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| Old Havana City Center |
art|culture: Havana, Cuba
Forbidden Fruit
I've wanted to go to Havana since my early twenties. I think that desire came in part from the fact that it was forbidden to American travelers and in part from the Godfather II movie. I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart. (smh) We traveled in June of 2017 and were lucky that the trip happened at all. About two weeks before our departure date President Trump revoked the previous administration's semi-open travel rules for Americans in Cuba. Fortunately, our trip occurred during the grace period prior to the new rules taking effect. Whew.
We flew via Southwest Airlines from Dallas to Havana because there are only a handful of American airports authorized to fly to Cuba. There were ten people in our group and we were nervous about entry into Cuba because none of us had ever traveled to a communist country. As is often the case, we fretted over nothing - entering Cuba was easy-peasy. Our longest wait at the airport was to get Cuban money (CUCs).
The money part of this trip was the trickiest to navigate. Because Cuba is an embargo'd country our banks do not do business with their banks. This means that US travelers cannot go to their bank before going on the trip and exchange US dollars for Cuban currency. You also cannot exchange for Cuban money at US airports. But that's not the worst of it, the lack of banking integration also means that US credit cards do not work in Cuba. This was a cash-only vacation, which, for most of us, was uncharted territory. Not surprisingly, Debra, a financial adviser, did the best at managing money and basically became a loan shark for the rest of us. Also not surprisingly, Chris and I were probably the worst at managing our money - the day before we left I spent most of our remaining CUCs on art and told Chris we'd need to eat crackers until we got back to the land of consumer credit. Kudos to him for being all-in for that plan.
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| Desi and I being Desi and I while responsible Debra organizes things in her purse. Note to self: Always take Debra on vacation. |
Speaking of art, the Cuban art was the most pleasantly surprising part of this trip. Cuba is a communist country with a command economy, which means the government owns and controls most industries. Conversely, America is a democractic country with a capitalist economy, which means individuals or corporations own most industries. If you buy Cuban cigars or Havana Club rum you are supporting the Cuban government. However, Cuba has been ever so slowly inching away from the command economy and turning select industries over to individuals. For example, if you stay in a fancy hotel near the Cuban capital you are supporting the Cuban military because hotels are government-owned but if you stay in a casa paticular booked via airbnb.com you are supporting Cuban individuals. I've digressed into politics and economics (yawn). Let's get back to the art.
Art
The Cuban art industry was one of the first that the government handed back to the people. The artists pay a flat 15% fee or tax to the government for all sales. I think it was the uniqueness of this situation that allowed Cuban art enterprises to develop as robustly as they have. If a Cuban national could better provide for his/her family by creating art perhaps he/she would take more time to learn to create art. And, perhaps that results in more artists per capita. I have no research to support this theory - nobody does because you can't really get good sociology data from the Cuban government. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, but I can tell you that the Cuban art scene is worth the trip.
Cuban art is varied. Some is tropically vibrant, as you'd expect from an island, while other artworks are dramatic, monochromatic, political, and at times violent.
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| We call this one "Little kid, big knife" I am unable to credit the artist because we don't know who it is. However, I'd love to, so if you know please tell me! |
We found two places for art-shopping. The first was on the Paseo del Prado promenade in Old Havana. On Sunday afternoons the promenade turns into a glorious open-air art market.
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| Working artist at the Paseo del Prado art market |
The second art-shopping opportunity is at the Almacenes San Jose, which is a warehouse market in Old Havana. I found the prices to be a little higher here than at the promenade market but still very affordable when compared to American art prices.
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| San Jose market |
Luckily, we spent our money on art at the end of the trip and prior to that still had money for other Havana treats, like classic cars, sangria, and scuba diving. We dove two of the five days we were in Havana. The diving wasn't superb but it was interesting.
Scuba Diving
Diving is also government-owned and because it involves boats it has an added layer of complications. You see, the Cuban government is a bit picky about boats leaving the island. Prior to our first dive our dive master had to get all sorts of information and then go through an approval process with government officials at the marina. The steps went like this:- Dive master and diver to marina office.
- Board dive boat.
- Dive boat stops at government police-type station.
- Dive master takes our passports into station.
- Dive master comes out of station and boards jet ski to another locale with police officer.
- Dive master returns and we leave to dive but stay within view of the mouth of the harbor.
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| Waiting for dive master to return from jet ski approval trip. |
Getting permission to dive took longer than the dive itself. We disembarked from the Copacabana Hotel for our second day of diving and that was much easier, I assume that was either because we were diving from a dinghy boat or had already been approved.
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| Group selfie after Copacabana dives. Our dive master was William Dafoe's doppleganger. |
We took classic car taxis to our dive locations and anywhere else we could.
One of our drivers, Alfredo, told us that his car was previously owned by both his father and grandfather. It took a push start early in the morning but overall these old cars drove pretty well. Cuban drivers are better than Jamaican drivers, although they do this odd thing with one way streets where they back down them instead of circling the block. Apparently the direction the car is facing is more important that the direction it's actually driving when it comes to one-way traffic laws in Havana. We also hired two classic cars for a half-day driving tour that included a trip to Hemingway's home, Finca la Vigia.
Finca la Vigia must have been a wonderful retreat back in the day. It's only about 10 miles outside of Havana so it wasn't overly secluded but walking around one could envision how it must have felt private. Hemingway spent about 20 years in Cuba, toward the end of his life, and wrote Old Man and the Sea here. This fiction story won the Pulitzer Prize and was a contributing factor in Hemingway's Nobel Prize award in 1954. And. I. can't. seem. to. finish. it. Seriously, I've tried a couple of times but I find it tedious. I'm going to try again this summer, wish me luck. Sometimes, I think I'd like to retire to a south-of-the-border, Finca la Vigia style retreat but, alas, I'm not a world-renowned author so I'll likely retire in Florida with the other nothing-to-complain-about-happy-go-lucky-untortured-souls.
Speaking of creatively brilliant but sadly tortured souls, shortly before our trip we watched the Netflix movie Papa: Hemingway in Cuba, which depicts Hemingway toward the end of his earthly journey. Of course, Finca la Vigia is promenently featured. It looks very much the same. The pool, the terrace, the boat, and the foliage all remind you of the film. If you haven't seen it yet give it a go, it's entertaining and educational.
By the way, classic car tour prices are negotiable, in fact, everything is negotiable if you speak the language. Chris and my mom both speak Spanish pretty well so we did okay with most of the pricing, except when we got swindled.
One of our drivers, Alfredo, told us that his car was previously owned by both his father and grandfather. It took a push start early in the morning but overall these old cars drove pretty well. Cuban drivers are better than Jamaican drivers, although they do this odd thing with one way streets where they back down them instead of circling the block. Apparently the direction the car is facing is more important that the direction it's actually driving when it comes to one-way traffic laws in Havana. We also hired two classic cars for a half-day driving tour that included a trip to Hemingway's home, Finca la Vigia.
Finca la Vigia must have been a wonderful retreat back in the day. It's only about 10 miles outside of Havana so it wasn't overly secluded but walking around one could envision how it must have felt private. Hemingway spent about 20 years in Cuba, toward the end of his life, and wrote Old Man and the Sea here. This fiction story won the Pulitzer Prize and was a contributing factor in Hemingway's Nobel Prize award in 1954. And. I. can't. seem. to. finish. it. Seriously, I've tried a couple of times but I find it tedious. I'm going to try again this summer, wish me luck. Sometimes, I think I'd like to retire to a south-of-the-border, Finca la Vigia style retreat but, alas, I'm not a world-renowned author so I'll likely retire in Florida with the other nothing-to-complain-about-happy-go-lucky-untortured-souls.
Speaking of creatively brilliant but sadly tortured souls, shortly before our trip we watched the Netflix movie Papa: Hemingway in Cuba, which depicts Hemingway toward the end of his earthly journey. Of course, Finca la Vigia is promenently featured. It looks very much the same. The pool, the terrace, the boat, and the foliage all remind you of the film. If you haven't seen it yet give it a go, it's entertaining and educational.
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| Hemingway's Boat - Pilar Taking American boats to Cuba was no problemo before the revolution. |
By the way, classic car tour prices are negotiable, in fact, everything is negotiable if you speak the language. Chris and my mom both speak Spanish pretty well so we did okay with most of the pricing, except when we got swindled.
Food & Drink
Chris, Debra, Leslie, and I were swindled our first full day in Havana and it was the most pleasant swindling ev-ah. We were annoyed with ourselves for allowing it to happen but our swindlers were entertaining so we mostly just joked about it for the rest of the trip. The scam went like this - we were tired and hungry after diving and a local suggested a restaurant to us. We followed him and were then served two drinks each, without ordering. Then we were served food, which we did order. Nothing had prices and we didn't press the issue so we were handed a bill at the end for almost $200. Oh well. |
| Our friendly and entertaining swindler :) |
Our other dining experiences were much, much, much more affordable. In fact, we ate the majority of our meals at a three story building across from the Cuban capital that housed a restaurant on each floor. We never made it to the middle floor restaurant (Los Nardos) but thoroughly enjoyed the food and sangria served at both the top (can't remember) and bottom (D'Lirios) floor restaurants. We were told they share a kitchen and the sangria was the same pitcher of deliciousness at both restaurants. The portions are huge and sharing is a good idea.
In addition to sangria, we, of course, tried the mojito, cuba libre, and the Hemingway Daquiri at the Floridita. The Floridita has been in Havana since 1817 and is reportedly the bar where the daquiri was invented. It was also a favorite watering hole for Ezra Pound and Ernest Hemingway. They have commemorated Hemingway's patronage with a bronze statue of Papa Hemingway bellied up to the bar. There is definitely a Hemingway cult in Havana.
There are also Fidel Castro and Che Guavara cults. If you visit, and you don't like these men, keep that to yourself.
The Cuban people are amazing, they really are. They're friendly, happy people who are usually smiling and it's emotionally uplifting to be around them. They are collectively very nice and they are pro Castro and Che. I struggle a little bit with how so many nice people can champion documented murderers. My theory is that they overlook the murders and community hardships because they are a proud people who are staunch defenders of their heritage. They were able to remain decidedly Cuban because of these men's revolutionary leadership. I used to say that we messed up with the Platt Amendment because after the Spanish-American war we could have made Cuban a nice, American resort island. (I know that's a crappy American thing to say.) Now that I've visited I understand that I was wrong. Cuba may be poor and she may be isolated but, in my opinion, that's largely been to her benefit because she's home to a proud group of people with a strong cultural identity. And, when you disembark the plane in Havana you do not walk outside to view the homogenous, beige scene you see at the majority of our American cities. Havana is fantastically unique.
In addition to sangria, we, of course, tried the mojito, cuba libre, and the Hemingway Daquiri at the Floridita. The Floridita has been in Havana since 1817 and is reportedly the bar where the daquiri was invented. It was also a favorite watering hole for Ezra Pound and Ernest Hemingway. They have commemorated Hemingway's patronage with a bronze statue of Papa Hemingway bellied up to the bar. There is definitely a Hemingway cult in Havana.
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| I kind of have a thing for Hemingway. |
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| Che |
The Cuban people are amazing, they really are. They're friendly, happy people who are usually smiling and it's emotionally uplifting to be around them. They are collectively very nice and they are pro Castro and Che. I struggle a little bit with how so many nice people can champion documented murderers. My theory is that they overlook the murders and community hardships because they are a proud people who are staunch defenders of their heritage. They were able to remain decidedly Cuban because of these men's revolutionary leadership. I used to say that we messed up with the Platt Amendment because after the Spanish-American war we could have made Cuban a nice, American resort island. (I know that's a crappy American thing to say.) Now that I've visited I understand that I was wrong. Cuba may be poor and she may be isolated but, in my opinion, that's largely been to her benefit because she's home to a proud group of people with a strong cultural identity. And, when you disembark the plane in Havana you do not walk outside to view the homogenous, beige scene you see at the majority of our American cities. Havana is fantastically unique.
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