Day 862: Cuban Automobiles: The Nifty Fifties

For one interested in classic cars, a trip to Cuba is like visiting a museum.  The streets teem with hundreds of thousands of automobiles made in the US in the 1950s, many of which are in immaculate condition.  The trade embargo imposed by the US when Castro came to power largely dried up the source of new cars.  That the Cubans kept these old cars running (often with retrofit European or Asian engines) is a tribute to their resourcefulness and ingenuity.

If you’re one who thinks autos are nifty
From the decade after nineteen fifty
You’ll find your nirvana
On the streets of Havana
Preserved because Cubans are thrifty.

Day 861: Hotel Nacional

Built in 1930, Havana’s Hotel Nacional was once a place where the world’s elites
rubbed elbows. Laetitia and her group stayed there on the first tour she led in Cuba.
The hotel’s lengthy list of famous guests included Winston Churchill and the Duke of
Windsor and many famous movie stars of the past such as John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich and Marlon Brando.

At Hotel Nacional, famous hosts
Partied with high society’s toasts
The naive and the jaded
Though its glory’s now faded
It’s still haunted by distinguished ghosts.

Day 860: Knappogue Once Again

This is the third limerick from the limerick contest at a pub that occurred after Laetitia led a tour to Knappogue Castle in County Clare, Ireland.

02In Ireland, it’s hard to find fault
With a whiskey from pure barley malt
From a single pot still
It will give you a thrill
And you’ll judge it the best in the vault.

Day 859: Knappogue Again

This is the second limerick from the limerick contest at a pub that occurred after Laetitia led a tour to Knappogue Castle in County Clare, Ireland.

A Knappogue Castle Banquet complete
With Knappogue Castle Whiskey served neat
Is a treat, be you Irish
Or Italian or Bayerische
And one that you’ll likely repeat.

(Bayerische = Bavarian)