By: Maura Ginty on May 16, 2013
Legendary travel writer Jan Morris met in conversation with Recce editor Don George on May 8 at the New York Times Center in Manhattan. It was an exhilarating evening, with the talk ranging from the slopes of Mount Everest to the streets of Trieste, Italy.
Our own Maura Ginty was in attendance. Here are excerpts from the notes she took:
Eighty-six-year-old and absolutely amazing legend Jan Morris strolls onto the stage with a swagger – and casually reminds us that she will notice and remember those of us who did not clap.
Her conversation with Don George begins at the beginning of Morris’s career as a reporter, with the scoop of a lifetime: the first successful ascent of Mount Everest, by a British expedition team. Everest is a story Morris has told innumerable times, but she tolerates questions about it graciously. Describing...
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By: Adam Vaught on March 25, 2013
It’s an inevitable request from every group that travels through Cuba. At some point the novelty of the Hemingway bars wears off and visitors to Havana want something a little more authentic: “I want to drink where the locals drink!”
Until recently this was a tough request to honor. There are plenty of bars in Havana, but most are filled with tourists happily handing over the equivalent of $3 for a beer or $5 for a daiquiri, a price few Cubans would dream of paying. To truly drink with locals meant buying a bottle of cheap rum and hanging out on the malecon, the seaside road, or venturing into dingy establishments where grumpy old men huddled around an old TV watching a local baseball game. Neither provided the type of welcoming ambience most visitors were hoping for.
Enter El Chanchullero...
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By: Adam Vaught on March 23, 2013
It is known that in dance-obsessed Cuba, salsa and ballet reign supreme. With that in mind, we were a bit surprised when our partners in Havana approached us about attending a private performance of the country’s leading flamenco company. Skepticism quickly subsided when the Compania Irene Rodriguez began their performance in the rundown Centro Andalucía, a short walk from our hotel. Feet pounded the wooden floor, arms cut through the air and dresses whipped across the stage. For a moment I felt as if we had been transported from Havana Vieja back to the southern Spanish region where the iconic dance was born.
When the first number ended, the dancers left the stage, but Irene, the founder and director of the company, remained. With humble honesty, she spoke with our group about everything from the rising popularity of flamenco to her struggles to raise funds to afford...
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By: Adam Vaught on March 21, 2013
Urban organic farms, or organoponicos, are a classic example of Cuban ingenuity and resourcefulness. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Cuba saw an end to a preferential trade relationship that had propped up the nation’s economy for decades. Overnight the country lost 80 percent of its imports and 80 percent of its exports, and its GDP dropped by over 34 percent. Thus began an economic crisis that Fidel Castro dubbed the “periodo especial,” and the organoponico movement was born.
No longer able to rely on their government to provide for their everyday needs, Cubans turned to their rooftops and nearby empty lots and began growing the food they were no longer able to import. In 1995 the organoponico at Alamar (pictured), 15 miles east of Havana, started as a tiny garden tended by six novice farmers. Seventeen years...
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By: Adam Vaught on March 19, 2013
The small town of Jaimanitas lies about twenty minutes west of Central Havana on a stretch of rugged coast. This fishing community would feel just like many others across the island if it weren’t also home to one of Cuba’s most famous contemporary artists.
Renowned painter and ceramicist Jose Fuster is part of a small group of Cubans who, during the last 50 years, were given permission by the government to leave the country. Fuster spent years traveling across Europe and South America promoting his work and in doing so gained international acclaim. For our GeoEx groups, he has been gracious enough to open up his home and private gallery for a delicious lunch as well as a private tour.
The visit is as much about admiring Fuster’s work as it is about understanding what community has meant to Cubans who are still...
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