TRAVEL TUESDAY 468 - HAVANA, CUBA

“Cuba is such a beautiful country, and everywhere you go, there's music and people dancing - especially in Havana.” - Julia Sawalha

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us.

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Havana (Spanish: La Habana) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial centre. It is the most populous city, the largest by area, and the second largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region. The population in 2012 was 2,154,454 inhabitants, and its area is 728.26 km2 for the capital city side and 8,475.57 km2 for the metropolitan zone.

Havana was founded by the Spanish in the 16th century. It served as a springboard for the Spanish conquest of the Americas, becoming a stopping point for Spanish galleons returning to Spain. Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of capital in 1607. Walls and forts were built to protect the city. The city is the seat of the Cuban government and various ministries, and headquarters of businesses and over 100 diplomatic offices.

Contemporary Havana can essentially be described as three cities in one: Old Havana, Vedado and the newer suburban districts. The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay, which is entered through a narrow inlet and which divides into three main harbours: Marimelena, Guanabacoa and Antares. The Almendares River traverses the city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay.

The National Capitol of Cuba, also known as Capitolio Nacional de La Habana (National Capitol of La Habana), and often simply referred to as El Capitolio (The Capitol), is a public edifice in Havana, the capital of Cuba. The building was commissioned by Cuban president Gerardo Machado and built from 1926 to 1929 under the direction of Eugenio Rayneri Piedra. It is located on the Paseo del Prado, Dragones, Industria, and San José streets in the exact centre of Havana.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 466 - 'EL TROPICANA', HAVANA, CUBA

“Havana is one of the great cities of the world, sublimely tawdry yet stubbornly graceful, like tarnished chrome - a city, as a young Winston Churchill once wrote, where 'anything might happen.’” - Jonathan Miles

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us.

Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

'El Tropicana' Night Club in Havana, Cuba, is located in a lush estate, with a 36,000-square-metre tropical garden. It opened on December 30, 1939 at the Villa Mina in Marianao. It is located next door to the old Colegio de Belén, Havana, presently, the Instituto Técnico Militar.

El Tropicana claims to be the largest and most beautiful nightclub in the world. Located on what was once an extensive private estate, Tropicana has two complete sets of stages, table areas, and dance floors. If the weather is fine, the outdoor area is used; otherwise, everyone moves to the indoor area. Tall palm trees growing among the tables lend the proper tropical atmosphere and blend well with the ultra-modernistic architecture. Shows include 50-dancer chorus lines which often branch out into the trees. Rhythms and costumes are colourfully native (voodoo is a frequent theme.) Top names often star.

No visit to Havana is complete without a night attending the extravagant shows at this night club. Prices are high, but the spectacles staged make the expense justifiable.

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ART SUNDAY - CESAR SANTOS

“Every man with a bellyful of the classics is an enemy to the human race.” - Henry Miller
 

Cesar Santos (born 1982) is a Cuban-American artist. He studied at the Miami Dade College and the New World School of the Arts before travelling to Florence, where he trained at the Angel Academy of Art under the tutelage of Michael John Angel, a student of Pietro Annigoni. He returned to Miami, where he developed his philosophy of marrying both the classical and the modern juxtaposed within one painting.
 

His influences range from the Renaissance to the masters of the nineteenth century to Modernism. With superb technique, he infuses a harmony between the natural and the conceptual to create works that are provocative and dramatic. He has been the recipient of numerous accolades including a first place award from a competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Santos has had exhibitions throughout the United States, Europe and Latin America, including the Villa Bardini Museum in Florence, Italy, the National Gallery in Costa Rica and the Frost Art Museum in Miami, Florida.
 

With his paintings, Santos proves that beauty is timeless. Influenced by the Renaissance, masters of the nineteenth century and Modernism, his works reflect both classical and modern interpretations. In many of his works, a refined painting technique comes together with colourful and at times abstract contemporary fragments. And the results are amazing: Men, women, and icons such as “The Girl with a Pearl Earring” and “Mona Lisa's Niece” become personages of today while keeping their original charm. His "Rebirth of Painting" above shows evidently his homage to classicism, but once again there are modern elements that surprise and intrigue. It will be interesting to watch this artist's maturation and development of a style that goes beyond the derivative.

A video about his activities (not only in painting!) can be seen here:

MOJITO

“Drunkenness is temporary suicide.” - Bertrand Russell

The Mojito is a Cuban cocktail that has rum as its base and is flavoured with mint and limes. It originated in the 16th century when Sir Francis Drake was in the Caribbean plundering the wealth of the New World, his piracy officially sanctioned by Elizabeth I. When he was visiting the West Indies, Francis Drake was to sack Havana and plunder its gold, but at the last minute he sailed away. Richard Drake, his subordinate was left behind and he invented a drink called the Draque based on aguardiente, the forerunner of rum.

In 1593, no doubt inspired by Elizabeth I’s monopoly patent on spirits, Richard Drake concocted the Draque. Aguardiente, sugar, lime and mint were combined to make a drink whose purpose was medicinal. Well that was Drake’s story and he stuck to it… In the 1800s, Don Facundo Bacardi Massó (the founder of the Bacardi company), substituted the aguardiente with rum and the mojito was born. The word mojito is a diminutive of “mojo” of African origin (Gullah: “moco”) meaning a magic charm, talisman, hoodoo or spell. An alternative derivation is from the Spanish verb “mojar” (to make wet), and “mojo” meaning wet. A popular Cuban sauce made of limes, sour oranges, garlic and olive oil is also known as “mojo”.

A mojito is traditionally made of five ingredients: white rum, sugar (or even better “guarapo” – sugar cane juice), lime, mint and soda water. It has a taste which is a combination of sweetness, refreshing citrus and mint flavours that mask the potent kick of the rum. The mojito is a popular summer drink.

To prepare a mojito, lime juice is added to sugar (or syrup) and mint leaves. The mixture is then gently mashed with a muddler. The mint leaves should only be bruised to release the essential oils and must not be shredded. Then rum is added and the mixture is briefly stirred to dissolve the sugar and to lift the mint sprigs up from the bottom for better presentation. Finally, the drink is topped with ice cubes and sparkling water, and mint leaves and lime wedges are used to garnish the glass. Variosu recipes exist and personal taste prevails as to the exact proportions. The Bacardi mojito web page has several. Here is a classic recipe:

MOJITO

Ingredients
1 part white rum
½ lime
Some mint leaves
Dessertspoonful icing sugar
Ice cubes
Enough soda water to fill the highball glass

Method
Place the lime in wedges, the sugar, the mint in a highball glass and muddle with pestle. Don’t crush the mint, just bruise it gently so that it releases its fragrant oils and the lime its juice. Add the rum and ice cubes and fill the glass with soda water. Stir and garnish with a mint sprig and a lime slice.

DAIQUIRI

“Spirit has fifty times the strength and staying-power of brawn and muscle” – Mark Twain

The Daiquiri cocktail was originally conceived as a way to cool off under the hot Cuban Sun, and it’s been the standard of outdoor refreshment ever since its conception. The classic Daiquiri, as originally invented, was hand shaken and never frozen or blended with fruit.
In 1898, in the small mining town of Daiquiri, Cuba, a mining engineer by the name of Jennings Stockton Cox invented a cocktail to help boost his men’s morale during the hot summer months. Jennings was compensated with a generous salary along with a monthly gallon of his favourite Bacardi Rum. After experimenting with local ingredients he showed his men how to combine lime juice, sugar, crushed ice and Bacardi Carta Blanca to create what he later named the Daiquiri.

This cocktail still remains the most popular way to taste the spirit of old Havana. Its exotic taste and versatility make it a modern classic.

DAIQUIRI

Ingredients
2 limes, juiced
3 teaspoonfuls sugar
3 parts white rum
cracked ice

Method
In a cocktail shaker mix the cracked ice, lime juice, sugar and rum until a frost forms. Strain into a chilled martini glass and add a lime twist as a garnish.

Enjoy your weekend!