CUBA

   I'd like to share a few more photos from last month's trip to Cuba. Below, "on our way", 29,000 feet over Key West.  

 

 

 

When we  arrived in Old Havana, we were greeted by a group that could have marched right out of the Flying Pig Parade.

We soon learned these artists perform here almost hourly.

The view of "Plaza Vieja" from our apartment balcony. There was plenty of room for all seven of us.

 

 

"Woman With Fork", plaza statue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking up from our interior courtyard,

 

 

Old Havana -just 10 % of the city- is where most tourists congregate to visit museums, cafes, the Buena Vista Social Club, and 400 years of architecture.

 

 

 

 

It wasn't unusual to see buildings with no roofs and crumbling walls.

 

 

   I guess people were much taller 300 years ago because all of the buildings in Habana Vieja had twelve-foot doors.

 

 This one led to a stairway and the many apartments above. Stepping inside,

 

 

1780's mansion now the Ceramic Museum

Others stairways were magnificent. 

 

 

 

 

Ceramic typewriter

 

Francesca and her brother shopping.

Chair parade

 

I'm not a city person and so was thrilled when we left for Vinales in western Cuba.

 

The hills you see popping up are vine-covered limestone "magotes".  Rock climbers love these things.

 

 Below, clowning around with our niece and nephew.

 

We rode horses and unlike the last time, I was not thrown by mine. I thanked "Pancho" profusely.

 

Tobacco farm's privy door lock

We enjoyed exciting live music almost every night

Where cigars come from

 

Tractors, like cars, are rare. Much of the  plowing is done with oxen. 

 

 

Days later we headed to Cienfuegos where we enjoyed a bay side sunset.

  In the morning we encountered a Sunday concert by the city's community band. I asked why there were few women attending and was told, "They're in church".

   

On the main square we toured the Terry Opera House where Enrico Caruso once sang for the local sugar barons and their families.

Cabbie on his way to pick up a fare

 

 

The last city we visited was Trinidad on the south central coast.

 

The view from our cottage patio 

 

 

A restaurant down the street was decorated with the shackles used to transport the slaves that built this place. 

 A nicer place to dine

 

 

    Thanks for coming along.  I'd like to close with one of my favorites, "Blue Shirt the street dog".

 

 

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A FEW THINGS ABOUT CUBA

        When I grew up, dogs ran free. They still do in Cuba.  

Most all of them are thin, scrappy terriers searching for their next meal.  The people we met in Cuba were tough too, friendly folks working hard to get by. 

Another thing I noticed were the old American cars.  At first I thought they were somewhat amazing but I remembered, "Yes, but... that's all they've got".  We stopped sharing our cars -and most

everything else- with  Cuba 65 years ago. 

We'd all be driving '53 Chevys if they were the only autos we had. Few Cubans can afford any kind of car.  Those who have them face gas lines three blocks long.  Almost all are used to ferry goods and people.

I could write on and on about our time there,  My wife said it best, "Our 12-day trip was more of an education than a vacation", lessons on how people manage to get by on very little.  

I took photos galore. I'll spare you except for my shots of the Cuban street dogs and old car hood ornaments. 

 

Admiring the view in Cojimar, the setting for Hemingway's "Old Man And The Sea".

 

Wandering the cobblestone streets of Trinidad De Cuba. Our paving lasts 20 years. These stones have been there since the 1700's.

 

 

 

 

 

We saw quite a few hairless terriers. One in Havana had his thin ears shredded in dog fights.

There were no tags, collars, or other ornamentation on these mutts. I saw plenty of that on the hoods of the old American cars we'd see rolling by.

 

 

 

Most of them were designed like rockets to emulate a sense of speed, flight, and freedom....but the one on this elderly Pontiac...

 

had the profile of a futuristic Indian chief.

 

Towards the late fifties ornaments got smaller 

 

 

 

 

and smaller

 

 

 

 

 

then, for the most part, they disappeared.

 

A 60's European import

 

 

 

 

 

Rest assured that these curvy chromium sculptures will be alive and well in Cuba for years to come. 

The old American classics are less than 20% of cars on the road but when you see them, they make a big impression.  It was flash-back time for me.

When I was a kid these steeds were showroom new.

 

Not all are cherry like this Cadillac. It was waiting in Old Havana to whisk away a couple of happy newlyweds.  

Some are really funky, just barely there.

A

If you added an engine, transmission, seats, paint, and windows this old Ford  could be somethin'.

Most of the cars we saw were not American-made, like these 70's Russian Ladas.  Cubans work miracles to keep the few cars they have running.

 

Check out this lumbering Chinese bus. There are no pollution laws. City air is often filled with noxious diesel fumes.

Like Togo, Burundi, and Bolivia, Cuba has higher priorities than car ownership. 

In the U.S. there are 850 automobiles for every 1000 residents.  In Cuba, 56.  Many of the vehicles are

hand built .

And others, just different. 

 

 

 

 

 

Horsepower can be measured by the size of your engine or,

 

 the size of your horse.

 

      Every vehicle (and horse) you see here carried tourists, locals, and just above, coffee beans. Bicycles were not in great numbers. Most locals ride crowded busses, pedicabs, hitch-hike, or walk. 

You do what you must to get by in Cuba.  We were told most monthly salaries were equivalent to two-hour's pay at a Gainesville Burger King. Go figure.

I'm still workin' on it. 

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