Today we were on our own with no tours. We did, however, have a late morning reservation to visit Casa Gilardi. Born in Guadalajara in 1902, Luis Barragan was a noted Mexican architect. He worked in a minimalist style and favored very bright colors. His studio is a small museum also in the city, and the last house he built in the late 1970’s, Casa Gilardi, is open for visitors by appointment. Real people live here and one of the sons of that family gave us a brief history of Barragan and the house.
Interior of Casa GilardiRed and blue walls next to pool of water
There are almost no furnishings or personal items on display; instead you focus on bright blue and red walls bordering a pool, a hallway that glows in yellow, and on the exterior walls painted an intense magenta and a deep purple. On the open air upper deck, the house envelops a jacaranda tree whose light purple blooms stood out against the magenta wall which is also a backdrop for three tall cacti. Inside is some warm wood flooring, a large leather sectional sofa in a living room and a small wood dining table for four, but that’s pretty much it for furniture. It was fascinating to watch the play of light and shadows on all the colored surfaces, but not a place I’d choose to live.
Outside veranda, Casa Gilardi
DINING OUT
We had lunch at a very popular seafood restaurant in the Roma section of the city. Following our usual pattern, we checked what time Contramar opened and when we noted noon, figured we could arrive about 12:30 for our 1:30 reservation. This way we could assuage our hunger (breakfast for us is always early) and be there ahead of the crowd. And by shortly after 1:00, the dining room was almost full!
The menu had seafood and fish in many forms from whole grilled fish to spicy shrimp soup to tacos of all sorts to seafood salads. We sampled the octopus salad (quite lovely), shrimp soup, the fried kingfish tacos, and their margaritas. All tasty. The Chief Penguin then ordered the traditional flan which he enjoyed. I’m not a fan of flans; to me, it’s of a piece with floating island, rice pudding, and tapioca, all of which I find too bland.
Octopus salad
We attempted to walk back to our hotel and went a few blocks only to discover that not only are all the museums closed on Mondays, but also the big Chapultepec park which is the most direct route to our hotel. Thus stymied, we called an Uber. Fortunately, there are a lot of Ubers in this city and we have now Ubered around four or five times. And, compared to cities like New York, the fares are cheap!
Later we took a walk in Lincoln Park, a small oasis of green with a well equipped children’s play area, and then, for a change of pace, had an early evening nibble at Lardo. This casual Italian restaurant serves lots of small plates plus a few entrees. Not being too hungry, we grazed on mixed olives and almonds, tasty stuffed zucchini blossoms (a rare delicacy), and a mini tomato pizza topped with a few capers and anchovies. Just enough to get us through the night.
Note: All photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved).
Metal mosquito sculpture on exterior of art factory
Last night was more of an adventure than we anticipated. As scheduled, we arrived at the Cuban Art Factory, a repurposed cooking oil factory with exhibit galleries, a movie theater, and performance space, for a tour by a young staff member. He explained that the factory had been empty for more than 30 years and that they had to renovate it before opening several years ago. They now offer programming every evening from Thursday to Sunday and draw 2500 guests. There are nine bars scattered about and a private restaurant on the top floor.
We toured two levels of art and were impressed by the range of photography and paintings, much of it focusing on social issues.
Full length wall mural for which I didn’t get the artistCarlos Marx by Lazaro SaavedraPart of a larger piece showing people at ease by Toirac & Marin
It had begun to rain and on the way upstairs to Tierra for dinner, we were briefly outside in the rain. We walked through one area of tables and then through a glass door to our table. We ordered drinks and then watched the teeming rain cascade off the plastic covering of the space next to us. It streamed down repeatedly and suddenly everything went dark. The tables all had candles, and most everyone around had a smartphone with a flashlight for reading the menu. Meanwhile I watched more rain pour off the plastic tarp roofing in the next room and hoped that there would be no dire consequences.
Our drinks eventually arrived and we ordered the rest of our meal. Although there were no salads to be had, surprisingly, this kitchen and waitstaff working by flashlight and candles, were able to produce fish and chips and a chicken Thai dish that was very good! Despite the pounding rain and the lack of illumination, no one left the dining room prematurely. Joining us at the table was William Acosta, an up and coming young painter, who is doing very well. He previously did sculpture, but found painting to be easier to create (supplies have to be ordered from abroad in advance) and more salable. He is represented by art dealers in New York and San Francisco and other cities and will be a part of the Havana Biennial (big art show) in April.
It was still raining hard and dark as we left the restaurant and carefully picked our way down the several levels of stairs, iPhone flashlights in hand, to board our bus back. It was dark all the way and the hotel too was dark. The rain was so heavy that we had puddles on our stone floor from the wind and heavy rain that came through one window and under the door. With no light (it was already 10:30 pm), we went to bed and were reassured when the ceiling fan whirred to life around 2:30 am.
Insights from a Journalist
On Monday morning, we had awonderful talk on Cuba from the perspective of an American journalist Marc Frank, now with Reuters who previously worked as a reporter for ABC News. Author of Cuban Revelations, he has lived in Havana for more than 20 years, is married to a Cuban woman, and has both a daughter and a stepdaughter. Instead of PowerPoint, he had props or toys, as he called them, to illustrate his talk: a water bottle for the U. S., its cap to represent Cuba, and a small red funnel with line markings he used to describe different periods in Cuba’s history.
Initially he told us that he had been awakened at 3:30 am by a phone call from someone in the Dominican Republic informing him about the tornado in Havana. He didn’t believe it at first, but other calls followed. This was the first most of us knew that last night’s weather had been a particularly strong and destructive tornado and the first one in Havana since 1940. Mr. Frank was a fount of information and insights, amusing, and easy to listen to. We had several morning presentations during our trip, and since we were a small group, these were easily accommodated in the hotel’s outdoor garden area.
Architectural tour
The rest of the morning was devoted to a walking tour with noted Cuban architect, Universo Garcia Lorenzo, who is also a professor of design.
Passionate about his calling, he led us on a delightful stroll down the Paseo del Prada describing the architectural styles and history of the buildings on either side of the promenade and also took us into the lobbies of two hotels. He and his architect wife renovated the Hotel Telegrafo named for the first telegraph station.
Professor Garcia Lorenzo
They retained the style of the original façade and added two stories which have a simpler more contemporary look to them. The lobby inside was gorgeous, on one side very modern and on the other more traditional with the original stone arches and a lovely soft toned mural. The other hotel, Hotel Sevilla, was also grand and beautiful, but totally different in style. It was a great presentation!
Exterior of Hotel Telegrafo
Lobby seating in Hotel Telegrafo
Lunch and afternoon touring
Lunch was at the famous and old restaurant, Paladar La Guarida, in a building that, although in need of repair, has an impressive winding staircase. The dining rooms have ochre walls covered with historic photos and memorabilia. We got several small appetizers—squash soup, tiny fish taco, eggplant caviar in a cream sauce, and a spinach crepe filled with chicken in a mild raspberry coulis.
Three of the appetizers: soup, taco, and eggplant
These were followed by a choice of entree: baked lemon chicken, grilled fish, pork, or lobster. I had the chicken and the Chief Penguin the fish, and both were very good. On the table for all were bowls of white rice, Moors & Christians (black beans and rice), boiled yucca, and fried plantains. Dessert was a tiny taste of lemon pudding and crumbled cookie and a small mound of chocolate pudding. Mojitos to start as usual. Very tasty lunch and again plenty of food! Those who know me well know I’m a foodie so I’m always ready to describe what we ate!
After lunch we visited the famous Revolution Square, a wide-open paved space surrounded by government buildings and monuments. It is here that in January 1998 one million Cubans came to hear Pope John Paul II say mass and here also that Fidel Castro delivered a six-hour speech. There is something to see in all directions: next to a tall tower a statue of Jose San Marti, philosopher and poet and probably the most famous person all Cubans relate to, and black outlines of the faces of Che Guevara and another revolutionary, Camilo Ciengfuegos, on the Ministry of the Interior and the telecommunications buildings.
Jose Marti statue Che Guevara mural
The next stop was lighter in mood as we stepped back in time to the historic Hotel Nacional. Dating to the 1930’s, it attracted international visitors and performers from around the world. In the lounge are large posters, one for each decade from the 1930’s to the present, with photographs of some of these personages. Everyone from Churchill and Obama to Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra.
Our last stop of the day was a huge arts and crafts warehouse on the Malecon with stall after stall of t-shirts, leather handbags and wallets, cigars, and the like, plus at the back, rows and rows of Cuban drawings and paintings.
Percussion, anyone?
In the evening two teachers from the Havana Music School demonstrated several different percussion instruments. Then they taught us the techniques for playing them: clava, washboard gourd, and maracas. Having mastered these, or not, we then tried to incorporate salsa dance steps with the instruments. Several of us were very adept at one or the other, but only one person seemed able to do two things at once—play and dance simultaneously!
We enjoyed our brief trip to Winter Park last February so much that we decided to repeat the trip this week. Winter Park began as a refuge for the moneyed set, a winter playground as it were, and it’s clear that it’s still a wealthy place with a cultural life built around Rollins College. Amtrak trains stop at the station in the center of town and there’s a commuter train as well.
Arriving by car, we returned to the lovely Alfond Inn. It’s owned by the college and the proceeds go to support student scholarships. The hotel’s public spaces are particularly lovely and are enlivened by paintings from the college’s contemporary art collection. It was fun to see which ones were new and which we remembered from the last visit.
We lunched outside at the Parkview on Park Avenue, the main street, and then walked the few blocks to Lake Osceola for the 1:00 pm boat tour. Located north of Orlando, Winter Park is charm itself, and this peaceful lake is one in a string of six interconnected lakes.
The captain and guide on our open pontoon boat navigated around the lake and through several narrow canals giving us local history and pointing out the Rollins president’s house and other noteworthy homes fronting on the water almost all with private docks. Inching through the canals, we crept under low bridges and alongside residents’ boathouses. Large trees and lush vegetation, Spanish moss and giant ferns edged the shore. There was no wind and our one hour cruise most pleasant.
CARILLON PAR EXCELLENCE
On the trip home, we made a slight detour to Lake Wales in Polk County to visit Bok Tower Gardens. This somewhat hidden attraction is a real gem and well worth a visit. The gardens, designed by Frederick Olmsted of Central Park fame, feature a bog, wetlands, wildflowers and endangered plants. We noted camellias and other blooms on our walk.
But the centerpiece of this place, and the highlight for us, was the Singing Tower looming 205 feet into the air and on the highest land in all of Florida. Initiated by Edward Bok of Curtis Publishing, and dedicated by President Coolidge in 1929, the tower is made of gorgeous pink Georgia marble and coquina stone and houses one of the world’s largest carillons. Its 60 bells are played daily in half-hour concerts at 1:00 and 3:00 pm.
Before the first concert, we enjoyed salads at the Blue Palmetto Cafe and chanced to see the resident carillonneur, Geert D’hollander, at the next table. The Chief Penguin engaged him in conversation and learned that, Belgian by birth, he came here from UC Berkeley in 2012, found himself a wife, and just last week became a U.S. citizen.
He said that playing here was a treat—the isolated location means that there is no ambient noise from sirens or traffic and no students to complain if he plays too long! The program brochure noted that he has won first prize in more than 30 international competitions for carillon or composition. The afternoon concert was most enjoyable and played by a visiting fellow from the University of Rochester.
There is a modest admission charge to the gardens of $15 for adults, and the visitor center offers an introductory video along with an art exhibit and a gift shop.
We spent Saturday in a relaxed fashion catching up on blog and photo editing before heading into town. Our first stop in was the lovely and quite old (1876) Oamaru Public Gardens. Lots of mature trees, a stream, and little paths with stone steps and along stone walls leading to quiet nooks and crannies. Rhododendrons were in full bloom and several cherry trees were raining petals over the red arched bridge. Apparently, Oamaru at one point had the largest Chinese population in New Zealand, not so much any more.
Part of the garden called Wonderland is dedicated to children and there’s a playful sculpture of a boy and girl clambering on a rock. We easily spend an hour wandering, looking and savoring its peaceful greenness.
Later we returned to the Victorian Precinct which had just gotten a cursory look the day before. The architecture here and along the main street is mostly all built of the native limestone called whitestone. Also now the name of the local cheese company. This is late 19th and early 20th century architecture at its most classical with straight lines, columns and simple decorative elements.
The shops in the historic district run the gamut from the quirky to the less quirky. There are a couple of mostly used bookstores, a number of cafes (pastries, cookies and pies are big here), coffee shops (you are never far from the next cup of java), and a host of jewelry, soap, art and craft and candy shops. Most have some connection to the Victorian theme.
We had lunch in the oldest restaurant in the town and felt a part of the local culture as no one else looked to be a tourist. The Star & Garter has been the venue for many a wedding reception and the photos on the wall of brides and grooms go back more than 60 years. Lunch fare was a chicken enchilada (creamy with mushrooms, Oamaru style) and for me, panfried salmon with a green salad. Shortly after we ordered, I received the weekly Facetime call from our granddaughters. Quite amazing to be on the other side of the globe and talk as if they were only a few doors away!
We also popped into the Forrester Gallery briefly (see fossil of the animal moa above, a bird that existed in New Zealand until about 1500) and checked out the front of the public library (only open until 12:30 on Saturday). In fact, many stores close at 1:00 or 2:00 pm on Saturday, making me wonder what they do the rest of the weekend.
At dinner, we had the company of other guests, a young couple from Wellington on a weekend break (Monday is Labour Day). Sandra is from Liechtenstein and John from Fiji and we had fun learning more about their respective countries (actually L. is a principality with only 38,000 people and you can drive from one side to the other in half an hour!) and what it might be like to island hop in Fiji.
The meal was another scrumptious affair : salmon salad with smoked eggplant puree and cherry tomatoes and other mini veggies; fried duck egg on top of little potatoes with black truffle vinaigrette; venison striploin with wheatberry pilaf, and asparagus on butternut puree, and lastly, a frozen chestnut parfait and white chocolate mousee with cocoa nibs and dark chocolate soil. I was leery about the venison, but it was farm-raised and tender and delicious! Most of the veggies were grown here at Pen-y-bryn Lodge. Chef James both cooks and plays host before dinner and always looks relaxed and never harried.
