Tourist Art and Cuban Art

We actually had the cabby take us to the huge art/craftsmen warehouse just on the outskirts of old Havana.  I have to believe these are not government workers, but capitalists using their skills to make some money.

The place had been pointed out to us twice, and Carol wanted to get some souvenirs for the girls.  The place is huge!  Imagine a big, empty warehouse, then fill it with small stalls of people selling artwork, craft goods, clothes, handmade toys, etc.

The art was. . .well, I'm not sure what.  Most of it was brightly colored paintings of Havana street scenes, with cars from the 1950s.  It's great if you have a place in the tropics, but we didn't buy any because, well, it's not exactly our style.

We wandered around in a bit of a daze (I'm not a shopper, and Carol is not much of one either), before I gave Carol the 15 minute ultimatum.  She buckled down and found something for each of the girls -- earrings and a bracelet for Julia, a stylistic beach cover-up for Maddy, and pretty sandals for Torie.

And then we got out.  I'm glad we went, but. . .no need to stay long!

So then we walked from the art/craft warehouse to the museum of Cuban art -- it was quite a long walk.  We went past the Orthodox Church (and into it).

If this seems unorthodox to

you, you are wrong about it.

Then we continued on to Plaza de San Francisco de la Asis, before heading down Obispo Street.

Random views of our walk through Havana

I suppose I will never have a

mailbox that is this amazing!

Obispo Street was packed -- people crowded it, going into shops, businesses, or just wandering around.  Walking on such a crowded street slowed us down, but we were fine with it -- the liveliness of the blocks gave off such a good vibe.  At one point, we stopped and bought water, and at another we bought an unusual Cuban ice cream sandwich. The cookie part of the sandwich looked cheap and unappetizing, but tasted great.  Definitely exceeded expectations.

It was a choice between the museum of the revolution and the Cuban art museum.  We figured we could save the museum of the revolution for our next trip.

The art museum was a beautiful building, and the art was hit or miss.  Of the art we saw -- numerous periods on multiple floors, I actually preferred the post World War II work to the earlier work.  I'd say about 10% of the art made me stop and look at more detail, but I don't appreciate art the way some folks do.

Exhausted, we caught a cab back to the hotel.