Here is the man behind the name of the city--Vicente Ybor. He is responsible for bringing the cigar factory to Tampa. Cuban, Italian and Jewish immigrants migrated to the city and worked in the factories.



They have a trolley in Ybor.



This Saturday Market sign is upside down. A sign of discontent and strife?



Ybor City Museum

The museum is housed in this old Cuban bread bakery.





Some guy would crawl into the oven while it was still hot to repair the broken tiles. He would cover himself in wet burlap to do it.




El lector. This person was paid by the workers to read to them. El ingenioso hidalogo Don Quijote de la mancha was a popular read.





Factory work station.



Damn cigarettes.



Ten Year War



José Martí would stay in the house of Paulina Pedroso, a black Cuban immigrant, while staying in Ybor city in order to raise support for the Cuban independence movement. He would often stay up late into the night writing by candle light in her and her husbands house which is now a park commemorating Martí and his devotion to Cuban independence.



Immigrant Statue



Teddy was one rough rider cowboy.



These mosaic tiles are found outside the Columbia restaurant which has very good Cuban food. I love this tile and got a couple of post cards of it.



My mom and I. I had the loma de cerdo (pork) and we shared a pitcher of Mojitos. There were Cubans working there and eating there which I loved. It really reminded me of eating in Cuba especially when the Cuban guys kept checking me out to the point that even my mother noticed. That is Cuban men for you. God help you if you are a woman and a foreigner in Cuba. They will look at you no matter what. They are way more sexual and open then we are.



Here I am an amigo de José Martí. This park where Paulina Pedroso's house once sat is now a park owned by the Cuban government. The park is run by Cuban exiles now who keep it under lock because of vandalism which may be political in nature. They only keep the park open during the week for a couple of hours. Inside is soil from each of the provinces of Cuba. This kind of park is very common in Cuba.


Here he is the man who is adored by all Cubans.



I put my foot in trying to once again touch Cuban land. If I could go back I would....I really would. It makes me so sad that maybe I never will be able to go back. It was so expensive for me to go the first time through UB, I couldn't even afford it then, but I did it anyways. Now I can only go illegally and risk being punished for doing so. Land of the free people, land of the free.



I also stopped at this photo exhibit of pictures from Cuba. They had some nice work there, but I was expecting way more. I could have contributed if I had known.

My sister was hit by a drunk driver and is going to the hospital. I'm so glad that she is ok. He hit her going 75mph in a 45mph zone. Just thinking of what could of happened makes me cry.

I'm worried about my sister. I hope she doesn't have long term problems. She is hurting a lot from the collision, but at least she is alive. I can't believe this, I just saw her. Things are rough right now between her and my mom and It's scary how close we came to losing her. Maybe now their relationship will get better knowing that at any moment one of us could be gone.