El Cochinito (Restaurant-Bar) Vedado, Havana

                     Normally I wouldn't go to a state-run restaurant but I couldn't resist this time. I walked or drove by this place on Calle 23 more than a dozen times during my last trip to Cuba and every time I went by the statue of the pig outside the restaurant's door caught my eye. The pig is there because the restaurant serves mostly pork products....I'm good with that. On this particular day while walking in this area, I was looking for someplace to have a quick lunch, hence the visit here.
                    The restaurant opened it's doors on December 25, 1965 through an initiative started by the late Celia Sanchez Manduley, Fidel Castro's right hand man (woman) during his formative years.
                    It's typical, lots of empty seats and no atmosphere. The service was as expected, once deciding on my meal and drink, I only saw my server one other time, to drop off my order. Nobody came by to ask how my food was or even to ask if I wanted another beer. When ordering, the server steered me towards one particular dish, Masas de Cerdo, when several of the ones I asked about were not available....I said 'fine', no point in arguing. The food was passable, I wasn't expecting gourmet or anything outstanding. Now that I've been here, I won't go back. The prices of the food are in MN, the national money (25 = $1). The food is inexpensive and the beer is the cheapest I've paid in the city. There's an inside, air-conditioned space as well as many tables and two bars on an outside patio.
                     Would I recommend coming here?.....It wasn't a ripoff, good value for your money but as I said, it isn't gourmet and I generally eat Cuban food in a Cuban's home.






El Cochinito Restaurant-Bar
Calle 23 Entre Calle H y J,
Vedado, Havana

Parque Princess Diana (Habana Vieja) Havana

                   Wow, I only read about this place a year or two ago and now that I'm doing my research I realize that this park has been here since 1997 and I never noticed it. The little Parquette sits hidden behind the Lonja de Commercio located at one of the corners of the Plaza San Fransisco, right in front of Havana Bay. It spends most of the day in the shade so it's a great spot to take a seat on one of it's benches and have a rest before continuing your day of touring.
                  The Garden was dedicated to the late Princess Diana of Wales (1961 - 1997). It was inaugurated a few months after her death in February of 1997 thanks to the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana, with funding by the British Embassy. Although  Cubans admired the Princess for her humanitarian work, they are still puzzled over this park. The 3-meter-tall sculpture in the middle of the garden was created by Cuban artists René Palenzuela and Alfredo Sosabravo & the sun sculpture by Juan Narciso Quintanilla. Other famous Cuban Artists have offered to donate works to this park. There’s also an engraved Welsh slate & stone plaque from Althorp, Northhampton County, where Lady Di was born. It was donated by the British Embassy.





Calle Baratillo, between Obrapía and Callejón de Carpineti

Faces of Cuba (May 2019)

                      I have done a couple of these pictorials already, showing regular Cuban people during their everyday routines sometimes caught in unusual positions or expressions. None of it is done with mal-intent and many of them were not taken with this Blog Post in mind but appeared to me after editing. It's obvious that most subjects wanted to have their picture taken while others didn't even know it was being done. I hope you enjoy.