Whenever I have a week free, I go back to Cuba. I have a house about 500 yards from the beach in Havana, with a great sea view, which I’ve had for three years. It was in ruins, and I did it up from scratch.

I hang around the ballet scene there a lot, and spend time with my family, but I also travel further into the island, because I feel I still don’t know my country very well. I had no holidays as a child; we had no money to go anywhere.

Havana is very cosmopolitan, but in the east, you see more traces of the original Cuban Indians in the looks and habits of the people.

They preserve Cuban folklore, they speak differently and they use a lot of coconut in their dishes. Pure Afro-Cuban music is not for everybody, because it has a religious theme, but in Santiago de Cuba, the venue was completely packed and people were enjoying themselves like it was salsa or rap.

That wouldn’t happen in Havana, so it was shocking to me, but at the same time I was proud. Our folklore is a rich legacy.

Last time I went, I drove. It’s quite far, so you need a reliable car that won’t just dump you in the middle of the road, like mine did. It overheated, so I was left there with a bunch of ballet dancers; it wasn’t like we knew anything about engines. I had to go to a rundown shack and ask for water. The house was full of pigs and goats, like pets, but the country people are so good. They’d die for you.

Santiago was the first capital of Cuba, in the 16th century. There is a big lighthouse and the Bacardi Museum, set up by the rum family, which preserves memorabilia from the independence war. I like seeing shops and art, and I like to socialise with people who can teach me something or challenge my knowledge. But I always look for the history in places: it helps me to understand who I really am.

When I went to Santorini, in Greece, I saw excavations of the Minoan civilisation from thousands of years ago. Their houses were built with a very effective plumbing system and you could still see the toilet seats.

That sort of history is fascinating — to see how those men thought and how far development has come. I also climbed up the volcano and tried the thermal waters, and watched the famous Santorini sunset. The roofs of the houses are completely white, almost like snow, then you see the sea slowly swallow this red ball of fire, like blood. It was remarkable.

Some trips are just about relaxation. I took a cruise to the Caribbean with a girlfriend and a couple of other guys when I was living in Houston. We went to Cancun, Cozumel, then Roatan island, in Honduras, where there are iguanas everywhere, like dragons — they’re friendly, though. Roatan is jungle, then beautiful white sand. You could go scuba-diving and have a mojito on the beach.

On a cruise, you enjoy the view, the sea, the dolphins following the ship. There was nothing to see in terms of art, though. I lived in Italy for a while, and when you see Michelangelo’s David, in that white marble, its beauty makes you want to cry. On the ship, you’ve got bingo, cabaret, yoga classes, basketball. But the idea is to try things out.

I went to a ski resort near Salzburg not long ago, and that was fun, because it was the first time I’d been in the snow.

The hotel had a heated pool outside: it was really hot and steamy, then the snow was all around you, really white, which was amazing — so peaceful. In Salzburg, we saw Mozart’s house, but it’s a small town and you can see everything in a day. We went there to relax — in the sauna, reading or doing nothing.

While I’m an active ballet dancer, skiing is out of the question, because anything where we turn our feet inwards can be painful.

Then my girlfriend, Charlotte, had the idea of going down this huge mountain on a sledge. It was exciting, but I didn’t know how to stop the thing. I thought I was going to die because it went so fast. I was shouting, “You crazy woman!” You wouldn’t want to hear about the other crazy things — intimate stuff — she has made me do on holiday...

Carlos Acosta talked to Caroline Rees

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