Soggy Moose Travels : 12/9/16 Old Cars and Cigars and Music

12/9 A Very Rainy Day in Havana.

As promised here is the CV of one of the expedition staff.

Tom O’Brian

Expedition Leader

Tom O’Brien has been leading and designing expeditions for Lindblad Expeditions since 1985. With a background in physical geography and conservation, a Bavarian heart and a Celtic soul, Tom has been one of the most passionate advocates of the expedition experience around the world for the last twenty years. Many of the local people and communities that we work with today are the result of friendships that Tom and his expedition mates developed many years ago.

Tom’s twenty-year career with Lindblad has encompassed many roles including development of new itineraries, training local guides and expedition leaders, instilling the Lindblad expedition philosophy to newly acquired ships, and for ten years the architect of Lindblad’s pioneering environmental programs. With an international upbringing and family-base in Western Europe, Tom continues to lead Lindblad’s multifaceted voyages in the British Isles, Baltic, Norway, the Mediterranean, the Danube River and the Caribbean.

i awoke in anticipation of doing a walkabout along the Malecon for sunrise, but alas a heavy rain is falling and the wind has howling out of the north. Sitting at breakfast looking out at the Malecon I see waves crashing against the breakwater. The Malecon is the walkway next to the water in Havana. It is a place where the people of Havana come to meet and walk and talk.

OLD CARS AND CIGARS

Todays activities include an auto garage, cigar factory, and then after lunch The University and The Museum of the Revolution. The amount of rain caused a good bit of flooding and this has snarled traffic, just like a snow storm.

We started with a bus ride to a garage where the Super Cars are restored. The Super cars are the prime restored 1950’s US cars. The other old US cars which are not restored to prime condition are used as every day taxis by the local folks. The local taxis travel about the city on set routes and there is a series of hand signals one needs to learn. So first one must know the route as well as how to flag them down, and this is not published. I did spend a little time later watching folks making the signals for hailing a cab. These Taxis are operated by individuals and are private.

The garage we visited is one used by many well known visitors and diplomats. Madonna, Bon Jovi, Secretary of State John Kerry, Michelle Obama, to name a few. The gentleman who owns this garage is a Chevy Guy, so most of his restored cars are Belair’s. He does make a few trips to the US to obtain parts but there is a very high tariff imposed by the government that the cost is usually triple. He obtains old parts catalogs and uses them to fabricate the necessary body parts. Yes, most of the cars currently use a foreign diesel engine, simply because that is what is available, and the cost of diesel fuel is much cheaper. He was in the process of a 1960 impala restoration which had the original engine. Ofttimes when he receives the vehicles to be restored they are in need of a lot of body work, and in his shop they fabricate the necessary body parts. For example, he showed me how his research indicated a certain rib pattern for the floor of a trunk, as well as a fin on the Impala. These parts were manufactured to those precise rib patterns and fin design. He holds very true to the original designs and the cars are finished with original colors. These are not mechanics They Are Magicians.

After our visit we were loaded into some of the cars to drive to the cigar factory. With limited Spanish and English we were able to learn a good bit about our 1955 Chevy. The drive train was Toyota and the driver assigned to this car had been driving it for 6 years. He is a trained Mechanical Engineer and his wife is a Pediatrician. Many members of his family are living in Miami as they fled after the revolution. In our conversation one could tell there were positive and negative aspects of the Revolution. He is very optimistic the relations with the US will open very fast and be a very good thing for the people of Cuba. He feels it will be a matter of about 6 years.

We soon arrived at the Cigar Factory where we were given a tour and were not allowed to take photos. This is a government owned facility and a vast majority of the workers are females. This is because they are more detailed oriented that the male counterparts. Here the average worker produces about 88 cigars a day and the facility employed just over 350 workers. There are separate rooms for the sorting of the tabacco, the blending, the rolling and finishing and the draw testing, then finally packaging. This production is very much an art.

We were the taken to the factory store where purchases of cigars and rum could be made. We were told this was a good place to purchase rum so we did get a couple bottles.

As we were early for lunch and had about an hour to fill, we were taken to a Santeria museum where there were displays of the various saints of Sanataria. Santeria. Santeria is a fusion of African religions and the religions of the new and old world.

We then made our way to the original Sloppy Joe’s Bar for lunch. Yes folks this was founded in 1917 before the one in Key West. Here we were treated to Pina Coladas, Mojitos, and Daiquiris, as well as lunch. Here the choice was a Cuban Sandwich, Sloppy Joes, or a Tuna Salad. I chose the Cuban Sandwich and found it very good. There were not many pickles on this sandwich as I learned the addition of pickles to the cuban sandwich started in Miami and is not traditional. The Sloppy Joe’s were large and made from turkey and chicken, I did get to try a bite and they were good. Lynn had the tuna salad and said it was very good.

MUSEUM OF THE REVOLUTION

After lunch we went to the Museum of the Revolution, which is housed in the palace where Batista lived and had his presidential office. As one ascends the marble staircase bullet holes are evident in the wall. We were granted access behind the rope and allowed to enter the office. There is a golden phone in the office, and we were told this was a gift from the mafia, and is referenced in the movie The Godfather.

Leaving the palace, we crossed the street where on display are several vehicles instrumental in the Revolution.There is a bullet riddled delivery van which was used by the students to drive up to the place to storm the palace. There is an armored bulldozer used by Fidel in the revolution and an armored car. There is also on display parts from a U2 spy plane which was shot down during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The main feature object of the display is the Granma, this is a boat Fidel, his brother Raul, and 85 revolutionaries sailed from Mexico to Cuba to start the revolution.

From this museum we went to the University of Havana. Here a student talked to us about the university education system. Yes it is free as the Government pays for all the students needs while they are attending University. There is an entrance examination and where one places on the exam determines the career path they might choose. Yes there are trade schools for those who do not wish to be a University Student. The graduation rate is about 87%. It was at this University where Fidel received his law degree.

Back to the hotel to get caught up on logs etc and get ready for the evening.

Our dinner tonight was on the rooftop patio of the Lincoln Hotel. Here a 4 time Grammy Nominated group, Septeva National, explained the origins of Cuban Music and gave us a great performance. The Dancing and Rum flowed.

Our dinner was a chicken and a great Yellow rice, dessert was a cinnamon french toast with coconut flakes covered in a strawberry syrup.

Tomorrow afternoon we will drive to Cienfuegos.