Memories of Havana

The last post inspired me to have a look at the languishing site to see if there was anything I could nick to add in, so, apropos of nothing really apart from memories of Havana, I thought I'd upload one of the few decent photos I've taken (that's ever, folks).

It's a courtyard where there are shops all around and places where you can get a beer, a coffee and also buy other stuff as well. What you can't see is the stunning heat and humidity outside. This place was an oasis and the trees growing in this totally enclosed courtyard (the buildings went all round) were lovely and green. Cuba is very productive in terms of plants, but Havana itself is so built up that many of the gardens are a bit seedy and run down as is much of Havana (courtesy of the embargo on trade with the USA), but this place is a little haven.

The people are genuine and really nice, most of them, but the population is split between those who are really proud of the revolution and its results, and those who want the luxuries of the capitalist system. Whatever the best course for the country, there is no denying that pre-revolution the country was prey to American big corporations and organised crime and that the exploitation on a national and individual scale amounted almost to slavery (and before someone says I was brainwashed, I thought that before I went).

14th November: Just installing a new printer so wanted to print something different and on the 'tour' of Havana, we paid for an individual guide rather than do the bus and loudhailer crap. It wasn't expensive and you get to talk to soemone real. Also, when you fancy a break from the routine trip to se the national monuments, the library, the capitol, you can insist on going somewhere more interesting. In this case, I said I wanted a Mojito, whereupon our guide, Marta, took us to this rooftop bar for one in Hemingway's favourite bar. (I could hear the inverted commas, so asked "How many favourite bars did he have?", "Oh, all of them!" accompanied by a wicked smile - she'd already got the measure of my rather cynical view of life!)

It shows some of the real poverty that exists in Cuba and how the country could really do with a normalisation of relations with the rest of the world, especially the USA. You know where the tourist compains that there's building work going on near the hotel, well here you can't avoid it really as bits of Havana are decaying at a pace, but with great style and grandeur!