The following post has been brought to you by Kikita.
On my most recent Miami adventure, the Fabregas family had me over for dinner. Once we had finished dinner, dessert and café the strangest thing happened.
I'm not exactly sure how it happened other than the fact that I probably instigated it, but we all jumped up, piled into their über-cool van, and they showed me around "Sweet Home Hialeah."
Comeplete with a stop at . . .
Yes, MORRO CASTLE. For Churros con chocolate. It was a heavenly experience. As only churros con chocolate can be.
It wasn't until about three years ago that I really saw El Morro Castle. It was my first time at Cuba Nostalgia and when I found out that sitting on the wall in front of this castle-thingy was "THE thing to do," I simply HAD to do it too. Nevermind that I had no idea where this castle sat in relation to Havana . . . if taking a picture in front of it was a Cuban thing, I was going to do it.
Even when Mami wasn't there to take the picture for me, I still did it.
And always, El Morro was up and to my right. It was my "castle in the sky" just like the idea of ever seeing the REAL one in Havana seemed to be . . . until now.
Moments like this . . . I am keenly aware of how awesome God is. Not only did I get to re-create the very picture I had taken when it was "just a dream" . . . but it's as if He heard me say "One day, I want to make it to Morro Castle" and took me literally so I got to go to the Morro Castle in Hialeah as well as the one in Havana. (Sometimes that guy cracks me up!)
That is one of my dearest dreams too. To stand on the Malecon and look out at El Morro. Hopefully, one day soon, I’ll get to fulfill my dream as you did. Beautiful post, Kikita!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I took that same picture on my first trip to Cuba (after the flights were renewed – I had been there many times before, in my childhood). This was in 1979, and I remembered walking to El Malecon and getting my new dress soaked by the ocean foam, rising over the sea wall.
Well, it just so happened that after dinner we started to watch chef Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, and it was about a Cuban restaurant in NY. How appropriate for Kikita’s visit. After the show was over, the idea of going to the fountain in Hialeah on Okeechobee Rd came to mind and we all jumped in our van and drove there. We had a great time taking picture and remembering the video (Sweet Home Hialeah). That night was very cold and what does a Cuban do on a cold night in Hialeah? We headed to the Morro Castle so Kikita can have the whole experience. She also found out, that the owner of Morro Castle had a cafeteria/restaurant in the Hotel National in Cuba. What a happy encounter. 😉 Thank you Kikita for a night to remember. It was a blast. BTW, we’ve gone back to the Morro Castle again after that. What else is a Cuban to do on the coldest winter ever in Hialeah. 😉
Amylinda, I am so enjoying everything you are writing. I can’t comment on every post but they have been excellent. I smell a book coming on…
Wow. That last picture looks totally real. 😉
Morro Castle is literally 5 blocks from my house and I haven’t had churros there in years!! What is wrong with me?!? LOL.
Marta,And what she was wearing matched perfectly with the color of the ocean and the sky. 😉
It must have been a coincidence. LOL!!!
You just made me get a lil farklempt. I ‘m a born and bred Hialeah girl(Cuban of course)now living in Oklahoma, curently cooking ropa vieja (per your fabulous recipe) in the slow cooker. the only thing that rivals Morro Castle was Lila’s and their mountain of french fries over a palomilla steak. And then, there’s Chico’s right down the street where you can get cuvban food 24 hours a day-I miss my hometown!!!