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Oh, Yeah! Cuba. (Part 1)
About three years ago I traveled to Cuba with my family. For a couple of reasons, I decided against writing a post about it. Perhaps one day I’ll do my best to convince you that Communism is not where it’s at.
I did, however, plan to put together some of my better photographs from the trip and let y’all have a look, but my computer crashed shortly after I returned and it has taken time to track the pictures down from my family. It takes a bit of time to transport pictures electronically — even if you’re not technologically-challenged like myself — and I thought you might prefer it if the collections are shorter, so I’ll break it up and see if y’all are interested.
For this first post, I’ll show Havana. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find the ones we got on a different camera that show “Old Town,” which is where tourists spend most of their time (especially the ones who say how great the place is.) On our trip, we were fortunate to have a guide whose goal was to show the “real” Cuba. As a result, we didn’t spend more than a few hours there, and the only pictures I have of it here are on the periphery.
So, anyway, here’s the “real” Havana:
Building like this – with caved in roofs or collapsed balconies – are all over the city.
Another balcony that has collapsed, with rebars left sticking out. Considering the faded paint, it may have been years ago that the collapse occurred, without any reconstruction in the works.
One of the few “Old Town” photos I have.
The building that is second from the far right has a sign that reads “Viva Fidel!” These signs are all over the country.
Not exactly a “Cuban” building.
If memory serves, the ominous building to the left is the Russian Embassy.
The Hotel Nacional
Carnivals like this apparently take place every weekend, well into the early morning. This was taken from the Hotel Nacional
I’m on the case….
They’re back on now, @randyweivoda.
Hey @frontseatcat!
I forgot to respond, sorry I’m just getting to you. We were there shortly after the weird “sound” attacks, actually. (I forgot about that completely until just now.)
I don’t speak much Spanish, but my older sister does – she became quite proficient when she was a teen, but hadn’t worked on it much as an adult, but we were able to communicate through her. Also, a lot of the Cubans spoke English. Apparently top-notch foreign language education is a common fixture in Communist countries.
My sister and I met one lovely woman in a cathedral in Havana who broke into soft, graceful tears while telling us of her brother who escaped to Florida. She, of course, has little reason to expect to ever see him again.
Another interest tidbit I learned is that Cuba has a section of its tourism department that is devoted to dealing with Cubans who want to travel, especially if they go outside of the former Soviet Bloc. A trip to America or Canada would cost thousands – and this is just the payment to the bureaucracy! Obviously nobody can afford it.
Misthiocracy grudgingly made the point that other western countries have been open to them this whole time. As you can see, this has done little to help. If you ever go, be sure to bring lots of soap (Cubans were well groomed, and soap is a precious commodity there — you will not hear much begging for money, you will hear cries for toiletries.)
Thanks for checking this out! I posted a follow up and I’ll put together at least one two more collections about other parts of the country.