Santo Domingo Monochromes

12-14 September 2016, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Links go to posts with the colour versions of the images (where there may also be more information and context). If an image does not have a link, the preceding one applies. (Click on any image to see it larger).

Art vendor in the centre of the old city.

Catedral Primada de America.

Around the block from the Cathedral.

Inside the Cathedral.

Museo Casa de Tostado.

A statue of Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés in front of the Tower of Homage.

Fortaleza Ozama.

This vehicle was parked in the street right outside where we were staying, in the centre of the old city.

Wandering in Santo Domingo.

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes or the Church of Our Lady of the Mercedes.

Calle Hostos.

Monasterio de San Francisco.

Alcázar de Colón.

Museo de las Casas Reales.

Edges of the Old City.

Cuba Monochromes 4 of 4 Last Days in Havana

Nov17

1-12 September 2016, Havana, Cuba

Great music in a late night jazz bar.

Havana – An afternoon and evening.

1953 Oldsmobile – our taxi ride back to the hotel.

Passing train.

Havana – Botanic Gardens.

1949 Plymouth, just about to leave I think.

Havana – Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis.

(From the taxi).

1950 Plymouth.

Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis.

View from Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis.

At night after rain.

At a small outdoor art area.

Last Day in Havana.

Castell de la Real Fuerza.

Palacio de los Capitanes Generales.

Street performer.

Art market at the waterfront.

The old loco was just outside the art market.

Street scene with El Capitolio under repair in the background.

Street at night after rain.

So that’s the last post from Cuba. Santo Domingo from the Dominican Republic should be next but first there will be some more recent posts, one from a Blues Festival and a few from Montague Island off the South coast of New South Wales.

Cuba Monochromes 3 of 4 Havana Streets

Nov12

1-12 September 2016, Havana, Cuba

Our horse and carriage driver.

Havana – Street Photography from a Horse and Carriage.

Waiting for the bus.

Tuk tuk driver and El Capitolio in the background

Havana – Artifacts and Cars.

Waiting for assistance.

Musicians playing in the park outside our hotel.

Just passing by a very interesting curio shop.

Havana – Red Cars and Street Views.

Havana – Fusterlandia.

Locals around a mosaic mural featuring Hugo Chavez and the flags of Venezuela and Cuba.

1958 Ford Edsel Pacer convertible.

1950? De Soto convertible.

Havana – An afternoon and evening.

1958 Cadillac convertible.

1958 Chevrolet?

Elegant street view.

Rebuilding a street in the traditional fashion.

Maybe not much in the way of pollution controls.

Cuba Monochromes 2 of 4 Trinidad and Cienfuegos

Nov3

1-12 September 2016, Trinidad de Cuba, Cienfuegos, Cuba

1954 Chevrolet, still in Havana.

Havana to Topes de Collantes.

On the road…

1957 Plymouth.

Trinidad de Cuba.

Local gallery and hostal or B&B.

Local band.

1954 Chevrolet,

Not everyone drives cars …

Trinidad de Cuba was founded in 1514 and Cortes recruited here and left from here on his conquest of the Aztec Empire.

On the road again…

Cienfuegos.

We are now in the outskirts of Cienfuegos.

Catedral de la Purisma Conception.

Seafront exercises.

Heading for Havana; military truck and horse & cart.

On the street in Havana, after dark.

Return to Havana.

1947 or 48 Chevrolet on the left.

Havana – Artifacts and Cars.

Buick V8, 1953 or 54..

Musee de Arte Colonial (or the Colonial Art Museum).

A view of the Cathedral from the museum.

Last Day in Havana

Oct21

Havana, Cuba, 12 September 2016
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On our last day in Havana, after breakfast, we first visited a small outdoor art area not far from our hotel.

We then visited the Castell de la Real Fuerza. Here is the entrance from a few posts ago.

It was built in 1557, replacing a earlier fort that had been destroyed by a French privateer.

However, it was too far inside the harbour to be effective and was also too small. It was effectively replaced by the Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta at the entrance of the harbour and became the residence of the Governor of Havana.

It is considered the oldest stone fort in the Americas and these days houses a maritime museum.

This and the next three images are from the Museo de Arqueología.

This and the next image are from the Salon of Mesoamerica and Ecuador.

Next we visited the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, the residence of the Governors in the eighteenth century, now the museum of the City of Havana.

Early Cuban Flag, I think from the independence movement in the 1890s.

Inlaid box with ancient Egyptian references.

Street performer.

A couple we encountered recommended we visit an art market at the waterfront, so we did.

The old loco was just outside the art market.

Walking back to the hotel…

View from the window of our room.

In the late afternoon, I went for a walk in the back streets.

Street at night after rain.

So that was the last post on Cuba, although there are four monochrome posts to come next.

Havana – Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis

Oct13

Havana, Cuba, 11 September 2016
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The first six or seven images are taken from the taxi on the return trip from the Botanical Gardens to the Old City of Havana.

1949 Plymouth, just about to leave I think.

Café Colon.

1947 or 48 Dodge and 1950 Plymouth.

1950 Plymouth.

Lada or Moscovitch broken down.

At the corner of Parque Aracelio Iglesias on the Havana waterfront.

Back in Havana, we visited the Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis (i.e. It was originally the Church of St Francis of Assisi).

Exactly one year later, this scene would have been under about two metres of water, as Hurricane Irma hit Cuba as well as other Caribbean islands.

From an earlier post, Early Morning in Havana, this is an external view of the basilica across Plaza de San Francisco de Asis.

It was originally built by the Franciscans in 1591, but was rebuilt and extended from 1716 to 1739 after storm damage in 1680 & 1692 and the toppling of the tower by a hurricane in 1694. The British occupied Havana in 1762 during the Seven Years War and used it as an Anglican church. Consequently, the Catholic Church considered it desecrated and never again used it as a church. These days it is used as a concert hall and has excellent acoustics.

Looking up, inside the basilica.

A view of El Capitolio, under renovation.

Looking down on the Plaza of San Francisco de Asis.

As you can see, we are inside the belltower.

People and pigeons in the street below.

At night after rain.
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The resident band in our hotel (Conde de Villanueva).

Havana – Botanic Gardens

Oct5

Havana, Cuba, 11 September 2016
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This episode has been a little later than normal because I was laid low for a while with a kidney stone. Fine now. Lucky to live in a country with socialised medicine where everyone gets excellent medical attention and there is no charge for emergency care.

We got up early in the morning, when there were no people on the streets. After breakfast, we found a cab to go to the Botanic Gardens.

On the way we waited as a train went past.

As the sign says, this is the Special Train from Havana to Santiago de Cuba.

The specimens in the Botanic Gardens generally had no labels, so I’m not going to try to describe them.

A frog in a pond (middle left).

Probably a gecko.

Perhaps a bee hummingbird on its nest.

Havana – An afternoon and evening

Sep22

Havana, Cuba, 10 September 2016
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1950? De Soto convertible.

We had come from Fusterlandia (last post) but that visit was actually in the middle of the previous post, so this post follows on from that.

1958 Chevrolet?

We are back in Revolution Square.

1958 Cadillac convertible.

The blue taxi may be a 1950 DeSoto; the car on the right is a 1952 Chevrolet.

We visited Edificio Bacardi, built to be headquarters of the Bacardi Rum company. It is an art deco landmark, built in 1930 after an international architectural competition, and was nationalised by Castro in the early 1960s. (Also next three images)

On the street in Old Havana.

Horse and carriage in front of the Castillo de la Real Fuerza.

Elegant street view.

Streetside offerings.

Rebuilding a street in the traditional fashion.

Maybe not much in the way of pollution controls.

Residences.

We discovered some great music in a late night jazz bar.

1953 oldsmobile – our taxi ride back to the hotel.

Havana – Fusterlandia

Sep15

Havana, Cuba, 10 September 2016

This is the second of our three days in Havana after the end of the tour. We hired one of our local guides to show us around Havana. These images are from the middle of that day, in an art locale known as Fusterlandia.

(Click on any image to see it larger).

Fusterlandia is a small fishing village just outside Havana.

In 1975, José Fuster started this project by decorating his own house.

Since then it has spread to the parks and neighborhood, including over 80 homes.

1957 Chevrolet (taxi).

Local horse and cart.

Locals around a mural featuring Hugo Chavez and the flags of Venezuela and Cuba.

José Fuster is still living in the village and working on the project, at an age of around 75.

Just in case you didn’t notice, the dog is biological rather than ceramic and is probably not a permanent feature on the roof.

His art is distinctly Cuban, and includes influences from Gaudi, Brâncuși and Picasso.

Workers atop a nearby house, behind electrical wires.

Viva Cuba!.

A golden opportunity to do some sewing…

And a 1958 Edsel Pacer convertible arrives (!).

The Edsel was supposed to be a great new advance for Ford but instead became a byword for commercial failure. Although there were eighteen models initially available, the marque only lasted two years and cost Ford $US350 million.

Havana – Red Cars and Street Views

Sep8

Havana, Cuba, 10 September 2016

This is the second of our three days in Havana after the end of the tour. We hired one of our local guides to show us around Havana. These images are from the first part of that day. For the first seven or eight images we were on foot, heading for a taxi stand.

Just passing by a very interesting curio shop.

Looking down a street.

This image was a challenge in processing. Part of it was in bright sunlight and part in deep shadow. I had taken three exposures to cover the tonal range but combining them was very tricky due to the complex tonal boundaries, even using luminosity masking in Photoshop.

Street views as we walked along.

I think 1958 or 59 pickup, perhaps a Chev.

1953 or 54 convertible, maybe a Ford.

1953 Chevrolet.

Policeman on the street.

In between this image and the next one, we visited the Fusterlandia street art zone. That will be the next post.

1957 Chevrolet.

We stopped at the side of the road on the way back from Fusterlandia. Perhaps this was the taxi we were in, I don’t remember.

Dickey seat or rumble seat, 1930 Model A Ford Roadster (also next three images).

A bit later we stopped just out of Havana beside a river and lots of trees, where a couple of vintage cars were parked. Perhaps there was a rally nearby.