Imagine stepping back in time and experiencing the hot sun on your face as you cruise the road in a 1950s convertible and going to places Ernest Hemingway went, who just happens to be one of my favourite authors. One is the Floridita which has Hemingways life-size bronze statue at the end of the bar and serves ice cold daiquiris.
I journeyed to this place stuck in time the year before the government legalized the buying and selling of private property. I have not been back but I have heard that Cuba is a very different place now.
On this, my second trip to Cuba , I stayed at Santa María del Mar, Cuba. Although the hotel sucked, the beach was beautiful. Havana was fairly close, and transport was these amazing cars from the 50s.
I walked all over Havana visiting El Morro, a Bacardi Rum bar, the Artists Market on the harbour, the now decrepit train station (because I love trains), walking along the seawall basically covering as much of the city as I could; all the time clicking away.
One group of pictures I took was of people’s windows in what is called Old Havana. These were buildings that were once beautiful, opulent and for the rich. But with the rise of the Communist Government these icons of Western living have been allowed to fall into disrepair and decay. From the outside each window looks different and each one tells its own story of who may be living just beyond the shutters and glass.
It’s another day of sun outside here in Canada, so get out, breathe in the fresh Calgary air, keep the recommended distance from your fellow city dwellers, and stay safe.
thru my lens 