Tonight in Gothenburg.. Manolito y su Trabuco!

You see a lot of it in Havana. People practising their musical instruments in parks, the Malecon and other places, to avoid irritation from the neighbors.

I was passing by the harbor in Havana late 1993 when I saw this guy rehearsing with his trombone.
I took some pictures, he gave me his card and told me that they earlier that same year had formed a new band that played salsa, timba style.

Several years later there was a concert in Gothenburg/Sweden with a popular Cuban group called Manolito y su Trabuco.
For som reason (deeply hidden in the memory) I searched for that old card he once gave me… and yes, there it was: Manolito y su Trabuco les desea feliz Navidad y un prospero año nuevo…1993!

Brought the photo to the concert and went backstage to meet him. There he was, Juan Carlos (30kg bigger)  with his trombone.  I gave him the picture,  we had a laugh and a nice chat. He invited me to his place in Havana the next time I visited….  And I did, but that´s another story.

Manolito y su Trabuco started as a band 1993. Their first cd came 95. One of Cubas top 3 bands!!

Dead but happy!

The urge to share philosophical advice on social media seems endless.
Sometimes its interesting and thoughtful.  A lot of the wisdom though are
more of the new age type and that´s when it starts to flip and get really amusing!

This is my contribution on this theme..  don´t worry be happy

Photo taken at Playa del este, Havana, Cuba.

The pirate of the Titicaca lake!

Indisposed (to put it mildly) I stayed a few days in the Bolivian village Copacabana, (no, not the one in Rio) at the Titicaca lake  to recover.

When most of the amoebas had left my body I rented a rowing boat to get some exercise.

Just below 4000 m above sea level Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world. Sitting in a boat looking at the surrounding Andean mountain range is a sublime experience, and if on top of that the pirate of the Titicaca lake appears, there is not much more to desire is there?

The enormous lake is crossing the border between Bolivia and Peru. According to the Peruvian popular humour La parte de caca queda en Bolivia the (caca:shit) shitty part is placed in Bolivia.

In a way I can confirm that!

Click on photo to see full size!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Hidden


Me and my daughter made a lunch stop in the beautiful village of Valldemossa
in the Tramuntana mountains in Mallorca.
After eating we entered one of the many tourist shops to take a peek.

In one of the shelves there was a piece of red cloth. The funny thing is that it was something hidden moving around frantically beneath it.
This was definitely more intriguing than the souvenirs in the rest of the shop.

Suddenly the enigmatic being made a  move towards the outside world.  Cautiously the cloth opened on one side and something reddish peeped out.  It was a bill and with it came an eye…

-Se llama Oscar, y es muy tímido!   The owner explained.

His name is Oscar and he is very shy!

Wedding in the archipelago.

Had the honor to be photographer at HannaKristin and Johns wedding in the summer of 2006.  The ceremony and the dinner took place at the beautiful island of Hönö. It is situated in the archipelago just outside Gothenburg on the swedish west coast.

Calle Melones, Luyanó

Hector and Rodrigo. End of 1993.The brothers playing outside their house on calle Melones in Luyano. Havana, Cuba.
Hector now living in the USA. Rodrigo, despite that KO punch, is a renowned ballet dancer travelling around the world..

Parents must be proud!