Jeanine and I returned to the US last night after a week of being 100% off the grid to the best possible news. Maya has been offered one of only 81 spots at Olin College. She is pictured above at last month’s Candidate’s Weekend where she was evaluated by staff and students during a team project and in a final interview. Her acceptance letter included a $100,000, 4-year scholarship. We could not be more proud of or happier for her.
Located on the top floor of the eclectic early 20th-century Gómez Vila Building, 115 feet off the ground, the Cámara Oscura provides a 360-degree real time panoramic view of much of Old Havana and was our final destination on our last day in Cuba. It is the only one of its kind in Latin America. Camera obscura (from the Latin “camera”: (vaulted) chamber or room, and “obscura”: darkened) is the natural optical phenomenon that occurs when the image of a scene is projected through a pinhole (the first ever “lens”) onto the opposite wall of a darkened chamber. The camera obscura concept was eventually developed into the modern photographic camera in the first half of the 19th century when camera obscura boxes were used to expose light-sensitive materials. The word camera thus originated from the word chamber.
Cuba’s Cámara Oscura uses two lenses and a mirror located on a periscope. The image that is captured by the periscope is projected on a concave platform 6 foot in diameter, located inside a dark room. On a bright day this room sized camera is able to project panoramas or zoom in on people miles away in any direction.
After the demonstration we ventured out onto the rooftop to inspect the periscope and enjoy the spectacular views of the city. A more perfect way to cap our visit to Cuba we could not have hoped for. Our ride to the airport in another vintage car was the frosting on the cake.,
Cuba is literally a rolling car museum. Everywhere you look is an old-school American brand vehicle, ranging from Oldsmobile to Chevrolet, Buick to Ford and Chrysler’s old Plymouth brand. This stuck-in-time feeling Cuba has generated is the result of a four-decade-long ban on foreign vehicle imports, making it nearly impossible to buy a brand-new, foreign-made vehicle. The highlight of our day was a one hour tour we took in this 1952 Chevrolet, my first ride in a car older than I am.
It remains to be seen how the recent lifting of the ban will affect the classic car scene in Cuba. I sincerely hope it will not. Here is a sampling of some American classics.
Viñales is a town in western Cuba and we made the two hour journey there as part of an organized bus tour. Its main street is lined with colorful colonial-era wooden houses and it serves as a gateway to the Sierra de los Organos mountains and the Viñales Valley pictured above (please click on the image and then click on it again; it is the only way to appreciate the full splendor of the valley). The tall, steep-sided limestone hills, known as mogotes, are extremely photogenic and some contain caves and underground rivers. We stopped at one such cave where we explored the subterranean waterway by small boat.
Our agenda also included stops at a tobacco plantation and drying house, a rum factory, and, in the valley of Dos Hermanas, the Mural de la Prehistoria, an enormous (120 x 160 meters) al fresco painting on the side of a mogote. Created by Leovigildo González Morillo, it depicts the evolution of life in Cuba and was painted by brush over a period of five years.
Rated as one of the top restaurants in Havana, we dined at the Sociedad Asturiana Castropol after returning from Viñales. It is located right on the Malecon and as was to be expected, we enjoyed great live music. The food was very good, but nothing to write home about. A bargain by US standards, our meal cost what a policeman in Cuba makes in 2 months, just to put things in perspective. There are many compelling reasons to travel to Cuba but I would not place the culinary experience near the top of that list.
Given our time on the tour bus we got much less exercise today than the last two. Still we slept very well having walked to Old Havana well before dawn and finished the day with a late night stroll along the Malecon.
The most wonderful thing about Cuba is its people. They are very warm and loving, friendly and generous, living in harmony and welcoming to all who visit their island. Many have to struggle in an economy that has failed to deliver on the promises of socialism but this in turn has bred a nation of entrepreneurs and hard workers. Despite the poverty, we never felt unsafe at any time during our stay.
In the afternoon we joined an organized and informative tour of Havana but I could have just as easily spent the entire day shooting portraits. After the people, the thing we admired most about Cuba was the music. In the evening we enjoyed a dinner/concert presented by the Buenavista Social Club featuring legendary performers and music from the ’50s. Arriving early, we managed to obtain front row seats at the edge of an intimate stage which was simultaneously shared by singers, waiters, and dancers from the audience.
Jeanine and I arrived in Havana slightly before noon to warm if not sunny weather. Our first priority was exchanging US currency for CUCs (Cuban Convertible Pesos) as credit cards are not accepted and ATMs are unreliable and hard to locate. Next we hired a taxi to take us to our homestay at Casa la Familia in Centro Habana where we quickly settled in. Our host family speaks no English and our Spanish is not much better making for challenging communication. Eager to get some exercise, we set out on foot for Habana Vieja (Old Havana) by way of the Malecon, a broad esplanade, roadway and seawall which stretches for 5 miles along the coast. The sea was extremely rough and waves were constantly crashing over the wall so we elected to walk on the other side of the road.
One is immediately struck by the contrasts which exist in Cuba. For every beautifully restored colonial era building you can find one on the verge of collapse. For every shop lined, well maintained street you can find one that is literally strewn with rubble and abandoned buildings.
Two thing are consistent, however. Everywhere you go you will see wonderful vintage automobiles and hear musicians playing infectious latin music in the streets, bars, cafes and restaurants.
We rested our weary feet during a late lunch in a nice cafe before continuing our tour. By the time we reached our homestay, rain was threatening so we decided to have dinner nearby. As luck would have it we were one block away from a very fine Swedish-Cuban fusion restaurant. After dinner we were so tired that neither the street noise or sorry condition of our mattress kept us from sleeping like babies.
Maya spent last night on campus at Northeastern University where I joined her this morning for Admitted Students Welcome Day. Maya has been accepted into the College of Engineering Honors Program, a distinction offered to only 15% of the admitted class. Construction of the school’s new state-of-the-art engineering building was just completed and it is quite beautiful.
A reception for the College of Engineering Honors students was held on the 17th floor of the Egan Research Center offering spectacular views of the Boston skyline. Hard to tell with Maya but I believe Northeastern will be on her short list.
Growing up in Schenectady I would have never imagined it would one day have a casino. Walking distance from Union College, the Rivers Casino with a 7,000 person capacity opened last month. I decided to pay it a visit as I began my journey back to Concord early this morning. I was pleasantly surprised to discover a decidedly understated building overlooking the Mohawk River replacing an ugly industrial site. An adjacent resort hotel and riverside condominiums are nearing completion and will transform the entire area into something infinitely more attractive than what stood there before. I view gambling as a tax on the statistically impaired but think the casino and adjacent properties may help to revitalize the city which now appears to be on the rebound after years of decline.
I decided to follow the Mohawk River and then the Hudson before heading for Massachusetts, pausing anytime I spotted something of photographic interest. The Rexford Bridge, above, is in the process of being replaced. If you zoom in you can see that the new piers are already in place. I suspect this scene will look significantly different the next time I visit. Below are the Cohoes Falls which I did not even know existed despite growing up less than 30 minutes from them.
The bridges below carry Interstate-87 traffic over the Mohawk. I have traversed them many times but never enjoyed this view.
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For the second time in as many years (March 6, 2015) I visited the New Croton Dam. This time as a waypoint on a 420 mile one-day road trip from Concord to Little Neck, NY and then on to Schenectady, NY. Technically, it was more of a bus/delivery service than a road trip. My mother asked if I could drive her back to her home from NYC. Her last trip on the bus did not go very well and she also wanted me to transport a few pieces of furniture back to her home. Croton-on-Hudson was not too far out of the way and I needed something to break up all the driving. During the second leg of the journey I used the time to quiz my mother about our family history. I learned that my maternal grandfather remarried after divorcing from my grandmother and had 5 children with his second wife. I only knew about one of them so this trip netted me several new step aunts and uncles.
By my estimation, I have bought and sold more than 30 cameras since I took up a serious interest in photography while studying at Stanford. I currently own six (2 Canon, 3 Sony, and 1 Nikon), each serving a different application. Today I had occasion to think back on the first camera I ever purchased. It was the film-based Konica FS1, distinguished as the first SLR to incorporate a built-in motor drive. It remained my only camera for almost 20 years until I switched to digital in 1999.
The entire eastern seaboard was pummeled by a powerful “nor’easter” yesterday. The two feet of snow that was forecasted for our area missed us by about 30 miles as the blizzard veered inland when it reached Massachusetts. Even still, we got more than our fair share before it turned into freezing rain. I had the good sense to clear a major portion of the drive last night before the rain arrived. The ice-caked snow that remained this morning was impervious to our snowblower and after replacing two shear pins I decided to let the sun do its work before making another attempt.
With a blizzard raging outside today, I had time to process additional photos from our recent visit to New York City. Caleb is a freshman at Tufts majoring in political science. Maya got to know him while on a school trip to Paris many years ago and they have been dating for the past 6 months. The parental units approve of him. He is intelligent, charming, and kind to Maya. Neither Kyle nor Nicolai has threatened him with bodily harm suggesting he has cleared that all-important hurdle. We enjoyed getting to know him better on this trip.
The life-size dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History are nothing short of spectacular. I decided they warranted a post of their own. If a picture is worth a thousand words, these displays are worth a million. Life-like in every detail, they are true works of art. Maya: Did you notice the otter?
Over the many visits I have made to Manhattan over my lifetime, I have never paused to enjoy Central Park. Jeanine and I braved the cold and wind to complete a 4 mile tour of the southern end of the park this morning after visiting with my mother and aunt and dropping off Maya and Caleb to rendezvous with a friend. The views from Belvedere Castle were impressive but not nearly as exciting to Jeanine as a visit to the Swedish Cottage, home to one of the last public marionette companies in the United States. Unfortunately, advanced reservations were required for the performance.
After a so-so lunch at Dean & DeLuca’s we visited the American Museum of Natural History, one of the world’s preeminent scientific and cultural institutions. Founded in 1869, the Museum has advanced its mission to discover, interpret, and disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe. I was drawn to the dinosaur displays while Jeanine preferred the furry mammals. Maya and Caleb caught up with us later in the day before we set out on our return journey to Boston.
The newly discovered 122-foot-long Titanosaur pictured below is arguably the most impressive fossil ever discovered and its 39-foot-long neck extends out the door of the Wallach Orientation Center into the next room. Discovered in 2012, this dinosaur is estimated to have weighed 70 tons and is thought to have been a juvenile. Hard to imagine how big momma and papa would have been.
