HAVANA,CUBA

had been for me the highlight of the cruise,I had been so excited to see the place where one man's whim and ill judgement had brought the world to the brink of a nuclear war.The world was saved but the price Cuba had paid for the political convictions of Castro and Guevara... Havana fell asleep a sleeping beauty and half a century later woke up an ugly sister.For hours I had walked the streets of this once magnificent city,many of them where no tourist has set a foot for decades.And so often did I think - surely no human being can live here.And then I saw the clothes drying on the balcony,heard a child cry, and I knew they do,they do. And I walked and walked and cried.