Wednesday 28 August, 20:11. Havana. Cuba.
This is a selection of 395 images of a walk. It is not the whole walk, but a part of it. The challenge now is to select the right images so that, in principle, you will have a good time with me, something I would really like to do.
My words also appear as the threads of the story and seek to convey something that might be of use to you; an idea that might make you think because it resonates with this moment in your life, or some in the past.
You won't see anything from the future, unless you have superpowers.
I'm finding the selection of images quite complicated. I'd like you to give me a hand, but you see, I'm alone here, listening to music and thinking at times about the person I was, the person I am now and how much I've enjoyed this journey.
Now I'm going to select images and weave words. Give me your hand, let me take you through one of those portals I usually use to travel through time, would you like to? 😉
Ok.
Place: Harbour Avenue. Old Havana.
I am the photographer for a group of bartenders from Portugal and other parts of the world who came to visit, among many other places, the Museum of Rum.
I told you at the beginning that it is part of the tour. We moved from the Vedado neighbourhood in that bus. From now on, it's walking and for me it will be more complicated because I have to document everything. It will also be a lot of fun, I can assure you.
The sun is very strong. In the background you can admire the golden domes of the Russian Orthodox Church, a building that stands out a lot in that area.
Time flies while I work. I try to capture their joy and how they marvel at what is new. Havana is very picturesque for visitors.
The inner courtyard of that big house has a vibrant energy, there are a lot of people there and I have to keep an eye on my group of bartenders.
We are welcomed with a cocktail.
And others take the opportunity to get kisses 😁 - I have to say that the photographer struggles to stay away from alcohol.
They took pictures of me too, I'm pretty sure.
Everyone gets their cocktail and we set off to visit the exhibition.
Up the stairs we come into contact with the first device. It is for distilling rum.
Wait, it's difficult to capture everything and I have to wait for everybody to pass so I can get another angle from the top. And then, you know, run, because I can't miss any of this visit.
Oh, I don't see them... where did they go?
The photographer gets over the first fright but her senses are very sharpened. She hears a sound coming from a dark room. 😅
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An audio-visual presentation on the history of rum is offered and everyone is very attentive. Sugar cane is, of course, central to its production.
In the gallery of the cane, we can see the fresh imprint of the kisses he received and well, he didn't miss the cocktail either. He is holding it in his hand.
🤣
Sugar cane molasses will be something visitors will be able to taste. Let's wait and see if the photographer gets a good picture of it.
Those windows are really annoying... Use the Flash!
We are still grappling with the problem of lighting. Now there is a lack of light. And you should also know that a time jump has a certain danger of ghosts sneaking in, they are curious and want to accompany us on the journey.
It is a model of a sugar mill. I think it is very good and I looked for height to be able to capture the whole scene. I took this picture at very low speed so some people are moving and others are not.
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And in these two pictures you can see the difference if you use flash, which one do you prefer? I try to use it as little as possible.
Believe me this photo is difficult. And everything happens very fast.
The idea is to show the whole process of making rum and everything that goes into it. This room shows a cellar full of barrels to age the rum.
On this page there is a virtual tour... to give you an idea of the time we spent in there.
It's time to taste the star product of the moment, and to pair it with the famous Habano cigar.
This table will soon be a total mess...
Someone tells me to drink (BEBA). 🙁
😁
Someone tells me to smoke 😣
Honestly, I don't like to be inside a room where everyone smokes. I demand compensations hahahaha....
I like this picture.
I don't remember this part of the tasting if you had to put smoke inside the cup... someone enlighten me. I am not an expert in these matters.
I'm feeling a bit dizzy. Basically this is the route... and the photographer has been drinking and smoking indirectly.
When this was over, the route still had some way to go. We had to go to the Cathedral square, to the Bodeguita del Medio bar, to the Floridita... and I had to be ‘en talla como la gente de Playa’, in other words, ready.
It's a boozy ride. Remember, drink in moderation... hahaha... and what you don't know that in the evening I had to continue with them. Documenting all their visits.
Of course we had lunch... so much drinking without eating would not have been possible to bear.
How many photos have I edited?
I don't even know... I only know that I've been writing this post and selecting photos for hours.
A photo of the boys leaving the Cathedral. Let's continue with the subject at hand...
And I forgot to share this image with you. It is quite normal to see these horse-drawn carriages in the city, as they are a tourist attraction. I'm not in favour of this... 😟
It's just that this country is so hot, the sun is so strong.... Well, what were we doing... oh yes, we were going to the Floridita bar, the birthplace of the Daiquiri.
This was Ernest Hemingway's favourite bar.
And I think they were really enjoying this experience.
This is what that stretch of the walk was like. A very busy day. Of course there were 395 photos... I feel that there may have been many more that deserved to be shared and remained in the eternal sleep of my archive.
(It's a job I like to do, documenting...) Btw, it's 0:26 the next day.I'm going to sleep, and I hope you enjoyed going with me on this time jump into the past.
🥂
