More Cuban decay

Every time I tried to take a picture the man would get out of the shot. I explained that I would like a picture of him with the trains, but he told me he was not the thing of importance, the trains were. Eventually he posed for the shot, but with his head bowed. Out of respect for the trains?  

For some reason I'm incredibly intrigued by decay. You know those arial photo's of plain graveyards in the desert? Or those stacks of cars waiting at car graveyards.. Or pictures of Tjernobyl, a whole city that's slowly falling apart.. You might argue that there's not much to like about those places but I always feel very atracted to them. Maybe it's related to the inclination to melancholy that's rooted in me, but on another level it's caused by the visual aspect of decay. I just really like the nice matte colors, the rust and the cracks in paint and walls, and all their different textures.
It's safe to say that for somebody who likes this kind off stuff, Cuba was a treat. Don't get me wrong. There's a lot of the more mainstream beauty there as well, it's not that the whole country is in a poignant state. But luckily for guys like me there is quite a bit of deacy to be found.

Right next to the famous Partagas cigar factory I spotted this train graveyard. The old man in the above picture took me on a guided mini-trip around the grounds. He told me he was the son of a brakeman and lived his whole life among these trains. He was born and raised in the town of Santa Clara, but when the trains moved to Havana, he went with his trains.
Although I barely speak Spanish, I could notice that the man was quite emotional when talking about the trains. I tried to get to kow what would happen with the trains, but all I could understand was that the old man was going to stay there as long as the trains were there.

Decay

Decay, I love it. It intrigues me.
I came across this incredible series of photos: Ruins Of Detroit. Check it out, they are truly amazing.
(If your there, the series about theatres is well worth it as well)
Thanks to the guys at the Nine Lives blog for posting this.

In other news, I bought this today!:

De Ruijter's Anijsblokjes, Ahh Nice!

When I was a little boy and couldn't sleep, my mother would make me a cup of hot milk with some anis in it. That would always do the job. It's not that I'm having any troubles sleeping lately (on the contrary), but when I saw this in the supermarket today I didn't think twice.

I've just enjoyed a nice hot cup while typing this and I am off to bed right now. For now hot milk with anis and a warm bed are my best defense against winter :-)