Bobthebuilder

Ha, I knew that would get your attention ! LOL

All you single guys are probably wondering about the Cuban women and are too shy to ask. LOL
The Cuban women for the most part are petite and drop dead gorgeous and take great pride in their figures. Now where is Jay ( Jayboat ) and his camera when you need him ! LOL If you think you can pick up chicks doing the bar scene in Havana, think again. You have a better chance of picking up a hot European chick with a Cigar Factory tour group than in a bar. ALL of the girls in the bars are hookers. First of all I hope I can safely talk about this, as those of you on the board that really know me, also know that I would not get involved with these women. Nor did my crew. Prostitution in Havana is pretty well at epidemic proportion. Our taxi driver called them “ social workers “. LOL It seems to be quite out in the open and no effort made by the authorities to stop it. In the bars you cannot make eye contact or they are all over you and will not leave you alone. My bar visit with my buddies was short as I was curious to see if it was as bad as they say. It was. Funny story – The hotels do not let the girls in. So we said to Manny our taxi driver – so then how does that work? He says the girls who are mostly young, take you home, walk past mom and dad who will be in the kitchen or living room and into the bedroom. Too strange. I almost said “too funny” but I guess it's not really when you think about it.

Bobthebuilder

There is almost no violent crime in Cuba. The general population does not have guns.
There is no drug problem in Cuba I was told.
There is petty theft and many or most officials are corrupt extracting bribes given the oportunity.
There was some begging but not near as much as I thought.
I only saw one person that I would equate to a homeless street person here. I gave him some money.
Kids – I did not see a single kid riding a skateboard or push scooter in the 3 days there.

Bobthebuilder

A few of my favorite restorations and the Bacardi building. Not sure if Bacardi is a reno or new building. Lots of marble around the entrance. Bacardi of coarse is big in all of the Caribbean.

Bobthebuilder

The stop lights were kinda neat. Note the countdown to green. Great setup for drag racing ! LOL This area was called Miramar. This is where the elite used to live before the revolution. Now it is mostly embassy's and diplomats and a special few.

The garden pic was a lobby area in a hotel in Old Havana.

The old lady is not one of the hotties I referred to in earlier post ! LOL

I will post the last 5 pictures tonight. Almost done.

Bob

Bobthebuilder

I had considerable reservation about posting the following pictures but as I thought about it, my story or travelogue would not be complete without showing some of the landmarks related to the Revolution. It is quite visible to anyone visiting Cuba and cannot be ignored. I would like to be clear that I strongly oppose any form of dictatorship or communism, or it's ideologies. The pic of me standing beside the Che Guevara flag shows my disapproval of the Castro regime. I took considerable risk to have that pic taken. I'm not sure what might have happened had the wrong person witnessed that. The Cuban people are ready for and are wanting change. I think it will come, but not real soon. Perhaps when both Castros and the old guard pass away. The people we met were extremely nice and deserving of a better life. Hopefully the freedom and liberty we enjoy, will find it's way to the shores of Cuba soon.

Pics 2 & 3 are the Ministry of the Interior buildings that overlook Revolution Square. This is Cuba's most secret and sinister organization. We dealt with them on our arrival without problem. If you look closely at the roof of pic 3 you will see 3 people. They were looking down on us with binoculars. When I expressed concern to Manny our taxi driver he just laughed. It seems more and more the people do not have the fear that they used to of the government.

Pic 4 is a small piece of Revolution Square where they were setting up for the concert that almost a million people attended the day we left. People could not believe we were not staying for the concert. The officals on departure were blown away when I showed them my picture with Olga Tanon.

Pic 2 is Jose Marti monument which is a museum and lookout tower.

Bobthebuilder

Pics 1 & 2 at departure from Marina Hemingway.

Pic 3 Arrival back in Key West with Mickey Mouse waiting to welcome me back. LOL

All done, end of story till next time. Hmmm Lets see......

Hope you all enjoyed it. I did.

Bob

Smitty

iTrader: (1)

Thanks again for sharing Bob.

Most of us will never see Cuba as you have shown us. I have an old friend who is from near Havana. He was lucky to get out when he was a young man. I showed him your pics. He was speechless. He is so very thankful to be in our country and for the life he has built for himself. Even though his parents have passed, he still thanks them for the sacrifices they made to get him here.

bajarick

Hi Bob
Nice trip, thanks for sharing it
with us.
We will see you on the tenth
for the run.

Rick

JO - PANTERABOATS

That could have been me you were writting about.
Thanks for sharing Bob!!!
Regards,
Pepe Nunez @ www.panteraboats.com

Expat

Bob,

Thanks for the pics and writeup. You hit it right with your comments. I felt the same on all points.

You are really using your boat as you intended and we all enjoy it. Great job and can't wait to see your next adventure.

David