Cuba Trip - Day 8, farewell to Cuba

Day 8 and our last morning in Cuba. Off to the airport for our flight home.

We took a taxi, a 1955 Chevrolet, to the Havana airport.

 Our driver is the third generation in his family to own this car.

It had an air conditioner added to it as well as a GPS and a mini-TV.

 My view driving down the highway.

Goodbye Havana. Hope to see you again. . .

Cuba Trip - Day 7, Havana - Part 2

Day 7 continues with a visit to the Ernest Hemingway Museum. Then, after our final dinner in Cuba, we spent the evening at the FAC, Fabrica de Arte Cubano, a very bizarre place. It is a night club, theater, art gallery and restaurant.

Ernest Hemingway's house sits on top of a big hill overlooking Havana.

We were not allowed into the house but most of the

windows were open so we could  look inside.

 Hemingway's favorite chair sits on the left. The curvature in the seat cushion shows how often he sat there. Look closely and you'll see his collection of liquor bottles sitting on the table between the two chairs.

 The dining room has some of his many hunting trophies on the walls.

On this desk were some of his bullets and awards for his kills.

This was his main library. Almost every room we saw had full bookshelves.

 Hemingway's bedroom.

His closet. He obviously loved wearing boots.

His bathroom. Note the bookshelf next to the toilet

(bottom right) and a bidet sat next to the scales.

This tower was built next to the house mainly to provide

an office with a view. He seldom used it though.

 The tower office.

Hemingway loved to hunt and fish.

 Hemingway's typewriter.

 Me looking into the tower room.

 The view of Havana from the tower.

 Does this tree have enough roots?

Hemingway's boat, the Pilar.

This is the only place in Cuba where the American flag is

allowed to be flown. You can see part of the flag on the far left.

The guest house and garage sits next to his home.

 After enjoying our last dinner in Cuba, we were bused to the FAC
where we spent a few hours listening to the Cuban music from the
night club and exploring the art galleries on the second and third floors.

 The majority of the art on display was "creative" photos of Cubans.

 
 These eleven men are each holding an egg and screaming!

On the floor below the screaming men was this smaller photo
of a group of doctors/surgeons staring at an egg on the floor.
No-one in our group could figure out what this meant.

 Susan thinks this is the Villages Chorus Line of Cuba.

Here is a man wearing dead chickens.

 Here is the same man, now wealthy, with a large
staff of servants, eating a chicken dinner.

This mural was made from CD cases.

 We then entered the "adult area". These 4 photos are of
people kissing with a prophylactic between their lips.

 
 
This 30+/- foot long mural is a study of mature female body shapes.

 
This sculpture of Cuba was made entirely from old keys.
The keys surrounding the island depicts the Cubans who deserted Cuba.

A picture of a man checking the time (6:29) hanging
next to a picture of a man checking the time (6:29).

Cuba Trip - Day 7, Havana - Part 1

We begin our very busy day with a visit to a local primary school. From there, we go to Fusterlandia, a tile art project that went wild. Our next stop was at the interesting University of the Arts.

The primary school was our first stop.

The main hallway has lots of art done by the students.

An old Coleman lamp. 

The national bird of Cuba, the tocororo, holding a pencil. 

The school's computer room. Remember those? 

The students were so happy to see us!

More happy students.

A coco taxi. They are common in Cuba.

 The interior of a coco taxi.

This is the ugliest building in Cuba - the Russian Embassy.

We are entering Fusterlandia. In 1975, after moving into a modest wood house in the rundown neighborhood of Jaimanitas outside Havana, Jose Fuster set about decorating his studio in colorful mosaic. Once he was done there, he asked his neighbors if he could decorate their homes and businesses as well. A few accepted his offer and the tile creations grew. Over the course of a decade, doctors' offices,bus stops, fountains, benches, gateways and more were enveloped by Fuster's whimsical imagination. Today, his artwork coats over 80 houses in the neighborhood in a rainbow of strange, enchanting fantasy. He was influenced by Gaudi and Picasso resulting in very creative work.

Let the art begin. . . 

 Marlys enjoying the shade under this unique mushroom.

 She turned into a flower.

A mermaid enjoying the view.

Two water cisterns have lovely art. 

 A man on crutches on the roof.

 The third floor roof.

VIVA CUBA is on these 8 cisterns.

 Princess Diana awaits across the street.

Castro returning to Cuba on the Granma.

We're used to seeing dogs on the roofs, but a chicken?

We are now at the University of the Arts. This is a top college for people in music, art, theater and dance with only 65 students and 65 teachers. The architecture was very strange - a tribute to a woman's internal sexual organs like the vagina, etc. The art was hard to understand but was cool to see.

The entrance awaits us.

That's the largest knife I've ever seen.

Looking out of the entrance.

One of the curved areas where water would pour from
the spouts when it rains - depicting the urinary tract.

On of the many covered walkways. We were told that there
was no steel used in the construction. The roofs were
made from carefully fitted handmade bricks

This courtyard represents the vagina.

Susan captioned this photo as
"Two men talking about vaginas."

This represents the ovaries but is actually
where rainwater spills into a small pond.

Interesting outside wall art.

In the studio, I found this table where
all four legs were wearing boots. Makes sense.

This art reflects light.

This is the last painting I would ever want in my house!

Some ugly old building. . .

Birds on stuff?

Robots?

Pouring some thick chocolate.

Two men snorkeling in the garden.

We then stopped at El Aljibe Restaurante for yet another delicious
Cuban meal before continuing our day of adventure.