Jose Fuster (Artist) part 1

                  Jose Fuster was born in 1946 in Caibarien, a little seatown on the north side of the island in the Villa Clara province. He moved to Jaimanitas, where he lives now, another fishing village but this one is 15km west of downtown Havana. Jaimanitas is now considered part of Havana.
                   Although I did not have the pleasure of meeting Jose on this trip, I have been told that he has an energy that emanates from his body and transfers to all those around him. It's easy to believe after seeing how he's transformed his simple wooden abode into a massive art museum. It's not just his house, although his is the most elaborate, it's more than two blocks of houses. When he began this project 18 years ago, he had no idea the community would come together to make this a neighbourhood affair. He also didn't limit himself to painting, he also took up drawing, etching, ceramics & sculpture & is influenced by Antoni Gaudi & Pablo Picasso. Pictures don`t give you the full scope of this project.
                   I came accross this artist by chance while surfing the internet one day and bookmarked it. I decided to visit him on my last trip this past october. He wasn't there but we were graciously received by his son Alex. He was an excellent host with the little time he had and took us on a private tour of his home/studio. He was expecting a bus load of Americans on a humanitarian mission. When Jose Fuster is at home, he always finds the time to welcome anyone who visits. I'm looking forward to meeting him on my next trip.
                     The road to Jaimanitas, calle 226, runs off of 5th Ave and is marked by a street sign showing the way to the Fuster house. His street is 2 blocks towards the ocean going north. As soon as you take a few steps you realize you're not in Kansas anymore. It almost starts immediately, most of the fronts of houses are decorated in glazed tiles and majolica ceramics and in some cases even the sides and tops of houses are wildly painted and adorned.
                      When you finally get to his house you can see from the outside that this is going to be something special. When you step through the entrance it feels like you're entering a fairy tale, like Alice in Wonderland. The front door is always open and the locals that come by don't take notice of the Jose house but when you arrive here for the first time your eyes don't know where to look. You have huge statues over 2 meters tall covered in colorful ceramic tile. Most of the stone walls and ground are adorned with art of some kind but then you look up. You have multiple levels and balconie and several covered roofs. There's also a relatively new colossal sculpture that now stands as a revelation "The Olympus of The Five", a tribute to the five Cubans imprisoned in the US. Jose's tribute to freedom.

This video clip features Alex Fuster, Jose's son.
http://youtu.be/jXka6JvHna0

This is a video clip of the interior of the property.
http://youtu.be/JhrcbyIk6o4

5th Avenue

 

                                               The Walk to The House

The Front of The Jose Fuster House

                                                         A Bench Outside The House

                                                     The Wall in Front of The House

The Olympus of The Five

                                                          A Shot From The Top Balcony

Cohiba Magicos Maduro 5 & Romeo y Julieta Escudo EL 2007 (cigar reviews)

                  It's already cold up hear in Toronto, Canada. It was -1 celcius last night but we braved a couple of smokes in my friend's well equiped garage. The smokes I tried were the Cohiba Maduro 5 Magico a Petit Robusto at 52 x 115 (4 1/2") and the Romeo y Julieta EL 2007 Escudo a Robusto Extra at 50 x 141 (5.6").
                   I started with the Escudo thinking that the Maduro would be stronger. The Escudo packed a good punch. Started out fulled bodied and follows through consistantly with no variation until about 1 inch before the end and shortly after that mellows out. I hated putting it down but I couldn't hold it anymore. A great draw all the way through with a perfect burn and a beautiful wrapper. The ash fell only twice before I put it down. Hints of chocolate and leather. I'm going to enjoy smoking the rest of these cigars. GREAT
                   The Maduro in comparison, I wasn't crazy about. The wrapper, with it's 5 years of aging, looks beautiful, they honestly look great, oily and dark. It starts off full bodied as I expected with a woody taste but as I remembered them in the past, they have a bitterness that I'm not crazy about. The draw started decent but because of the roll being a bit off, the cigar burned unevenly & because of that, started to affect the draw.
It's not horrible and I'm sure they won't all be a bad roll, it's my taste. I prefer the non-cuban maduro that's a bit more on the sweeter side. I know these cigars are appreciated by many. I drank a decent Port with both smokes.

Quinta y 16 (cigar shop & restaurant)

               I discovered 'Quinta y 16' a few years ago when I started exploring all the cigar venues around Havana. I still have a lot more to see. It wasn't until my Cuban friend Orlens brought me here that I began to be a regular visitor.
               A lot has changed since my first visit; the management, decor, direction, but what remains the same is that it's a great location to kick back and have a smoke. There's also a pretty good restaurant in the back with live music and I always plan my visits around lunch time. The dining area is covered but open air. There are also private air-conditioned rooms upstairs for larger parties. There's also a nice humidor with a pretty good stock (it used to be better) of cigars and a room with lockers to store the cigars you buy if you can't take them all with you.
               The food in the restaurant is not bad. The filet of fish is okay but my friend had the breaded pork cutlet that was quite good. I know, it's only pork, but we're in Cuba and sometimes you gotta go with the flow. The servers are in training so be prepared for them to try and upsell you to the point of almost being annoying. Be patient, that's what they train them to do.
                The shop now has an added feature, Carlos Robaina. He has been recruited as the PR man for the place and does a wonderful job. He knows everybody and everyone knows him. I've know Carlos for years and he's a great host. It's always a pleasure to visit with him and to tell you the truth, I go more to see him than for any other reason. For those of you who don't know him, he's the son of the the late Alejandro Robaina. The manager is Osmany who's always ready with a smile and maybe if you're lucky, a cigar that is rolled in the store. If you're in the market, you should pick up some of these smokes, they're wonderful, perfectly rolled and great tasting.
                 If you have the time, I recommend paying a visit to 'Quinta y 16' at the corner of 5th Ave and 16th street, you can't miss it. Have lunch, relax, have a smoke, remember, you're in Cuba.

  

                                                                    The Restaurant

Carlos Robaina

Osmany

House Roller

The Humidor

La Catedral de San Cristobal (Habana Vieja) Havana

                    Sitting prominantly in the square thats named after it, 'Plaza de La Catedral', this beautiful example of baroque architecture began as 'Catedral de La Virgen Maria de La Concepcion Inmaculada de La Habana', wow, that's a lot to remember. After dedicating the church to Christopher Columbus it was referred to as 'La Catedral de San Cristobal' and is known as that today.
                     The church was constructed by Jesuits (1748-77) on the site of another church. The two bells in the taller tower are said to have been made from gold, silver & bronze & emit a different sound because of it. Like many churches in Havana, the building material (blocks) includes coral. These blocks were collected by the edge of the ocean by slaves & cut into blocks. You can see the fossils embedded in the stone.

                     In 1793 the church was elevated to a cathedral. The baroque interior is gone, having been changed in the 19th century but the facade remains the same. Copies of paintings by Rubens & Murillo appear on the altars as well as frescoes by Giuseppe Perovanni.

                     Admission is free. Open every day but the hours can change. Mass was 3 days a week.

Beth Shalom Synagogue, La Habana

                The Jewish community in Cuba is making a comeback after 37 years of Cuban Revolution. In the 1950's there were 15,000 Jews from all walks of life from families fleeing Europe in the early 1900's. After the Cuban Revolution almost the entire Jewish community left for Maimi & Israel, 90% of them. Today there are about 1,500 Jews in Cuba & most are senior citizen with about 75% concentrated in Havana and it's municipalities.
                 The Beth Shalom Synagogue, Gran Sinagoga Bet Shalom, was built in 1957 in an area in the Vedado district of Havana that was once a center of Jewish activity. With the coming of the revolution and the changing of the laws towards religion, the synagogue was neglected and by 1991, like many old buildings in Cuba today, was falling apart. Since 1992 however, the Synagogue has enjoyed a revitalization. Help came from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Comittee, a humanitarian organization. There were also wealthy Jewish donors from Miami. The group restored the building and it actually looks brand new. Today it contains the main community center and library with a nursery and educational activities to help bring back the youth into Jewish community. Services are held every week.