fly me to the moon...

Here is the cool thing about Havana.

I am living in history. It is a semi-functional museum that hasn't changed since 1959. The cars, the buildings, the president...

I love driving along the Malecon past the Hotel Riviera - Myer Lanski's gangster central. I will go inside in the new year, and see if I can take some funky photos.

Yesterday I had lunch at the Edificio Bacardi, which was the headquarters for Bacardi Rum, back in the day. It is one of the few well-maintained buildings in Central Havana, and it is an art-deco WONDER surrounded by crumbling buildings and decrepit streets.

But even better...

Last night we had dinner at the home of some British colleagues, and they live in Frank Sinatra's love nest. It is a lovely house, with a pool and a fantastic patio. Kind of off the beaten path, near the State school of music (which used to be the Havana golf club, before The Triumph Of The Revolution - which is how they mark before and after here). A nice house, but ever so much cooler when you know that this is where Frank brought the girls that he picked up at the Hotel Riviera when he wanted "a little privacy".

Wow.