|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Down The Years // |
|
|
|
|||||||||
Opio para el pueblo – The Toten Hosen in Cuba – 15.5.-22.5.2001Something to browse through: the diary covering our trip to Cuba, 15-22.05.2001 May 15 | May 16 | May 17 | May 18 | May 19 | May 20 | May 21 | May 22
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
Day Two – in the Mafia HotelBecause of the time difference, every one who wanted to join us was up so early that we didn’t have to wait at all – the first time in the band’s history. Excursion to the old town. A district with the charm of run-down houses with the paint flaking off and picturesque photo backdrops that has become famous in our parts of the world through the film “Buena Vista Social Club”. I’m sure it’s a different story altogether if you have to live there. The young man who drove us into town certainly thought there was something wrong with us when one of us said that this or that street in the old town was especially beautiful. It later turned out that he lived in exactly that area. It remains a fact that old houses on the brink of collapsing such as these were never to be found in the former GDR, not even in the most decrepit districts. And you can ramble on for hours whether the fault lies with the bad economical policies or with the blockade by the US, that has been trying to starve out this country for over 40 years now. Probably a mixture of the two comes closest to the truth. Havana really is a wonderful-looking city, if you consider the historic parts and those that were built until the 1950s. But the true highlight is its inhabitants. Very friendly, very relaxed, one of the most easy-going towns in Central America, although the police are present everywhere and keep reminding you that the Maximo Líder keeps his thumb on people, especially those who don’t quite share his point of view. Which makes it even more absurd that every 200 metres someone tries to chat you up, wanting to sell “super cheap top quality” cigars and happily letting you know that “his wife, who works in a tobacco factory, has stolen them herself”. Our hotel, the Riviera, is quite something, too: built in the 1950s by an American gentleman called Meyer Lansky, better known as “Mafia banker” from the movie “The Godfather II”.
Andi and Meyer Lansky’s
diving platform. In those days, Mr. Lansky invested the money the Cosa Nostra made in the States in Cuba, big style. With the help of an extremely corrupt government, he and his friends had soon infiltrated large parts of the economy. Many “normal” economic groups of the USA operated in much the same way as the Mafia. No wonder that all of these were the first who had to get onto the boats and leave the island immediately after the revolution. By the way, this Lansky had a strange sense of humour: the swimming pool is unmistakably fashioned in the form of a coffin. Maybe a clue to the legend that is told about the diving platform of the pool: they say that some of Meyer’s worst enemies in the rivalling fight over the rule of this island’s underworld are walled into this platform...
Coffin-shaped pool
of the “Riviera”. In the afternoon, to get used to the climate, we made a little trip to a beach only 20 kilometres outside of town. A superb corner, and very quiet too, considering it’s only a 30-minutes drive from a city with roughly two million inhabitants: there were hardly any people there. No wonder, as we later learned that locals are not allowed on the beaches visited by tourists, to keep them from chatting them up or pick-pocketing. An outing with two sides to it. At 6 p.m. we called Campino on his cell phone to find out what to expect when we picked him up at the airport next day: a happy lead vocalist or a wreck in a foul mood? The connection was bad, but we caught a few bits and pieces that made us understand everything had gone well: “...it’s past midnight...still in the stadium...thank God I stayed on...25,000 Liverpool fans partying in Dortmund since the afternoon... who let the reds out, uh, uh, uh...”. A good tip for supper is one of the private restaurants. “Private” in a double sense: a few years ago, the government allowed for a little bit of private entrepreneur action to save the state from total collapse. So many Cubans opened little restaurants in their living rooms, where you can eat good food for a few dollars, literally sitting next to the resident family’s settee. It’s not really that cheap, as most things in Cuba, except for high volume alcohol, because everything is paid in US dollars and the exchange rate isn’t too good for the German mark at the moment.
Checking out the bar: Vom
No problem for Vom and Faust who got stuck to the hotel bar this night: our chubby band aid was afraid that the small staircases leading to the private restaurants would collapse underneath him and Vom wanted to find out whether Mojito or Cuba Libre had the best mixing ratio for rum... Best impression of the day: Wölli paddling in the sea, lying on his back with a cigar in his mouth, and someone calling: “Picture puzzle: which book by Hemingway is Wölli impersonating?”. Viele Grüße, Eure Hosen
|
||||||||||