Cuba May 2009

     Hotel Raquel had VERY high ceilings with marble columns from 1908.  In the past, the building also served as a government office(the Cuban government owns all the property) and was a cigar warehouse before the renovation.  Their restaurant “Jardin del Eden” (Garden of Eden) served Kosher cuisine and the rooms were named after the 12 sons of Jacob – ours was Reuben.
     We knew that we were in old Havana with our iron framed single beds, a single mattress on springs and one pillow as opposed to 6 or 7 in 5 star hotels; an antique wardrobe for our clothes, tall louvered windows; a small marble balcony;  and a charming single elevator surrounded by iron grating (which reminded me of the “cage” elevators with an elevator attendant that my Dad used at 7 S. Dearborn, Chicago, in the 1940’s).