These two photos are of the bar Hemingway used to frequent in downtown Habana. It was pretty jammed inside, so we just cruised on by.

This is the mango tree in our hosts back yard. It will be a month or two before they are ripe.

Another "classic" old car at the pumps. It probably has an old Lada engine or diesel engine under the hood by now.

Sports fields are great place for propaganda murals on the surrounding walls and fences.

Cristal - our beverage of choice while in Cuba.

Here we are driving along the coast from Habana to Varadero.

Alternate mode of transportation.

This electricity generating plant on the coast uses the gulf water to cool its turbines.

Che still lives on in Cuba.

As always, vehicles break down, and probably none quicker than cars older that 50 years old in Cuba; although, I'm pretty sure the Cubans are pretty good at keeping the old "bombs" on the road as there are a lot of them out there. This one was getting major work right at an intersection of a main street in Habana on the waterfront.

The cars may be ancient antiques, but the stereo systems in some of them are relatively new.

Very nice condition old Buick.

As Fred Eaglesmith sang, "It's a Pontiac!"

I'm taking a break from Cuba today, and showing you the damage caused by high winds and waves last week on the Calander docks. The docks were built before WWII, so they have seen a lot of damaging winds and waves in their time. Estimates to make repairs are ridiculous - millions!!

This island once had a lighthouse until the winds blew it down. The moored houseboat now looks like it's in trouble, too.

While we were in Vinales we descended into some caves in the mountains. They were named after the local natives - Cueva del Indio. Marsha has a bit of trepidation as she climbs down into the caves.

We've been in some caves before on our travels, but this was the first time we took a motorboat ride on an underground river.

Here we are nearing the end of the boat ride in the caves.

This is the opening in the mountain the underground river flows out from.

We went for a bus tour one day to the west, about a 4 hour ride, to Vinales and then a Key, which is a national park, for some swimming. We were to meet the bus at 6am at the Capitolio building in downtown Habana. The bus finally showed up one hour and twenty minutes late, sheesh. Here are Marsha and Liuba y Alberto waiting on the curb for the bus.

This is the building across the road from our "waiting" spot.

These are the old mountains at Vinales. They were formed from the mixture of volcanic activity and sea water, producing some pretty startling land forms, even though they are well rounded over time.

The red soil in the valley is where the Cubans grow some of the tobacco for their famous cigars.

The Cuban Revolution marches on. I find it a bit odd - it's a 50 year long revolution; weren't revolutions pretty much over when you finally wrested power from whoever had the power? Castro's been in power since 1959; why is it that the Revolution is still going on?

Apparently the designer of the tall building (near the Gulf breakwater in Habana) in this photo reflected a personal death in the design - the balconies were made to look like coffins stacked on top of each other.

I took this shot through the windshield as we were driving around Habana.

The stairwell to one of the prolific Soviet style apartment buildings.

This building in downtown Habana is pretty ornate with some interesting sculptures.

This tree is ornate in its own right as well - this species drops down branches that develop into separate trunks with roots that eventually add to the overall trunk of the tree. Some of these trees have a diameter nearing 20 feet.

These are 6:30am photos of Habana's Capitolio building. The dome is very similar to Washington's Capital building.

The common theme to these photos of buildings in downtown Habana is laundry. These are but a few of the examples of laundry drying in evidence everyday from most windows and balconies. The buildings may appear dirty and worn down, but the people are wearing clean clothes.

This fella is another of the "posers" in old downtown Habana. He seemed a bit indignant when I walked off after snapping the photo without slipping him some pesos.

This guy was doing a bit of renovation work inside one of the buildings in the square around the cathedral.

More "posers" near the bar Ernest Hemingway used to frequent.

There are hundreds of these old retired guys in red shirts all over Cuba. They don't have a retirement plan, so their "job" is to wear the red shirt and "mind" the cars that park in their area. When you return to your car, you slip the guy a peso or so for keeping "watch". Over the course of a day they could make between 10 and 50 pesos ($13-$65), depending on the location of their "area". In a two or three days they easily eclipse the monthly salaries of doctors and engineers (both earn approximately $40 Cdn/month).

It's 6:30am in downtown Habana, and Alberto reflects our wait for the bus to take us to Vinales and a coastal Key for a day of sightseeing and swimming in the sea. As it turned out, the bus was one hour and twenty minutes late, with no apologies; the return bus ride was a whole other story.

Here I am in Habana, in the Revolution square with Che Guevara. This is the same square made famous by Fidel Castro and his hours long speeches on May days.

We enjoyed a pina colada at a rooftop restaurant on the harbour in Old Habana. The streets were pretty crowded with touristas.

This is the front of the cathedral in the old town.

Another shot of the cathedral front.

The ceiling above the altar in the cathedral - the paint(?) has really faded in the ceiling artwork.

This is the front door to the cathedral. I was a bit surprised at the height of the key hole and door knocker - the keyhole is for a pretty large key, and it is approximately 5 feet up from the floor; the door knocker is over 6 feet up. Did the people announce their presence on horseback?