Intrepid Express Blog

Cuba is renowned for its rich heritage of music and dance and as Intrepid’s Claire Baxter discovered, you can’t help but tap your toes to the rhythms of Central America…

“Music and dance are everywhere in Cuba and definitely provided some of the great highlights of my trip.  I’d been attending salsa classes for a year or two and was looking forward to practising with people who really knew how.  When we arrived in Santiago our leader organised a fairly informal class in a private home so that we could all learn some basic steps and rhythms. Then before dinner we were taken to watch a band practise in what appeared to be akin to a garage.  As well as being a wonderful opportunity to interact with the locals, the band encouraged us to get up and dance so that we could practise amongst ourselves without a whole club watching.

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The splendour of the big screen came to life in France for Intrepid’s Tamara Palinkas, when she enjoyed a walking holiday in Provence…

“In my opinion critics have been a little tough on the movie A Good Year, starring Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott. It’s true that the story is a bit predictable: Max, a British broker, inherits a rustic chateau with a vineyard in Provence. He decides to sell it, but he falls in love with the laid-back Provencal lifestyle and Fanny, a beautiful French woman.  However, I loved watching it for the real star of the movie: the stunning countryside of Provence.

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How do they do it? Spinning an entire crockery set on a stick, trick cycling and balancing on flimsy ropes or tossing huge porcelain pots around like basketballs. Chinese acrobats always entertain with their amazing skills, but don’t feel too disheartened if they leave you questioning your own coordination, as they have been practicing since the 3rd century BC when it started with juggling daggers!

Intrepid’s Rachel Wasser loves joining her groups in China for a night of acrobatic entertainment and knows you’ll see nothing like it at home…

“A visit to the Beijing Acrobats is an experience that enhances any China tour. It’s a part of Chinese culture that you have heard about for years, or maybe even witnessed somewhere else, but viewing it from the audience in Beijing is something else entirely. Watching the kids balance on sticks in their mouths and spin discs on every limb is incredible. The climbing and jumping and spinning are all just dazzling!

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