Awful, terrible, shameful! How dare you post these pictures of the blatant exploitation of the Cuban masses! We are much better off today with derrumbes and croquetas de buitre than when we had shameful capitalist, yanqui jewelry stores in Havana!

Alberto, if I show your blog to my mom, she'll start crying like a baby remembering her city how she left it. You are doing God's work with this blog, giving the lie to all of the crap we have heard from the press for so, so long.

Congrats, dude.

BTW, Val, you must be fucking tired, bro. Isn't this like the 15th blog you've been a blog-father to? You slut.

George, three words:

Little blue pill.

¡Ahora si que me la pusistes en China! Is this a Matrix reference or a contraceptive reference? I'm feeling a little dense right now...

As an owner of two Nitza Villapol's cookbook (one my Mom got me and photocopies Abuela saco de Cuba) this is wonderful! And the pictures are priceless....these and many other BC Cuba pictures are all I have to "hilbanar" Abuelas stories and imagine the place she so much talked about. Thank you!!!!

I GOT IT! Viagra! But you're still a slut...

Ill be here all week, folks...

LOL!!!

Is is just me or is this is starting to look like a truth spreading Cubano Americano coup d'état of the blogasphere? Got that fidel? We are exposing your lies. Congrats Alberto, your blog is wonderful!

Ladies, gents...I am so honored...I didn't want to come on to the blogosphere as a braggart and exhibitionist. So I wasn't letting everyone and his abuelo and abuela know about the little blog. But again, am humbled, honored, embarassed by the attention. You guys and gals gave me the inspiration to do this. I won't spend too much time explaining the rationale and philosophy behind it - you can read it in the blog itself. This is also a dress rehearsal for the one I plan to do on our last home in Havana - El Focsa - a very special place - made special by all the good people that lived there.

One thing that puzzles me Val - where's the Cuban Cowboy?? Are you referring to a certain photo of a 9-year old John Wayne-in-"Sands of Iwo Jima" wannabe? Complete with Palco brand Cub Scout canteen?

PS Needless to say, you are linked to Havana5060, 'bro, whether you like it or not!

He looked like a Cowboy to me...it is, after all, John Wayne.

And another thing, before my train of thought derails: Hope and pray fervently this will encourage all of YOU out there to tell and "blog" your stories, and bombard the web/net/red, whatever you wanna call it, with the tales and images of our lands, families, friends...all are valuable and should not be hidden. Bequeath this to your children, grandchildren, friends, acquaintances; you name it. By doing this, we counter and destroy kagaSStro's propaganda, against us, Cuba, America and all that is good and true. YA NO MAS!

iFelicitaciones, Alberto! !Estoy muy alegre, su trabajo es muy excelente!

You know, next time I visit Papi, I will record our conversations...he always goes non-stop for about 2 hours with stories of his youth in Cuba, and I will follow Alberto's lead and do a blog in his honor, with the name of the restuarant he used to own in Havana....Thank you Alberto, I think sobra decirte que eres una inspiracion para todos

Thanks Alberto!!
I had already found Alberto's blog...and Bam!! I found out we were neighbors in Cuba!!
Actually Alberto's family knew relatives of mine in El Focsa...got to love these Cubans....we are everywhere!
I LOVED looking at the pictures...I remember the jewelry store, but not like it was originally,since Castro disfigured that whole entire area, but still nice to remember "the way we were"....
Thank YOU ALberto!!
Keep blogging Ya'll!!

I had already visited Alberto Quiroga's blog a few times --I'd be hard-pressed to explain how I found it, but the important thing is that I did, because it is a thing of beauty, a great cultural treasure.
I was born and raised in Guines, about 50 kilometers southeast of the city of Havana, but my father worked for the COA --la Compa~n'ia de Omnibus Aliados-- and most of the time, he worked in the nation's capital. He probably knew its street system better than that of our own home town, and he was charged with supervising the network of bus routes, which ones you could transfer to (the transfer cost *three cents* in those days, people!), etc. etc. and I got to spend many a workday with him, moving from bus route to bus route all over the city.
And his mother, the only grandparent I ever got to know, was just as expert in her home city. Once she took me to the very spot where the English landed to invade the island. And very
innocently, I asked her "Were you there to see them land?" And she answered me with a strong "cocotazo," (a rap on the head) adding: Atrevido, as'i no le puedes hablar a tu abuela! (You brazen kid, you can't talk like that to your grandmother!).
That's how I got to know a lot of the streets, shopping centers and other landmarks of the city of San Crist'obal de La Habana.
Alberto's blog brings back a lot of those memories to me, precious moments that nowadays only survive in fading memories, now that both my father and grandmother are gone from this earth.
So please, please, folks, I beg you to grab a casette tape recorder and sit down with your elders, and just let them talk and talk --and ask them a lot of questions-- because with each passing generation, a lot of history simply fades away and disappears.
The upcoming Nochebuena gatherings are ideal for this project, because you can do it just a bit at a time, and the festive moments will tend to stimulate everyone's memory. You get the hint, Val Prieto?
Thanks, Alberto, for your labor of love!
Julio

Everyone - muchisimas gracias por todos los halagos inmerecidos. Now - start recording and saving those memories, and don't be shy about sharing them; I only wish these wonderful tools we have to do all that had been around 20 years ago! Julio - I remember quite a few trips in "COA" buses, usually with an aunt or uncle to La Habana Vieja. You brought back the smell of the city; in my nostalgic old age, even the smell of the buses and trucks' diesel fumes is like perfume. And the smell of churros too comes to mind.

Just grab those recorders-better yet, use a digital camcorder if possible-and interview your parents, abuelos, abuelas - do it before it is too late; gather up the old photos preserve them, and share them. Que se sepa quienes eramos, y somos; que se sepa lo que era Cuba.

I want to add my encouragement to all of you to record your stories and the stories of the old folks. Unfortunately, all of my relatives who once lived in Cuba have passed away now, so I missed my chance.

Folks, most young Americans (and probably people in other countries, too) think that Cuba was a wretched, third-world country before fidel. It's important that the stories and photographs pointing out fidel's lies be made public.

And, Alberto's blog is just wonderful. Go read it.