Taken

Were we grifted a second time in the same day, or was it just another case of kidnapping with tribute paid to Havana pirates? 

(Editor's Note: Uh, neither option sounds very pretty.)

Well dear readers (and editor who only exists in my mind), I will tell the story and you decide.

We hung out a bit in the outer courtyard of the Castillo de la Real Fuerza, a UNESCO World Heritage site and widely considered to be the oldest stone fort in the Americas.  It's very cool, with views of the stone fortification walls across the narrow channel of Havana Bay by el Morro and El Christo de La Habana -- the huge statue of Christ. 

(The dedication of the statue of Christ is said to be the last public act of Batista as Fidel Castro's revolutionaries closed in -- Batista fled to the Dominican Republic just days after the dedication.)

There's a cool contemporary sculpture there too, as well as cannons and other ancient weapons of mass destruction.

The fort itself is a great example of wasteful military spending, as the fort's location was deemed a failure.  It was too far into the bay to protect Havana, so eventually two more forts had to be built to protect the harbor.  There are no known reports of $100 hammers or $300 toilet seats, but even still, imagine building a fort to realize upon completion that it is in the wrong place (and too small to boot!).

We entered into the fort, and that's where the trouble began.  The tour guides kept pestering us to give them my camera so they could take our picture.  Flattering us when we were not in the mood to be flattered.  I walked out of that part of the fortress, but somehow three guides took Carol's phone from her.

Then, they wouldn't give it back until she gave them each a dollar.  Carol came and found me.  I had no singles, so I gave her a five.

In my head, I stormed back and said this to the guides:

"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my wife's phone go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

But, that's not what happened.  Carol gave them the money and took her phone back at the same time.

I know what you are thinking.  You are thinking -- hey, this is ridiculous that some tour guides in a government building, a UNESCO World Heritage site at that, could take someone's phone (and attempt to take the camera) and not give it back until a king's ransom (okay, five dollars) was paid. 

Well, you are right.  It is ridiculous. 

(Let's face it, you are also thinking -- "Glen, what special skills would you have developed over your long career as a pollster that would help in this situation?"  Well, hey, it was a phone after all!)

It's also annoying that the people in charge have to know this is going on, and they have not stopped it.  Now, if you've been reading the blog and thinking about going to Cuba -- go, definitely.  We still love Havana and Cuba, and most of the people are good folks.  But do keep your guard up.

The incident spoiled the rest of our visit to the fort, despite amazing views from the top floor of the fort.

So, was this the third time we had been grifted in two trips to Cuba, and twice in the same day?  Probably.  Funny thing is, I've kind of shrugged it off, and I would still recommend you go. 

Keeping some perspective, we had to pay about $15 dollars total for the two grifting incidents that last day in Havana.