Cuba

An unforgettable experience visiting the island of Cuba on a Road Scholar photographic tour with a people to people connection. Please feel free to comment on the photos and add place names if you have them!
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We stayed at the Melia Habana, a hotel situated just off Malecon, which is the five mile coast road into Havana, and was built in 1994 at the height of the Russian influence in Cuba which is reflected in the architecture.
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We stayed at the Melia Habana, a hotel situated just off Malecon, which is the five mile coast road into Havana, and was built in 1994 at the height of the Russian influence in Cuba which is reflected in the architecture.

  • Looking at the porch through wooden slats of the window.
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  • We were offered a complimentary Cuban rum drink before every lunch and dinner.
  • Fusterlandia. Roofs, walls, doorways and benches, stretching for blocks around the epicenter of Jose Fuster's studio enclave, are adorned with his brightly colored sculptures and mosaics : mermaids, fish, palm trees, roosters and Santería saints. More than 80 neighbors have allowed Fuster to use their homes as his canvas.
  • Some of our group in Fusterlandia. Fuster says he puts his own money, — money he makes from selling his paintings and sculptures, — back into the community, redecorating his neighbor's houses, incorporating them into Fusterlandia. "This project is not only about my house. It's about my neighbor's houses. My neighbors are great people."
  • Fusterlandia. Fuster has made a major contribution over 10 years of work of rebuilding and decorating the fishing town of Jaimanitas in the outskirts of Havana, where he lives. Jaimanitas is now a unique work of public art where Fuster has decorated over 80 houses with ornate murals and domes to suit the personality of his neighbours
  • The bold splashes of color, the zany streetscape are his calling card; they embody Fuster's philosophy of how Cuban society should work.
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  • Fusterlandia, as this neighborhood is called, is a vibrant arts complex named after its originator and chief creative force, Jose Fuster. A self-effacing, middle-aged painter and sculptor, Fuster is recognized as one of Cuba’s most talented and iconic artists. In fact, many call him the “Picasso of the Caribbean.”
  • I heard the jingle music of an Ice Cream Truck and new immediately that there was ice cream in the vicinity! Although others balked, I searched him out and sure enough, I soon had an ice cream in hand on a hot, humid Cuban afternoon! He sweetly posed for me.
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  • There are several blocks in Jaimanitas, a neighborhood in northwest Havana, where the homes and the gates that surround them are covered entirely by mosaic tile. These ordinary homes began to be transformed into works of art three decades ago when artist Jose Fuster took up residence and opened his studio in the community. His own home is a mosaic wonderland with small colorful tiles adorning fountains, stairs, rooftops, benches and every other surface.
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  • We stayed at the Melia Habana, a hotel situated just off Malecon, which is the five mile coast road into Havana, and was built in 1994 at the height of the Russian influence in Cuba which is reflected in the architecture.
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