This post originally appeared on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s blog. That blog has since been deleted, but the original context is viewable on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

We’re here. Our flight arrived on time at the Havana airport to beautiful weather. Low 80s and blue, sunny skies. We scooted through customs after a moderate amount of questioning and jumped in a taxi to make our way to the hotel.

The landscape immediately surrounding the airport is rural and open. But we soon found the population growing more dense and the buildings growing taller. The next thing we know, we’re in the heart of Havanna, passing monuments to the revolution and the Capitol. A few minutes later, we arrived at our hotel, located in the Habana Viejas (Old Havana). This is a very interesting neighborhood - a unique mix of circa 1500s and modern architecture, residential and commercial, wealth and poverty.

Not having eaten anything since the early morning in Toronto, we were all very hungry. The restaurant in our hotel is located in an open-air courtyard in the center of the structure. We enjoyed a late afternoon light lunch and our first Mojitos.

After some nourishment, we hit the streets to take in some sights before our dinner meeting with Elio, Rene and Alexis (three artists in the Queloides Exhibition - more to come on all the artists tomorrow). The amount of art and culture in this city is astounding. Everwhere you look there is culture. My eyes were darting from side to side just taking it all in.

Noticing the time, we needed to head back to the hotel for our dinner appointment with Elio, Rene and Alexis. An evening of fantastic conversation followed. Plans for today: Visit the Centro Wifredo Lam to document artists installing. More to come tomorrow!