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the evolution of toronto

We will get back to Chile but first a little more on Toronto.

Toronto is the largest city in Canada and, even decades ago, when I made my first visit and the population was considerably smaller, it was an overwhelming place.  I was fortunate in that, in the early days, I always had local guides.

As a child, Toronto seemed as remote and glamorous as Oz and I had no idea how I was going to get there – just that it was a goal.  My interest was further piqued when I met Nancy who was visiting relatives in my remote middle Canada small town.  She didn’t actually live in Toronto but rather in one of the bedroom communities surrounding it.  A trip into the city was no big deal.  We became pen pals and I plied her with questions about the city.

My first Toronto guide was Marissa.  Somehow my Toronto stories always begin elsewhere.  Marissa was living at student residence in the University of Calgary that summer.  It was a popular accommodation choice for students with well-paid jobs in the oil industry.  She was Italian, the first I’d really known.  The Prairies are too cold to attract many immigrants from sunny climes.

At the end of that summer I was heading to London, Ontario to attend the previously mentioned fancy business school so would be about a two hour train ride from Toronto.  She invited me to visit and stay with her family in Downsview.  The Prairies are scarcely populated.  Not all countries are represented but there is a lot of diversity.  Lots of people have several different national groups in their DNA.  Toronto is different.  There are enough immigrants from certain countries that they can band together and create a replica of the old country within the new.

toronto-iconic-streetcarSo I was introduced to Toronto by way of Italy!  Marissa was first generation.  The house was decorated with lots of Roman looking knick-knacks.  We ate Italian food.  We went to the neighbourhood bakery to pick up cannoli.  There was great controversy because her brother’s girlfriend was Jewish.  I wasn’t used to cultures with so many rules.

That’s when I discovered there were all sorts of cultural communities within Toronto.  Almost any cultural group had enough members immigrating to Toronto that they could band together.  Often a few people started the pattern and then others followed because they knew there was a community to welcome them and immigration would be less daunting.  The early arrivals established a safe place, which attracted new arrivals looking for a mix of new opportunities and familiar tastes and smells.

Modern day Toronto is possibly the most multicultural city in the world.  About half the population is composed of immigrants and over 200 ethnic groups and 140 languages are represented.  This means that Toronto is full of festivals and events.  If you are OK with crowds, that’s when I would come.  There are festivals for almost any interest you might have.

One of my most significant festival memories was a festival called the International Caravan.  Apparently, it died out in 2005 and it wouldn’t be the same even if it did still exist.  In those days, Toronto was smaller and it was phenomenally safe for a large city.  Its nickname was “Toronto the Good”.  The concept of the International Caravan was to get a passport and go to national associations all over the city to try the food and see the music and dance of the old country.

The festival was created in 1969 to try and bring together the various national groups who tended to live in their silos in different communities.  I went to my first Caravan the first year I actually lived in the city.  My boyfriend had grown up in the city and we journeyed all over town, walking countless blocks, even to neighbourhoods with a shady reputation.  Sure, there was haggis and elaborate Ukrainian dancing and I was young and desperate to learn about all the countries I couldn’t yet afford to visit but what it really taught me was that there were all these different neighbourhoods, each filled with a unique character developed by the melding of all the cultures that had settled there.

1985 Toronto was a harbinger of 21st century Canada.  21st century Toronto is a city where you experience the entire world.  Next year is Canada’s 150th birthday so the celebrations are likely to be better than ever.  Check out a festival.  Or just pick a neighborhood and wander.  That’s where you will find the real Toronto, the one that left such an imprint on my life…

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social commentary, travel stories

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YOU ARE what you buy – and do…

I am not planning to become a political commentator but, thanks to my grandmother’s son, I have been incredibly political my whole life.  When I was young, people thought I would be Prime Minister and I kind of thought they might be right 😉  But once I got to the big city and discovered the ugly compromises it generally requires, I resigned as the Secretary of the Young Progressive Conservatives at the University of Manitoba.

It didn’t mean that I stopped caring or totally abandoned politics.  When I was so hoping for the Hillary win, I was thinking of my dad, wishing he was still alive so I could call him to discuss – and remembering when we watched Jimmy Carter get elected.  One of my favourite memories.  Jimmy was a far more interesting outsider than Donald and still one of my favourite Presidents.  The truth is, people, Presidents are just part of the machinery and – if you don’t have a corrupt, incompetent system – they often set the tone rather than develop and pass all the legislation so I judge them more on what they do after they get that famous – and Jimmy has been a superstar.

It’s odd talking about Jimmy Carter and Donald Trump in the same sentence.  I do think there is a chance though that he is a different guy than we have seen.  I am going to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Hey, my grandmother inspired me and I have adopted a lot of her values in my adult life and I have a lot of admiration for her but that lady scared the shit out of me through most of my childhood 😉  She was one of the toughest people I have ever met.  She had some totally kookoo ideas. Despite the fact that she was fond of her Native Canadian son-in-law, she said things that were shockingly racist and made me uncomfortable.

She never had a passport.  She took long bus trips when she was so elderly most people couldn’t have made it up the steps.  She was a fighter.  She loved her family.  She loved westerns and young people.  She was a force of nature and I am so happy she was part of my inspirational life.

But she was not perfect – and she had the kind of world view some of the people who voted for Donald Trump had.  Politically, she was a hot mess.  I think it was the Conservatives she hated her whole life.  I know it had something to do about the price of eggs during that administration.  She was a farmer.  My father would argue with her but it never mattered.

I have been reading and listening copiously the past few days.  My takeaway is my very special privileged life.  I was raised in a place that isn’t dissimilar to the disaffected people who made Donald Trump President.  I was crazy ambitious so I turned myself into one of the elite who is sometimes resented by members of my own family.

I’ve toggled between the worlds – along with lots of other permutations and combinations, having now been to 58 countries – and it has made me far more sensitive and understanding of the entire world order.

Trump is an opportunist who seized on stuff I never would because my moral compass is WAY higher but there is value in us all getting out of our normal perspective and trying to understand – and more importantly respect – the other guy.

Sure, Trump is a bully and a lot of his supporters are bullies.  BUT I am NOT really an elite person.  I am a girl who passes for elite…

And lots of the elite are bullies too.  I managed to finagle my way into a very elite university program only to discover I had no way to bond with all these rich kids who had not been able to arm wrestle at eleven because part of their day was spent carrying ten gallon pails full of chop, which is pig food for all of you non-farm people.

I am trying to find something positive about the Trump presidency but I am listening to Colbert as I type this and it’s tough.

Trump is no ME.  He doesn’t understand at all the people who voted him in.  I hope they will call him out if he doesn’t represent them.  The big challenge is that the world is a complex place.  We are lucky in western democracies to have systems that can generally protect the average person.  We already know that I wanted Hillary… but I think I really liked Bernie better.

The truth is politics is a tough, messy business.  As is life.  It is SO hard to find a solution that will responsibly let national citizens prosper and thrive.

I’ve never known how my father voted.  Only that he really cared about the world.  Not even about democracy.  He seemed to be onboard when I decided at about age thirteen the best political system was likely benevolent dictatorship… but finding the right dictator such a tough call that democracy was the next best and workable option.

As a REAL OUTSIDER, what I would suggest to Americans is that they need to talk TO each other, rather than AT each other.  That is their biggest problem.  The elite can be pompous and insensitive.  The frustrated can be angry and unreasonable.

You may not like it but the world is constantly changing and you just need to accept it and try to find the best way to embrace it.  I have so much sympathy and compassion for the people in the Rust Belt whose jobs have been taken over by a robot or a cheaper worker but you have to realize those workers used to be really poor – as you were a century or so before – so they are grateful for the jobs, which have made THEIR lives better…

The big change that has happened in the last hundred years is that there is a lot more wealth.  The bad part is that we have allowed that wealth to become concentrated in too few hands.  A lot of us are victims of marketing.  If you really want to change the world and bring jobs back to your region, support your local entrepreneurs – even if it costs a little more.  We need to rebuild our sense of community.  We can’t stop globalization and it is not all bad – but we have lost each other’s back…

Enter the Trump machine… It’s up to you.  We can stop him.  He doesn’t have a lot of original ideas…

 

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social commentary

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the beauty at the end of the world

Patagonia is not a land for wimps.  I had been drawn to visit by a travel article that made the trip to Cape Horn sound like an adventure.  The Australis team is very zodiac-experienceprofessional and you feel that you are in safe hands.  It will be an adventure but draped in first world safety standards.  Quite different to being trapped on a runaway elephant sans driver in the Thai jungle…

It was my first time on a zodiac though and I had seen enough of the Strait of Magellan by then to know I did NOT want to be in that water!  First you are suited up in lifejackets.  You then go through detailed instructions, which are repeated every time.  It isn’t particularly difficult but you do need to follow the procedures to avoid tipping the raft.  It’s an adventure for small-a adventure people.  People who likely don’t swim with sharks, climb Mt Everest or paraglide over the Grand Canyon.

We all got on the zodiac without incident but everyone was pretty quiet and there wasn’t even a lot of photos being taken.  No one wanted to tilt us into the Pacific Ocean.  The zodiac driver employed only modest speed and tried not to scare us.  I am always fascinated watching pampered first world travellers morph into greater adventurers.  Even by the return trip to the ship, you could see people were relaxing on the zodiac and the driver gunned it once he knew we could handle it.

That was probably because the harder hike was indeed harder.  By Navy Seal standards, a walk in a particularly pleasant park but we had been expecting something more 60+ friendly.  Everyone made it but our tour leader just quickly led the way without paying too much attention if everyone was right behind her.  There was enough elevation for heavy breathing and. in some places, you had to pull yourself up by grabbing a rope and making your way along its length, frequently through enough mud to destroy your footwear for any other future purpose.

22-stunning-patagonian-landscapeIt was all quite exhilarating and the view from the top made it totally worthwhile. And this is a luxury cruise, so all physical efforts are rewarded with hot chocolate, whiskey or both.

There is a lot of time on the ship to chill out – or be brave and take photos in the frosty air.  I did a lot of the latter.  Luckily, I grew up in one of the coldest places on the planet so freezing my fingers off for a photo seems a fair trade-off.

In the afternoon, we got to put our zodiac skills to use a second time.  This time we just cruised around a couple of islands admiring cormorants and penguins.  It’s always amazing to see wildlife in abundance IN THE WILD in our over processed modern world.  Patagonia has done a good job of maintaining its natural splendor.

cormorants posing for tourists ;)

cormorants posing for tourists 😉

Part of the credit goes to Doug Tompkins, one of those rare local hero types who can actually turn money made from being a good businessman to money spent actually doing something good for the entire world.  He was the guy who created, along with his first wife, The North Face and Esprit.  He first travelled to Patagonia in the 1960s and in 1968 did a famous trip with Yvon Chouinard (founder of Patagonia Inc.) where they put up a new route on Mount Fitzroy.  Growing disillusioned of the environmental impact of the fashion industry, he channelled his Esprit profits into conservation.

yes I know I'm cute ;)

yes I know I’m cute 😉

He moved to Chilean Patagonia.  At first, he explored the wilderness of the region, eventually setting up the Foundation for Deep Ecology, The Conservation Land Trust and Conservacion Patagonia.  He also married Kristine McDivitt Wear who had been the CEO of Patagonia Inc.  North Face meets Patagonia… quite the love story.

Not surprisingly, they both shared the same retirement goals – land conservation, environmental activism and biodiversity.  Tompkins used his retail riches to buy up land in Patagonia to save it from mercantile uses.  This land grab by a foreigner was regarded with suspicion by locals.  He was at various points accused of being a spy, of buying up land to create a Zionist enclave, and of planning to ship Chile’s fresh water to parched lands overseas.

Instead, his goal was to turn the land into national parks working with the national governments of Chile and Argentina.  It appears he has made great progress in convincing everyone that there is benefit for everyone in creating national parks in Patagonia along with wildlife protection, biodiversity and sustainable organic farming practices.  It all sounds a little too good to be true but go to Patagonia and see for yourself.  The end of the world is a stunningly beautiful place full of fresh air and star-studded skies.

Sadly Doug Tompkins died in 2015 while on what he thought was an easy kayaking trip with a bunch of old friends.  No doubt it was probably a manner of death he would have chosen for himself.  Kristine continues on their legacy and the future looks promising.  According to The Guardian, the Chilean government announced the day after Tompkin’s death that Pumalín Park, one of Tompkins’ earliest acquisitions, would become a national park in March 2017 but the website suggests that it is already open.

Writing about Doug and Kristine is a great antidote to thinking about the US election and how most of the rich people spend their money.  I am incredibly hard to impress but Doug Tompkins goes on the hero board.  What a wonderful world it would be if this is what all billionaires did with their riches…

 

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life philosophy, shining examples, social commentary, travel stories

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my grandmother would have voted for hillary…

Of course, this is me putting a ballot in her hand and sometimes she had some kooky opinions so…

I have been trying to stay chill about all the insanity south of the border but the aforementioned grandmother was born in the USA so I have always had a complex relationship with both countries.

When I was growing up in Canada, the USA was notably cooler and I longed to be American and was distressed to hear that my father could likely have emigrated to California when I was a young child.  Instead, I was feeding pigs in sparsely populated parts of Canada growing muscles so I could beat boys at arm wrestling… seriously?

one of the strongest women ever born

one of the strongest women ever born

So, naturally, I learned all the words to the American national anthem, could list all the presidents in order, knew not only all the states but also all their capitals!  My grandmother would quiz me in the backseat while my father muttered that Canada was a better place to live.

In high school I took American History as an elective and used to be able to eruditely explain the three branches of government.  At 17, I managed to secure a highly competitive spot on the UN Pilgrimage for Youth, which also meant a free trip to DC where I even met a young aide to a congressman who later wrote to me about the Iran hostage crisis where Canada did the kind of stuff that Canada does best.

I have always known Americans and been invested in the country in a way that foreign aliens normally are not.

Some of them are batshit-crazy and it is a very complicated place but there is much to admire and I owe some of my success in life to Americans so I know it’s important to remember the facts.

My American grandmother (and her Canadian son – who would hate to have to acknowledge some of his great wisdom was kind of American :)) were likely the biggest influences on my life.  Despite some of her crazy opinions (you have to cut her some slack – she was born in 1906), she had a lot of wisdom and some incredibly progressive views.

I was one of the few girls growing up in the 70s with a father who was practically a feminist.  He turned my mom from a classic housewife of the era to a kick-ass role model who even ran for mayor in her misogynistic small town.  That was my unconventional Swedish metrosexual grandfather and his outspoken wife.

These are people who would have voted for Hillary.  When my niece was a little more aggressive than was really advisable for a five year old, my grandmother just said, “it`s good.  She`s a girl.  She can defend herself“

My grandmother grew up in a world where only the really tough girls who could beat boys at arm wrestling had any chance 🙂  In truth, though, women never win by brawn but instead by brains.  By being tough, tenacious and smarter than the average man 😉

My grandmother showed me how tough and incredible women can be and she always supported and encouraged strong women.  So I know she would have loved Hillary.

As a foreign alien woman, it is all a little disheartening that there is any question she SHOULD be President.  I have been saying it for months and – oddly – many comedians are saying the same thing…

WTF, USA???   Hey, I love comedians… but their job is supposed to be to be funny… not the smartest person  in the room…

I’m not just with her… I wish we would accept the globalization of the world and let all of us cast a vote.  There was actually a global poll where Gore won by a landslide… really!  I am sure Hillary would do even better!!!

Make my grandmother proud… vote for the candidate who IS the most QUALIFIED person EVER to be President of the United States of America.  It`s a no-brainer if you have ever done a civics class.

My grandmother was kind of like a female Clint Eastwood.  Don`t piss her off.  I am sure she has lots of time to haunt people who make bad choices 🙂

 

 

 

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shining examples, social commentary

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the follies of dictators

I am going to finally write my last Bucharest post – a bittersweet moment.  My new Romanian friends encouraged me to check out the Palace that Ceaușescu built as a temple to his self-proclaimed emperor status.  As he showed little regard for the citizens he was bossing around, it is likely not surprising that there is nowhere to sit but lots of time to stand around waiting to actually get on a tour.  When I was there, there were various maintenance issues so only the standard tour was available. No chance to check out the bunkers.

It required standing around for about an hour – or giving up and sitting on the floor.  It seemed a big commitment but I had already learned how to use the metro and walked across a large park to get there so I thought I might as well see something before I repeated the process.  I would highly encourage you to do the same.

You will never see anything else like it.  If you are lucky, you will also have an excellent guide who speaks English very well and has a sly sense of humour.  Now that Romania is no longer a police state, poking fun at the past seems to be a bit of a hobby.  You can’t blame them.  Ceaușescu makes Donald Trump look like a humble pussy.

It’s mind-boggling how dictators convince themselves that they are not auditioning for evil wizard roles in the next Harry Potter movie and that the public loves them – even if they can only get that level of adoration via fear and violence.

meglomania personified

meglomania personified

Perhaps they are mentally ill.  That would definitely explain the Presidential Palace in Bucharest…   It is the second largest administrative building in the world.  Only the Pentagon is bigger!   The Palace was part of a more ambitious Project Bucharest to apparently create a replica of the North Korean capital.  One can certainly imagine Ceaușescu as a Kim-Il-Sung fan-boy.  Someone who rejected Mao and Khrushchev as being too progressive and idolized Stalin was certainly a role model… poor Romania!

Is there something viperous about women whose names start with “E”???  No doubt Nicolae had plenty of issues of his own and very little education but hooking up with Elena added an “Eva Peron” element to his maniacal quest for power and adoration.  Apparently she modelled herself on the evil queen in Sleeping Beauty.

If you check out the Palace, you can learn more about the terrible twosome.

And the Palace itself (since the revolution dubbed the “People’s Palace”) is a physical manifestation of megalomania.  Huge tracts of land were razed, 40,000 people were relocated and soldiers were forced to work on the construction to reduce costs.  It cost billions to build and a ridiculous amount to maintain.

It’s the Sagrada Familia of administrative buildings.  Work began in 1984 and is not yet totally complete.  When the government fell in 1989, it was unclear how to proceed.  The building is a nutty mess built by an idiot but it would have cost more to get rid of it so they have just tried to work with it but the government only uses about 30% of the building.  You can rent a room if you’d like 😉

The building has eight underground levels and apparently can survive a nuclear war.  It is 2% larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza – megalomaniacs think alike 🙂

Almost all the materials used for the building came from Romania.  Selling those natural resources to trading partners no doubt would have been a more sensible strategy for the citizenry.  It does mean that it is fascinating to see as a tourist.  Chandeliers, carpets, mirrors, wooden ornamentation – everything is totally over the top.  Some carpets are so large machines had to be brought into the room to weave the carpet on-site.  The palace includes 220,000 square metres of carpet, 3,500 tons of crystal and one million cubic metres of marble.  The carpet in the main Union Hall weighs 1.5 tons.  It’s like being in someone’s crazy fairy tale palace.

Like something stuck in the past, the building is a mess of ancient architecture styles with little regard for function.  You will get a lot of exercise on the tour as mostly you have to take grandiose staircases to get around.  Apparently the government has established some services within the building as it takes a long time to get to any shops outside – or even to a meeting in another part of the building.

As a reward for all the stairs, you get to go out on the famous balcony for an overview of a large swath of Bucharest.  And you will hear the Michael Jackson story – do NOT stand on the balcony and declare “I LOVE BUDAPEST”.  Hey, international geography is not an American strength.

worth all the stairs

worth all the stairs

as good as it looks!

as good as it looks!

After you’ve checked out the monstrosity, head to the Old Town.  Some parts of it are crumbling but there are still lots of magnificent buildings from Bucharest’s fin-de-siècle heyday.  If you need refreshment after all that walking, find the Emilia Cremerie.  Possibly some of the best ice cream in Europe.  Romanian culture is closer to Italy than to Slovakia, which is probably why they also make excellent wine.  There is a local grape called Tomani that I really enjoyed.  I learned about it at Abel’s Wine Bar, which boasts lovely service and a gigantic wine list.

The Romanians really deserve your love – and tourist dollars – after the hand they have been dealt by life.  Somehow they have managed to be hopeful instead of bitter – with a wicked sense of humour about their past.  Go and meet them 🙂

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navigating the world…

I still have lots of travel stories to write about but I finally had time to finish a book I have been inching my way through for a very long time.  It is an astonishing book but it is dense and full of information and philosophy so it is best to read slowly.  Since I bought the book Samantha Power became the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

The research she did for the book definitely prepared her well for the role.

I have always been an idealist but I have grown more pragmatic as the years have passed.  I wish idealism worked the way I imagined when I was ten but too many people make their choices based on misinformation and emotion.

The world is a complex place and you will never be successful with simplistic strategies.  The book is called “Chasing the Flame” and it is about Sergio Vieira de Mello.  It will make you feel bad about your own life and accomplishments and how little you are doing in comparison with Sergio but you should read it anyway 😉

What is really powerful is that Samantha doesn’t gloss over his flaws and presents the world and Sergio in all the complex glory that both deserve.

What was especially powerful for me was Sergio’s comments on how foreign powers need to tackle problems in other countries.  They need to listen and be culturally sensitive.

The book really spoke to me because as a child I also wanted to work in the United Nations.  I was privileged enough to participate in a model UN at an impressionable age and then, barely 17, travel all over the continent as part of a week in New York City the principal purpose of which was to learn about the United Nations.  We even got to sit IN the Security Council Chamber!

It was one of the highlights of my life and has always had me wringing my hands for the UN to matter.  I lived in Australia so I know about East Timor.  I was trekking through the hill tribe villages north of Chiang Mai when the Khmer Rouge were still killing random innocents.  I lived in Europe when the Balkans were being torn apart.  The father of one of my friends was a high ranking officer in the Canadian army so he spoke eloquently about Roméo Dallaire so I read his book about Rwanda.

All of this meant that Samantha’s book about Sergio spoke to me in a more personal way.

It also confirmed my own personal experience traveling all over the world even though I don’t unfortunately work for the UN.  But I do try to do work that would be worthy of the great ideals the UN concept can represent.

I do what Sergio did – but I do it because my father taught me how.  Some of it was his words but I realize now it was also his example.  He was like Sergio –  a great, flawed man who had an extraordinary impact on the people who met him.

I try to do what they did.  I constantly learn things and re-evaluate my assumptions so that I have as broad a framework as possible with which to evaluate the world.  Then I listen.  I REALLY listen.  I don’t wait to talk or get distracted.  I listen beyond just the words.  One of the most touching experiences of my life was when I was sitting with my computer in Tanzania post-safari editing pictures and I realized one of the shy staff members was fascinated by my computer so I showed him how it worked.

As Sergio said, it’s about dignity.  It’s also that simple axiom people seem to so easily forget – “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.  Be nice.  Be respectful.  Be interested.  You will learn so much and your life will be so enriched.  The only drawback is that sometimes people will develop crushes on you that will make for heartbreaking departures.  Maybe flirting and crushes are the real answer to world peace.  Perhaps I should tell the UN? 😉

 

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our girl in havana ;)

just step out of the hotel

just step out of the hotel

I am going to try and stay home for more than a couple of weeks and see if I can’t catch up on all my travels… so we will likely be bouncing around the globe as I try to tempt you to explore the world…

Thanks to the internet, globalization and the Americans’ incredible moxie at selling a glamourized version of the American lifestyle to the rest of the world, it’s tough to find places that feel truly unique, let alone part of an entirely different era.  Cuba is one of those incredibly rare and special places.

Contrary to what a lot of people think, there is a little internet in Cuba and you will see smart phones and computers but you will also see chalkboards and people lounging on the sidewalk outside fancy hotels (was guessing they might be using the hotel wi-fi).

If you don’t want to leave your overly engaged modern lifestyle at home, you can stay at the Hotel Parque Central.  Apparently it has the best internet in Cuba and the lobby was constantly full of people on smartphones, tablets and computers and it looked very 2016 despite the colonial architecture.  It’s a great hotel in an excellent setting for being a tourist in Havana and I would highly recommend it.

http://www.hotelparquecentral-cuba.com/

I would also recommend leaving your electronic devices at the hotel, making sure your shoes are comfortable and embracing the past.  It’s not every day you get to go back to 1960 without a time machine.

I tried to explain “trending” to some young guys that I met at my favourite restaurant in Havana.  There is no question Cuba is the hottest travel ticket right now and that’s how it got bumped up the list to 2016.  You don’t need to panic quite yet though.  It will not turn into Las Vegas 2.0 by next year.

There is no question change is underfoot and that something has to give.  What will be interesting is how it all unfolds.  I knew a little about Cuban history before I arrived but learned a lot more during my week in Havana.  It is a fascinating place.  I hadn’t appreciated before I arrived how old Havana was and that it was a strategically important and impressive city during colonial times.  It’s certainly a place deeply scarred by the evils of imperialism.  It’s also marked by the promise of an incredible revolution.

What they have built in Cuba is totally unique.  Not everything works and it’s not an ideal system but there is definitely merit to some of the choices they have made, which is why change will come but I hope it will come with a Cuban flavour.

I did a lot during my six days in Havana so there is much more to tell.  The one thing I wished I had done differently was research!  There are entrepreneurial green shoots in Havana but capitalism is very much in its infancy.  It’s fascinating.  There is very little advertising or marketing.  It’s hard to tell who is running an establishment and almost all the independent restaurants are on an upper level and not very obvious to the uninitiated.

I did buy a Moon guide by Christopher P. Baker, which was very helpful.  I wish I had done more advance planning.  I was a little too arrogant.  I have travelled so much and always seem to find cool stuff to do on the fly that I have stopped being well prepared for arrival.

http://moon.com/books/moon-havana/

Certainly, it’s good to be ready to be spontaneous.  Some of the best moments in Havana happened that way.  But I found the restaurant because Christopher recommended it.

I’ve read a lot of Graham Greene so I am sure I read Our Man in Havana at some point in my youth but I am going to read it again now that I have

a literary setting

a literary setting

experienced the city.  Whether you are a literary fan or not, the Hotel Sevilla is worth a visit.  It was built in 1908 and based on the Alhambra in Spain.  It was the first luxury hotel in Havana.  What makes it unique is the Moorish architecture.  There is a band playing in the lobby bar most of the time so sip a Mojito and soak in the atmosphere.

http://www.hotelsevillacuba.com/the-hotel-history

patio hotel inglaterra

patio hotel inglaterra

Another worthwhile history lesson is the Hotel Inglaterra.  It is the oldest hotel in Havana.  I tried both dinner and a drink on the outdoor patio.  I would recommend having dinner in a Paladare but drinks are cheap ($3 USD for a mojito) and the band was excellent.

http://www.hotelinglaterra-cuba.com/

Cuba isn’t going to change overnight… but it IS going to change.  The climate is great.  The people are warm and friendly.  The country is full of incredible history and architecture.  And there are gorgeous beaches if the rest is of no interest.  You don’t need to book your ticket tomorrow.  But you SHOULD go.  Don’t wait too long.  A place without a McDonalds or a Starbucks?  That is something worth seeing 😉

 

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