One of the few things other than photos I came back with from Cuba was this painting. The artist is from Havana, Yuniel Delgado Castillo, I found it with my group in the village of Fusterlandia. A friend in the group got a larger piece that had this incredible face. Mine is a smaller canvas strecthed over a box. it caught my eye the second I walked in the shop.  In other Cuba news, I have a second show of the photos I took tomorrow (Thursday, April 11th 6-8pm) at TC Scoops in Medway. No ticket need, open to anyone, family friendly, ice cream shop, stop by, get a treat and check out the photos. 

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Thursday, February 28th at the Thayer Homestead in Medway (2B Oak St.)  these photos and many more will be on display and sale at my Cuba/Iceland show. Admission is $5 for students and Seniors and $10 for general admission, with 100% of the ticket sales going to Medway’s relay For Life Cancer fundraiser. Both these trips were very special to me and seeing the prints gets me excited to share them. Feel free to contact me with any questions. The show runs from 6-9pm and there will be at least 200 prints on display with some slide shows displaying even more. Even made the local paper.

Tickets can be bought online or at door.

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Forty-three photos while standing and spinning in the center of Plaza de la Catedral in Havana stitched to make a ‘little planet.’ The square is gorgeous, built in the mid-1700s. We visited it early one morning, stopped for coffee and took in the architecture. To answer a reoccurring question, I have booked my next photo show, ‘Island to Island, Iceland & Cuba’. It will be held at Thayer House in Medway on February 28th, 6-9pm. More information is coming soon; ticket sales will benefit a yet to be named charity to support Cancer patients, I hope you can join me — photos from both Islands on display and for sale.

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Last night I watched Conan O’Brien’s Cuba episode on Netflix, look for Conan without Borders, it was great. I recognized so many of the locations, one in particular, was the La Guarida Restaurant in Havana. We stopped there and spent hours photographing the architecture, the linens hanging to dry in a room I would kill for… (seriously this would be the most incredible studio, or place to live, work, or just own, put a chair and sit in) they hang their linens out to air dry in the space. We had an incredible lunch in the restaurant, photos of celebrities were all over the walls, I even took a picture of the Conan one, only to watch his visit a month later. Conan and I also made it to the roof to overlook the city. I am sure Conan was invited, I kind of just went up a ton of stairs and pretended I knew where I was going. The view is breathtaking. Other famous faces that have visited were Madonna, Beyonce, Jay Z, Bon Jovi, the funny thing was if this was in here in America I remember thinking I would have rolled my eyes that all these celebrities had been there, but turns out they just have excellent taste, because it was one of my favorite spots in Cuba.

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Another look at Cuba. The number one question, or statement I get from people when I tell them I went to Cuba, after “Why?” is “So the cars?”. Yes, the cars were incredible. The orange one above was my ride for the ten days. A 1958 Oldsmobile Super 88, it has a Perkins diesel engine, AC, power windows and belongs to Ovi. Ovi is one of “The Boys” who all are a part of Your Cuba Travel. The boys each have an old car used for the tours. Tourism is a big part of the economy down there, and the old cars are used as taxis. I would be lying if I said it was the most comfortable ride on the bumpy roads, but Ovi made it worth it, it is amazing how much fun you can have when you speak different languages, laughing makes you forget that these seats were not made for road trips. They take pride in these cars and can fix almost anything. We visited a mechanics house; they are repairing and fabricating parts to keep these cars running. Getting to know Ovi and his 88 is probably my favorite parts of the trip. I know I got a friend and a ride if I ever make it back.

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