There's something about Cuba that I can't quite put my finger on as to why I love it so much, maybe it's because there are so many things. For me, it's one mad, colourful and wild country where it feels like anything is possible. It's such a concoction of old and new that just wouldn't work anywhere else in the world.

I started my first holiday in Varadero and an all inclusive hotel, which sort of felt like it was cheating, but we really needed a week to just chill out, eating and drinking as and when we fancied. Mornings were spent at the beach (the water was as clear as you like) and then we dragged ourselves 20 metres back to the hotel for lunch and the afternoon poolside. Every now and then we'd go mad and play tennis, or snorkel or windsurf.

Knowing there was more to Cuba than the beach, we shifted gears and spent a week in Havana - what a place, what an experience! I can still see the old women sitting on the cathedral steps smoking cigars and 'tsking' at us tourists taking pictures and buying bags of wooden instruments in Plaza de Armas (I think I still have them… in the loft!) All the old American 50's cars gave it a real retro feel, and then we really did step back in time at Club Tropicana, in fact we stepped back several times… well you don't go to Cuba and not try the rum! Havana is an amazing city, and although there are quite a lot of poor people, they have a real spirit about them, and certainly know how to have fun.

Away from Havana, the cigar factory was a decent day and pretty interesting too plus we managed several trips out into the countryside. One of the highlights was Vinales Valley, which was beautiful (and I still don't think I got the perfect landscape, despite numerous attempts with two cameras!) plus Trinidad which felt like another world away and I could have stayed a week. Highlights for me were the bar 'La Canchanchara' which is the name of a drink the slaves used to knock back, and the old town, which felt unsullied by the 21st century. There's so much to do and see, we had to go back.