¡Feliz año nuevo!
Dance like no one is watching
Don't forget to dance like no one is watching in 2025 - just like this unaired punk ballerina Simpsons character is doing in Habana Vieja….
Out of copyright jail
The Cubans didn't waste any time taking advantage of the fact that a certain spinach-loving sailor has now entered the public domain and is no longer protected by copyright. Laws are what they are after all - gotta respect them!
Nostalgia never tasted so vile
When you buy a bottle of local firewater at a New Year's street market solely because the name brings back fond memories of Colombia. But it very disappointingly turns out to be some absolutely vile - and almost, but not quite, undrinkable - stuff....
No pase, zona militar
That tiny little red sign on this grassy slope at Revolution Square says ‘Don’t pass, military zone’, and independent research has confirmed that if you so much as set a single foot in the grass you will indeed immediately hear a soldier aggressively blowing a whistle in general your direction....
Cine Infanta
Friday night at the cinema....
NB: Infanta Avenue is one of the main north-south thoroughfares in Centro Habana, and apparently named for Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain (1832-1897) - 'Infanta' being the Spanish royalty term for a princess who is not heir to the throne.
Bonus fact: Good lord was there a lot of inbreeding in the Spanish royal family!
"You need to be happy"
This declarative statement is written all over Havana. However, no corresponding tips for helping to achieve said happiness have yet to be spotted. Perhaps the person/crew responsible will find the time to get around to this part in the new year....
28 Days Later Vibes
Saturday evening rush hour just a bit ago on one of Havana's main streets (Avenida 23 in the Vedado neighbourhood).
This amount of traffic pretty much seems the norm here these days - presumably due to the shortage of cars, car parts and petrol - which, to be honest, is quite nice for pedestrians, if not the economy....
Bingo!
Get out those Travelling Curmudgeon 2025 edition bingo cards and mark down ‘Deadpool & Wolverine playing at the Acapulco Cinema directly opposite Ho Chi Minh Park in Havana, Cuba’ if you got it....
Worth 1000 Words
Sunrise from the rooftop yesterday morning. Looks like there's gonna be a new go to photo to send people when trying to convince them to come visit....
La Rampa
Havana has loads of super photogenic old cinemas and theatres, but the signage at La Rampa might just be the best of the bunch.
However, it is a little bit too big to fit into the shot, even if backed all the way up into a doorway across the street.
Fuzzy Logic
Fuzzy Logic is a great name for an appliance company. It also feels especially apropos for Cuba, on various different levels.
Unfortunately, this particular washing machine decided to start the new year off by giving up the ghost and going to the big cloudy scrap heap in the sky, rather than facing another rotation around the sun.
Can't blame it though. When your time's up, your time's up. RIP dude. Say hello to Fidel’s microwave for us if you get the chance....
Havana Sunset
Took three weeks, but finally managed to catch a famous Havana sunset from Havana's famous sunset spot, ie the top of the Malecón waterfront promenade in the old town centre.
It was a Sunday during peak holiday season, so relatively packed - meaning some fishermen, a few tourists milling about, and a handful of hawkers and street musicians....
С Рождеством!
A very Merry Orthodox (ie Russian) Christmas to any folks celebrating the whole birth of our Lord and Saviour business today! Time is just a social construct, but the Julian calendar is without question the best of the bunch. It's a real shame we ever stopped using it as a society.
Speaking of social constructs, apparently all the nicer beaches in Cuba are full of a Russians these days - visa-free travel, permanent summer and cheap booze is an attractive combo for anyone.
And while there doesn't seem to be many Russians here in Havana proper, most of the larger (ie govt-owned) hotels still very conspicuously have these rather boring white, blue and red flags whipping in the wind out front....
Guardians
Was just going to post this along with a joke that it's a sculpture of a conquistador perpetually meditating on the nature of rust in some kind of purgatory. But then went down the rabbit hole of trying to find out the real story.
Turns out that it's actually called ‘Guardians’ and is by the Parisian-born Spanish (or Catalonian?) artist Xavier Mascaró, who now mostly works in Mexico City. It appeared on the Malecón here in Havana as part of the 13th Bienal de la Habana back in 2019.
From the artist's gallery's site:
“Alastair Smart described these sculptures as eerie, timeless and evocative. These works, it seems, could date back centuries, even millennia. They command those old-fashioned artistic virtues: awe, solemnity, and respect.”
If your interest is piqued - and how could it not be after reading that blurb - they can apparently be commissioned. But if your first thought is to ask how much something like this might cost, then you probably can't afford it. Which is a shame, because I'd really like one, but my first thought was indeed about the cost....
No Hay Nada
"There is nothing"
Most likely whomever lives here used to sell something, and has stopped or is just currently out. But there's also a small chance it's a local philosopher, of the nihilistic persuasion....
Winter in Cuba
Looks like someone might've been a bit too hasty bragging about how perfect the 'winter' weather in Havana is. Today's forecast: cloudy and windy with a high of 19°C and a low of 12°C.... 😬
Temptations
Despite weeks of temptation, still haven't managed to chomp down on any Cuban cigars (fine or otherwise). Maybe this'll be the weekend. It's good to have life goals....
The virtues of loafing
Last time you saw this book it was in the Latin American history aisle at Powell's in Portland, Oregon. And what an amazing random find that was!
It's a collection of notes, vignettes and (Cuban) poetry from the Nicaraguan priest, poet and revolutionary Ernesto Cardenal, jotted down during his lengthy visit to Havana in 1970 to judge a literary competition. An incredible time capsule from a very unique perspective, and highly recommended if you can find a copy!
First excerpt, an ode to loafing:
“He was a poet, too. He was a volunteer in the militia until a psychiatrist gave him a medical discharge. Then he bummed around for two years. Yes, you don't have to work unless you want to, and he devoted two years to loafing. He thought that a certain loafing time can be good for a poet.
During that time he visited libraries and read literary magazines. Later he felt that he ought to work for the community. His job was a teacher on the Workers’ Faculty of this plant, and he worked from eleven in the morning until two in the afternoon except on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Other comrades who taught classes worked more hours, but all received the same wages.”
Restoration of Old Havana
The former Havana Stock Exchange building on St Francis of Assisi Square in Old Havana, originally opened in 1909 and only recently restored in 2023. It now houses business premises and diplomatic missions (Spain and Brasil).
Salchipan
Havana's street food scene isn't the best these days - mainly on account of the crippling economic crisis, which has both ingredients (like potatoes and meat) and money to buy street food in very short supply - but this salchipan (aka sausage roll aka pig in a blanket) is a winner.
Sure, it's just a hot dog, but the bread is bagel-like and slightly sweet, with perhaps even a hint of cinnamon. Good stuff! And the price is right: 100 pesos, or around $0.30 at today's black market exchange rate.
NB: Recent studies¹ have shown that street food tastes better when served on old school perforated printer paper.
¹Citation needed
‘52 Chevy
Every photo you take in Havana is better when there's an old timey car randomly in the background. Case in point: This abstract street art, which probably wouldn't have been posted otherwise....
Life Goals
FYI, having a rooftop with amazing views is one of those little things that really makes life swell. Luckily this is a fairly achievable goal if one prioritizes properly....
Sorry, Sergio
When you just want to take a photo of a giant chess piece in nice morning light as inauspiciously as possible, but end up getting made as a tourist and offered a too good to be true black market exchange rate for your non-existent greenbacks. Thanks for the offer Sergio, maybe next time!
NB: Not counting football, dominoes is by far the game you most commonly see played in the streets here, but chess probably comes in a distant third - which is still good for the bronze, and nothing to scoff at....
Cuban Coquitos
Let's start the new week off on a sweet note, with a Cuban coquito aka shredded coconut and raw cane sugar aka heaven¹ in your mouth. These things are absolutely delectable - even for those of us who generally prefer savoury to sweet - proving that culinary excellence needn't be complicated.
They're also relatively cheap², costing between 60-100 pesos (or $0.17-0.29) on the street.
¹If heaven were a place on Earth, where everyone had diabetes and tooth decay.
²Virtually nothing is cheap in Cuba by local standards, aside from perhaps ennui, resignation and rum, all of which seem to have extremely well-stocked strategic reserves.
Moon over the Malecón
It's that time of the month: Full moon (with a bonus mini Mars) over the Malecón....
Magically erasing our impending doom
Life hack: Next time you're feeling depressed about the impending doom that's going to be wrought by all of this so-called artificial intelligence crap being shoved down our throats these days, just take a few seconds to ask Magic Erase to remove some clotheslines from a blue sky background of a rooftop garden in Havana.
Your photo won't be improved, but your gloomy outlook of society's inevitable dystopian near future may ever so slightly be brightened up....
Moon over the Morro
Since yesterday's full moon along the Havana waterfront shot was so popular*, let's do another one - this time with an old fortress and lighthouse....
*It was not popular at all, at least in terms of social media engagement.