Jacqueline Brito Jorge (Cuban Artist)

                  This artist came to my attention during the last Havana Biennial where she had a solo exhibit at the La Cabana Fortress venue. The theme was ships, the series of paintings on canvas were called 'Navegar', which translated means to navigate and in this sense, to sail.
                   She has had solo exhibits in Cuba, Colombia & USA and well as many others as part of a group all over the world....Costa Rica, Spain, Martinique, Italy, Germany, France, Dominican Republic, Canada, Lebanon, Colombia and many cities across the United States and Galleries all over Havana through the years.
                   Jacqueline Brito was born in Havana in 1973. After completing her years in the Elementary School of Plastic Arts in Havana she went on the graduate from the San Alejandro Provincial School of Plastic Arts (Havana) in 1991 and finally finishing her studies at the Superior Institute of Art in 1996 specializing in painting. Since graduating from ISA Jacqueline has been teaching in the school's Painting Department. I'm hoping I can visit her gallery-house on my next trip in a couple of weeks.

Bar-Restaurante IDEAS (Havana)

               I have to begin by saying that I have never eaten at this restaurant. We came upon it as we were walking along Linea and decided to take a peek inside. It's a nicely decorated space setup with a lounge area in front of the bar as well as the eating space & fair sized patio that overlooks Calle Linea close to the Malecon (or close enough to walk). This was a someone's house once and the buildings around it are still residential, you can see the neighbours next door going about their business on their terrace. The reasonably priced menu consists of pastas, pizzas and traditional Cuban dishes, limited fish and desserts. The wine list is small and has only 4 whites. The cocktail list is decent and competitively priced, they even have a Negroni. They don't have too many rums (6) but gin is in fashion in Havana now and they have 3 kinds of tonic waters available to go with the 6 Gins on their menu. Be aware that a gin and tonic can easily cost you $9 if they make it with Schweppes or Canada Dry tonic water instead of the local stuff. I'll be back to pick at something to eat and have a cocktail on the patio one day soon but in the meantime you can check out what the place looks like.

Below is the link to an article I found online:

http://www.finerestaurantfinder.com/restaurant/759909697377970/Bar-Restaurante+IDEAS


Calle Linea #110 Altos
Entre L y M
Vedado, Havana
tel. 7 8308900

Open 7 days a week: 12pm-1am

Road to Varadero (from Havana)

                      I've taken this road about a dozen times, more frequently as of late since the prices of direct flights to Havana from Toronto have escalated. Lately it's been worth taking the 2 hour drive from Varadero with all the money you can save if you fly into Varadero and catch a ride into Havana. I have a relative pick me up, you can otherwise find a local taxi or the bus to take you there. A car that goes direct without stopping might take about one and a half hours while a bus could take at least 2 hours. The ride is pretty boring with not much to see along the way (except for a couple of spots) until you get to Matanza city which is not far from the Varadero airport. These pictures are taken from several of those trips.