Last week our younger daughter Morgan and I visited Cuba.

For many years I have been interested in the culture and ways of this country where much has been “on hold” since the 1950s. As many people know, I am most interested in the older version of things, especially as I become a bit of an older thing myself. Cuba was amazing!

The photo I have included today is a small indication of things we saw and experienced. To select one image from our trip was impossibly difficult. Many times we have heard of the older American cars, so I figured this might be fun to share. They were used everywhere, primarily as taxis for foreign visitors. Many of these car owners have converted the original gasoline big “V8” engines to more fuel efficient diesel motors made by Toyota, Hyundai and others. Diesel fuel costs approximately one CUC per liter or about $3.75 per gallon. Gasoline is more expensive.

Daughter Morgan was a Godsend. Her Spanish language skills amazed everyone. “How do you know our language so well?” was a frequent question. Morgan has studied Spanish since she was a young person in school. She also studied abroad in Spain and enrolled in an intensive immersion program in Nicaragua. Trips to Dominican Republic, and Guatemala furthered expanded her familiarity with the language. When she was in college she worked with immigrant families in Baltimore. Her ability to communicate easily in Cuba opened many doors which gave us a much more personalized experience.

Local friends have recently visited Cuba as well. Cathy Sherrill, Alva Achorn, Sara Walbridge, Chris and Deezie Flower among them. Their stories intrigued me. The opportunity bounced into my brain with little notice and a nonstop flight from Boston/Logan was secured without a plan. Morgan’s organizational skills ignited and we were off. We stayed in what is called a casa particular, in central Havana. This is part of a large network of private apartments (a b'nb of sorts) available for rent throughout the city.

It weren’t downtown Boothbay Hawbuh! Traffic in Cuba ain’t for sissies!

We’d go back in a heartbeat. Lovely people.