Just an 80 -plus -year- old grandmother who is keeping her mind active by posting some simple blogs from time to time. This gives me something to do that is somewhat creative each day. I have to remember how to take a few photos and once taken how to add them to my blog. Feedback is welcome. Photos by me unless otherwise noted.
Showing posts with label NC State Wolftreks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NC State Wolftreks. Show all posts
On our last day in Cuba we visited Hemingway's farm outside of Havana. It was the only day of our trip that it rained. Because of the moisture, we were unable to go into the house, but we could see the inside pretty well through the windows. And if I held the camera against the window, I could get a reasonable picture.
Jane taking photos along the side patio.
This was a nice place, but I think his house in Key West is prettier.
Here is the swimming pool where Ava Gardner is reported to have gone swimming in her birthday suit.
I was glad to see his famous boat the Pilar. It wasn't as big as I had imagined.
The NC State Wolftrekers.
Finally, we had our group photo made in front of the house.
This old presidential palace in Cuba, with an interior designed by Tiffany's of New York, was completed in 1920 and served as the palace until 1959. It now houses the Museum of the Revolution.
Patrick and I resting before climbing to the second floor.
Our Wolftrek group ready to go to the upper floors of the palace.
Bullets in the walls from the revolution are left intact.
On the second floor we saw the president's office with the desk and Batista's gold telephone.
The presidential desk.
Batista's gold telephone.
I didn't climb to the third floor which according to Patrick
was the most interesting part. Among other things there was the Granma,
the boat used by Fidel and his compatriots to return to Cuba from
Mexico.
The Granma in the Museum. (Photo from Wikipedia.)
I came back down to the ground floor and as I was going around the corner of the first floor to the Ladies Room, I passed the "Corner of
Cretins".
Turesday I talked about all the good food we had on our recent trip, but I saved breakfast for a post of its own. We had breakfast at our hotel, the Melia Havana. There was an incredible breakfast buffet each morning that included anything one could possibly want for breakfast. I ate more than I usually do for breakfast because of all the choices.
The choice of fruits was especially nice: fresh pineapple, guava, mango, grapefruit and juices of all kinds. And the food was beautifully presented.
A lovely arrangement of guava fruit.
Guava.
A wide choice of juices, my favorite was guava juice.
I was surprised at how good the cheese was.
Cuban cheese.
There were several kinds of bread.
Baguettes.
One morning I opted for a delicious egg and cheese omelet.
My breakfast.
I'm not a coffee drinker, but boy do I like hot chocolate, and the hot chocolate was so good that I drank 3 cups every morning (the cups were rather small). It came out of the machine nice and hot and with lots of chocolate and not too much sugar. Just perfect!
Hot drink machine.
A perfect cup of hot chocolate.
With a breakfast like this, I could have skipped lunch each day. But, of course, I didn't.
Cuban men playing Dominoes in the shade along the side of a street.
On our recent trip to Cuba, my boys were hoping to take part in the Cuban national sport by going to a baseball game. We weren't able to work that into our itinerary, but I was able to view the second national Cuban sport while there, Dominoes.
As a child I once received a Domino set for Christmas, and I don't remember ever playing the game. Instead we would line up the dominoes in intricate patterns and tip the first one over so that all the dominoes would fall one after the other. Then we would build yet another pattern and start all over again.
In the last few years though I have learned to play at least one game of Dominoes, Mexican Train. I have cousins that enjoy this game, and whenever we visit them we usually have a game or two of Mexican Train. So it was with great interest that I was able to observe Cubans playing Dominoes.
The game demands few resources and Dominoes pieces can be
hand-made. Cuban Dominoes differs from Mexican Train that I have played. Two teams of two players acting as partners play Cuban Dominoes Cuban Dominoes sets are double nines where regular Dominoes Sets are double sixes. In Cuba, you frequently will see
people playing Cuban Dominoes in tables set up along the sidewalks, in parks, or in other public areas.
Painting by Jorge Arche
Among the few souvenirs I brought back from Cuba were two handmade Dominoes Sets (one for my cousins and one for Dan and me). Now I'll just have to learn the rules of Cuban Dominoes and find folks who will be willing to play the game.
My Cuban Dominoes Sets: A Double Six and A Double Nine.
Here's a video from the BBC showing a game being played in Cuba.
Kathy taking photos in front of Fuster's house and studio.
One of our first stops in Cuba was at the house and workshop of artist, painter and ceramicist Jose Fuster often called the "Picasso of Cuba". Fuster has adorned more than 80 houses with colorful ornate murals in the little fishing village of Jaimanitas.
A pretty table top.
One can see the influence of Picasso in Fuster's work.
One of my favorites.
Two of my fellow travelers, Marge and Helen from Maryland.
Patrick and Michael surveying Fuster's work from the rooftop of his house.
A small villager "riding" a Fuster horse.
He used old sewing machines in several of his sculptures.
Two pretty senoritas out front of the house.
We had hoped to see Jose, but he wasn't home. I did find this You Tube video of Fuster singing "Te Odio" to poet Pablo Armando Fernandez in Fuster's home in Jaimanitas.
I've just returned from a week in Cuba as part of the NC State University Wolftrek People to People trip, and this is the first of a number of posts I'll be doing on this blog about the trip.
We were almost always welcomed at restaurants, hotels and other places of interest with a drink, and it was often the Mojito. I found this recipe that is supposedly the recipe that Hemingway enjoyed at the Mojito's place of birth, La Bodeguita del Medio.
We made a quick pass by La Bodeguita del Medio, but weren't able to have a drink or a meal there.
The Bar
Mojito Recipe Ingredients:
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
Juice from 1 lime (2 ounces)
4 mint leaves
1 sprig of mint
Havana Club white Rum (2 ounces)
2 ounces club soda
Place the mint leaves into a tall glass and squeeze the juice from a cut lime over it. You'll want
about two ounces of lime juice, so it may not require all of the
juice from a single lime.
Add the powdered sugar, then gently smash the
mint into the lime juice and sugar with the back of a
spoon. Add ice, then add
the rum and stir, and top off with the club soda (you can also stir
the club soda in as per your taste). Garnish with a mint sprig.
Serves 1.
