I began my walk by photographing a doorway and a faded image on a wall. Perhaps I was merely warming up... or maybe what you’ll see from this point onwards carries a message somehow linked to those first two glimpses.
Something quite simple can utterly fascinate me, but this wood reminded me of the skin of someone who has lived a long, full life.El Che
Then, a bit further on, another door made me smile… it wasn’t alone. I spoke to its companion in a gentle tone: Don’t be startled… The man who was up on a tall ladder, doing a lovely job on that door, looked at me and, jokingly, replied with a question: ‘Why?’ — ‘I just thought, since you’re up on a ladder, if I suddenly spoke you might get a fright and lose your balance.’ — ‘Thank you,’ he said. And I asked his permission to photograph him.
He was laughing because, according to him, I’d taken about fifteen photos. In reality, it was only six shots. And with a touch of concern, I told him that probably only one would be any good… or maybe none at all… haha… I lied.
The laughter continued as I walked past a bar, stepped inside, and was taking photos of the place when, through the window, I saw them shooing away flies at the meat stall across the street.
HOY NO FÍO, FÍO MURIÓ, MALA PAGA LO MATÓ.
You won’t be able to tell what it is, because I took the photo while the gadged was in motion—but look, I’ll tell you what it is. It’s a plastic water bottle, filled with water, with strips of nylon hanging from the cap… And I must say, the sign made me laugh even more. Let’s see how this translates into English… 1, 2, 3, testing, ahem… haha… it goes like this:
NO CREDIT TODAY, CREDIT IS DEAD, BAD PAY KILLED HIM.
Blimey, now that I take a proper look at the man painting the door, he looks just like that well-known marathon runner—the policeman. Perhaps that’s why he told me he was used to being photographed. Do you think that’s him?
On the door it reads NO HAY. That’s precisely why I had to purge that diabolical phrase from my subconscious, as I explained in the day before yesterday’s post.
I went in, as I told you, to El Ángel de Tejadillo (The Angel of Tejadillo Street).
I don’t know what to say 😂 Would people in Spain recognise this man, by any chance?
From this point on… I was let down by a cheesecake, drank a jasmine tea that tasted of absolutely nothing… and fatigue tried to take over, but I didn’t let it.
The pizzas at this place used to be quite famous back in the day… but I didn’t order pizza—my mistake. My advice: be wary of a cheesecake in a place that specialises in pizzas and focaccias.Could’ve been worse… the photo, I mean. Haha…
Another street, people coming and going… Cubans waiting.
Contrasts… fancy seeing that house on the left from the inside? I took a photo through the window…
In black and white first, so you can savour its colours later.It’s a guesthouse, and the manager said I could step inside to take a photo. I just snapped this one, two steps in, and kept moving.
Men at work.
Funny how there’s always just one actually working, and the rest deep in conversation…
It’s 12:40 at night and I feel I should get some sleep… I’ll tell you more in a few hours.
A hug!
Oh... I snapped this just after hopping into a taxi out of Old Havana, heading towards the Playa municipality, and through a car window.
"Hang in there, baby", reads the T-shirt of the man standing in front oh him—and I reckon he really needed that message, because I saw the officer gave him a fine.
