One day I was checking out all the shops around Parque Cristo in Havana Vieja, when I saw the Churros wagon in the park.
The Lure of Churros
The delicious aroma of fried dough was wafting directly to me. Mmmm… 50 pesos (65 cents) for two freshly fried Churros filled with chocolate or Dulce de Leche. I’m on my way…
Mouth watering, the smell of doughnuts simply intoxicating, I turned quickly to walk across the busy street to the Churro Stand. There were cars and bicycles and people walking every direction on the narrow street.
Flying Through The Air
I was checking both ways for the constant flow of cars, bicycles and people zigzagging every which way down the street. I finally saw an opening, but as I stepped forward, I instantly found myself flying through the air.
Before I even realized that I had tripped (the sidewalks are a bit rough and broken in Cuba), I landed perfectly in the arms of a stranger walking by!
A Romantic Moment
Now I wish I could say it looked like this…
But alas, it was more like this.
I swear this was the exact look he had on his face.
He was indeed a tall well-dressed gentleman, and I must say quite handsome as well, but the horrified look on his face was even more profound than the shock on mine! It was that “What the F…?!” look.
I mumbled an apology as he set me down, straightening his tie, and looking quite disrupted in his routine, thank you very much. He was still staring at me in shock.
I apologized again. He never said a word, just nodded profusely while still looking confused, before walking purposefully ahead down the street. I’m certain he was still mumbling to himself,
“What the Hell just happened? How did that happen? Where did she come from? The sky?”
I was still standing in the street with my mouth hanging open as he disappeared into the crowd.
What pure luck that I didn’t do a faceplant in the middle of the street! In the minute or two it took to recover, I wanted to thank him again, but he was long gone. Then I wondered if anyone watching had a little giggle as they people-watched from the park.
Back to the Churro Mission
Carefully and slowly poking my way across the crumbly street, I made my way to the Churro Cart at the edge of the park just across the street.
No one is going to believe this story, I thought to myself. Heck, I can hardly believe it myself. Come to think of it, when I told T later that day, he looked a bit doubtful. But I swear to God, that is exactly what happened.
By the way, the churros in Havana are delicious!
