We stumbled upon a great museum that was a house of a wealthy sugar cane grower, built in the late 1800’s. Downstairs were exhibits; one was of amazing Spanish fans intricately carved from ivory, mother of pearl and with fans made of lace, feathers, etc. The ladies of the time used these works of art to keep off the heat of Havana. Also downstairs was an exhibit of totally unique ceramic art and as I was exclaiming on how much I liked it, a man with his wife and small son came up to me and said “this is my work”. He is a professor of ceramics at the University of Havana. VERY unusual and creative. Finally, the downstairs museums displayed a great many antique keys, locks and ironwork….all shown in the slideshow below.
Upstairs in this house museum were the living quarters of the family, all preserved just exactly as it was in the 1800’s….furniture and all.
The government owns every business in Cuba. New regulations are now permitting persons who are sole owners of a business (ice cream cart, musician, etc.) and this man had a great idea…..dressing up his dogs to take photos with for a tip. This is just outside the Ambos Mundos Hotel which means “Both Worlds”. Hemingway lived here in room 522, which is now a museum, for many years. A tale is told about a woman who was in love with him who stayed in another 5th floor room and climbed the railing along the outside to get to his room at night.
Penny In Paradise 