Cuba

Note: I just re-read what I wrote, and realized I am a grumpy, grumpy old man. I'd like to make it clear that I actually enjoyed myself in Cuba, esp. Havana, I just have a tendancy to rant. Just some pictures of Havana. As you can see it is in the most part a city in decline. The bizarre forced isolation was really summed up when we went for lunch at a place suggested by a cab driver. We were seated in what was apparently a living room and given some impressive twelve page menues. After several moments of browsing the waiter (owner? living room occupant?) approached us to let us know that they had no seafood that day, and he highly recommends the roasted pork. A few moments later he returned to inform us they had no steak or pasta either, but the roasted pork is quite good. Shortly thereafter he returned to tell us that they were out of all the appetizers as well, but that everyone in the area knows them for there roasted pork. Finally, once we looked as though we'd made our decision, he returned to admit they offer nothing but roasted pork. I have to admit the roasted pork was excellent, possibly the best I've ever had, but the twelve page menu is kind of baffling. And the coolest open air bookmarket I've ever seen. You can tell nothing gets thrown out in this country anymore, as further evidenced by the cars in use.
Some scenes from the waterfront. Nothing like a giant Jesus to spruce up a pollution filled waterfront.
Some of the old school cuban machinery. Perhaps if we paint it pink they won't notice they're riding in the back of a tractor trailer like livestock. The last picture in the row, I think, is a street sweeper...but it may in fact be the cuban entry into robot wars.
The graffiti wall and some cuban cigars in the factory store. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside, since their cigar making techniques are apparently top secret. Cliff Claven piece of trivia: The cigar factories are filled with hundreds of workers performing the mind numbing task of making cigars (sometimes for decades on end), and there are people who read to them over loudspeaker to entertain them. Usually the newspaper in the morning and books in the afternoon, and the famous cuban cigars are often named after the favourite books in the factory. Monte Cristo. Romeo e Juliet. Keep in mind I'm relaying this second hand, and my source is rather dubious.