EL RON DE CUBA

On our first full day in Havana, we began with a lovely breakfast at our B&B. Then we were picked up by Armando-Please-Call-Me-Mandy for a driving tour of the city, in order to "get the lay of the land". We ended the tour at the Havana Club Rum Museum, for a fascinating look into Cuba's national beverage, invented as a way to use up the molasses left over from sugar production.

Scale Model of a Sugar Plantation

The Tasting Room

Lunch was at La Moneda Cubana Paladar, and was waaaay better than what we got at the Tropicana the night before!

The First of Many Many Mojitos To Be Enjoyed Throughout This Adventure

I ate shrimp and/or lobster almost daily while there.

A paladar is a non-government-owned restaurant, mostly family-run -- one of the few privately owned businesses allowed -- serving homemade Cuban food.

I love this photo I took leaning over the edge of our rooftop dining area -- Cuba's history in a nutshell.

You've got your horses and buggies, reminiscent of the era when the Spanish were in control. Then there's a row of cars from the era where things have been "stuck" for the last 50 years or so. But, you also have that giant luxury liner, filled with thousands of tourists and their pockets full of money, cruising into the harbor and providing Cuba with the possibility of moving forward.

Next, we were treated to a walking tour of Old Havana and its five main plazas, where some of the buildings date back to the 1600's, and there are even streets paved with wooden bricks.

After that we had a wee bit of time back at our B&B to rest and clean up. We came back out, expecting to see our yellow taxi van awaiting us. Instead, we found these!

Our Chariot For The Evening!

First they took us on a tour of of the hoity-toity neighborhoods filled with gorgeous mid-century homes in beautifully wooded areas. Not sure who they belonged to. They must be pretty special! Then there was a stop at the Cuban Missile Site, with a walk up to the giant Jesus statue. Most fun and educational was our stop at a guarapo shack. Yes, more rum, but this time we had to work for it!

Guarapo is a popular beverage that starts with the liquid you get from extracting sugarcane juice under pressure, which is what LB is doing in the photo above. You then add some lemon juice, some chipped ice, rum if you're an adult, et voila! But you gotta drink it fast. It starts to ferment within minutes, which is why you'll never find it in any store.

Dinner was at an Italian seafood paladar called Rio Mar. I love the custom of spreading 4 or 5 kinds of appetizers along the center of our tables, for all of us to share (the ceviche and beef carpacio were to die for!). Then we each got to select one of four or five main dish options. Then of course, there was dessert. Oh, and two drinks (more mojitos!) were included in the price of our meal as well. I wish more American restaurants served this way. Having so many choices to make, from so very many options, can be exhausting, don't you think?

Speaking of exhaustion, we were supposed to go to Fabrica de Arte Cubano after that, to see lots of local art, enjoy live music, and mingle with Cubanos and other visitors. But, since it was probably 10 or 11 pm by the time we finished eating, and it had been a very long day, we all voted to adjourn to the B&B. I guess we're getting old.

I GOT MY BABY BACK!

Just when I'd begun to wonder if I'd ever see her again, she appeared on my doorstep. Six long months ago, I sent my precious baby off to California, to see if she could make her way in the world of publishing. I'm ever so happy that she was able to have her day in the sun -- her fifteen minutes of fame -- but even more thrilled that she finally made her way back home again, none the worse for wear.

YA CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER

 This is the building that housed the "Luxury B&B" we stayed at in Havana.

It has what realtors might call a "rough walk-up". The lobby wasn't much better, and the elevator was positively scary, having been there since the 50s or before. However, once you step out onto the 4th floor, you get a whole different picture.

And, the view from that balcony overlooking the Malacón boardwalk along the harbor, well, that alone was worth a fortune!

One of five forts built to protect the Havana harbor from pirates, back in the day. Now a night club!

This is where my tour-mates and I began each of our days with coffee or tea in hand, and ended them, rehashing the days events, before heading off to bed.

When asked why there was such disparity between the interiors and the crumbling facades of most buildings we saw, our guide Mandy explained that , although every person in Cuba owns a home, more often than not it's a unit in a large building full of those units -- what we would call a condo. Individuals may own the units, but the government owns the buildings themselves, and all the land as well. So, while the individuals might fix up their own little space, it's up to the government to fix up the exteriors, and it just doesn't have the money to repair thousands of disintegrating buildings. So, it uses what funds it has on the buildings downtown, where all the tourists alight from their luxury cruise ships, while the rest end up like this crumbling beauty next door to our Bed and Breakfast.

Speaking of books and their covers, one of my tour mates asked what I was planning to do with the gorgeous cigar box I stole from my hubby.

My first thought was just to store art supplies in it, but this morning I had a sudden brain fart. Now I'm thinking it would make an awesome case for a Cuban travel journal -- an altered book journal made from the "Cuban Foodie Novel" I ordered and read when I first heard where we were going.

Whadya think?

BARE DERRIERES

We had to leave the house before dawn to catch our American Airlines flight in Austin, and our second plane was there waiting for us when we reached our Miami gate. But, just as we were patting ourselves on the back for how smoothly the day had gone, they announced that there was something wrong with the plane, and they would have to find us another one. When we finally arrived in Cuba, two hours late, we were escorted to their VIP lounge.

There we relaxed, enjoying free beverages, while someone else gathered all our luggage and took it through customs for us. The only way to travel! Once we had our bags, we were met by the ever humorous Armando, our Cuban tour guide, and his expert driver/mechanic, in the 14 seat chariot that was to be ours for the duration. The original plan was for us to go straight to our hotel to relax a bit, unpack, clean up, and dress for the evening. But, because we were so late getting in, they had no choice but to rush us straight to the evening's entertainment, bedraggled as we were. So what is the one place everyone thinks of first, when you say Havana?

Yep, we were on our way to the infamous Tropicana Club, for dinner and a show!

The facility itself was pretty impressive, but the costumes? Oh my!

On the downside, you had about a thousand people packed into that space, and when you try to feed a thousand people all at once? Well, it was edible. Barely.

Funny, when Hubby and I went to see the Folies Bergeres in Paris about 40 years ago, it was all about breasts and legs. Here it was all about bare derrieres. And, the show was long. Really, really long. One hour of staring at fanny floss would probably have been enough for me. Three hours was a bit much.

Of course, if you ask my hubby, he might feel differently.

WE'RE BACK!

Just stopping by to let you know that we had a wonderful time in Cuba, and made it back safe and sound.

Lots more to come about these warm, intelligent, resourceful people. But, let me just say this right now, in case you have ever considered visiting this country and let fear hold you back. I never once felt threatened in any way while we were there. In fact, the only truly stressful parts of the trip occurred right here in the Miami airport, when they tried to part my hubby from a bottle of rum he purchased fair and square in the Duty Free Shop, and almost made him miss his flight home!

SHE KNOWS ME WELL

Yesterday I got a text from my BFF, saying "Guess you have your pre-trip jitters, huh?" I replied with "I've had them since the day Hubby announced 'We're going to Cuba!' " You've heard the saying about introverts, haven't you? That you should never ask an introvert "What could possibly go wrong?", since we tend to have excellent imaginations.  Well, that is me all over! She then reminded me that, once we take off, I always manage to relax and have a fabulous time. I hope that holds true tomorrow.

Meanwhile, this is the prompt I got this morning in my sketch-a-day journal...

and here is what I drew.

Wish me luck!

THEN AND NOW: THE MUSE CAFE

I'm still mulling over the steps I need to take in order to edge this blog into becoming the virtual version of the café where I meet up with my real life muses every week. Which got me to thinkin' about the space where we actually started meeting about ten years ago -- just as I was beginning this blog -- and how it has changed over the years.

Back in the Day

Owner DuAnne originally envisioned her café, called Maui Wowi, as a safe place for our local teens to work and hang out, but it somehow got taken over by we seniors -- at least in the hours before noon each day. After 12 years and a very bad fall that kept her incapacitated for a quite some time, she decided it was time to pass the torch. We now see her there most Tuesdays, thoroughly enjoying this chance to travel and spend more time with friends and grandkids, and the luxury of sleeping in for a change, then coming to hang out at the cafe as a woman of leisure, like the rest of us!

The new owner changed the name from Maui Wowi to Indigo Brew, and did a bit of redecorating before reopening. Love the new look, and all the comfy furniture she added!

I'm also tickled to death that they kept my favorite chai latte mix, and started bringing in even more goodies from our favorite local bakery, The Sugar Shack.

In fact, our one and only complaint is that the new blender they use for frosty cold drinks is so dang loud that everyone in the cafe has to stop talking each time they turn it on, and you know how we hate to do that!

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Ah well, at least with the frigid weather we've been having, not too many are ordering anything frosty!