after the nightly cabaret show we played football at 11.30pm then watched a match between our hotel and the neighbouring one.

We got beat 7-1 thanks to a Del Piero (famous Spanish footballer) clone. After the game a group of us went to the Maribar with some of the hotel staff.

This was a traditional Cuban pub on the end of a pier. Pubs and restaurants at the end of piers are a very common in Cuba.

Preparations started early as the groom slept in our room.

We got changed pretty early for a 1.30pm kick off.

After some battles with shirts, cravat ties, and pins, the groom, and the ushers were ready.

I went early with the groom to the circular gazebo, which was draped in white, to inspect the setting and was stunned by the idyllic nature of the whole piece.

The resident live band was present, warming up and a crowd was gathering of fellow tourists who had come to witness the occasion.

Slept at 2am. A truly fantastic day and a wedding to remember.

The day after the wedding was just relaxing. Woke up 12-ish with a mad headache so missed breakfast.

Chatted with some of the hotel staff about life in general. Very interesting. We’re hiring some cars and going on a trip tomorrow to Moron City. To see the real Cuba.

The following is taken (roughly) from a booklet in the hotel room describing the local area.

‘The area surrounding the Melia Cayo Guillermo Hotel is known as the Sabana Camaguey Archipelago.

The hotel on the island of Cayo Guillermo is 50km from the next island Cayo Coco and 105km from Moron City on the mainland (the largest island). There are roads joining all mentioned islands.'

Moron City. Real Cuba here we come! We hired 4 cars and they were all pretty recent and sturdy. Perfect for the lengthy journey there and back. It’s left hand drive over there.

We got some directions and were going to meet some people in the city to show us around and hopefully get some cheap souvenirs.

We set off early Sunday morning and the first thing that struck me was the lack of traffic and the lush vegetation of the area.

Approaching the city, after an hour and a half journey, we picked up our guide and dropped off our hitchhiker.

We reached the city and were met with, well, real Cuba. Some of the buildings were like flats or mini estates, which kind of reminded me of downtown Beijing in China.

The heart of the city was full of 1920’s colonial Spanish architecture with fading colours and a sense of disrepair. The economy isn’t that great.

Between all this, people were busy going about their daily lives and we got more than a few passing stares.

The traffic wasn’t very heavy and consisted of mainly 1950’s style cars, horse carts, mopeds and bicycles. This area is definitely off the beaten track and not too touristy.

After a walkabout we picked up another guide and went off to have lunch at a local restaurant a short drive away.

There was a cool lighthouse nearby which gave some magnificent views which more than compensated for my fear of heights.

The restaurant was at the end of a pier and also had a resident live band present.

We chose to eat outside and bravely fought the biting wind as we ate and had fun.

Though I initially had some doubts, on the way home, a couple of us decided to stay overnight in Moron while the rest of the party drove back to the hotel.

This was done to experience the real Cuba in full and I’m glad I did. We kept one of the cars and found a place to stay.

We had the pleasure to enjoy authentic Cuban hospitality with home made cooking, guitar playing ,singing and dancing. Local Cuban TV has two channels, no overseas. An unforgettable experience.

Drove back to where we were staying at about 1am and I have to say that along, with a few noticeable crumbling buildings, the place looked like a ghost town. No one was on the streets, no cars, nothing.

After a nice sleep we got up around 7-ish, had an espresso coffee and prepared for the drive back to the hotel.

All in all it was a humbling experience and one that had to be seen to provide a contrast with the relative luxury of the hotel.

The city in the morning was nice to observe. Life goes on wherever you are.