!Cubalibre!

WE WANTED TO GO SOMEWHERE DIFFERENT for our honeymoon; I mean, that's the point isn't it? How about a trip back in time? How about somewhere the US government bans its citizens from going? How about one of the world's remaining Communist holdouts (talk about an anachronism)?

I knew the background: the history of the Revolution, the Bay of Pigs, Che Guevara's role, Castro's long-winded speeches, fields of sugarcane and tobacco, the music coming from everywhere, the role of the mob prior to the Revolution, Hemingway's hideouts... I also knew about the old American cars and motorcycles, a gearhead's dream come true. Thousands of Detroit dinosaurs ply the streets of Havana as taxis, some seemingly held together with duct-tape, others lovingly restored to perfection. If you're a fan of the '57 Chevy, this is the place to go. But when the Revolution came and the embargo started, time stood still. There aren't any American cars past 1961; newer cars are all Eastern European pieces of crap or Japanese mini-mobiles.

Little did I know, time stood still in other ways. There was no modem skateboarding before the Revolution, and I saw no traces of modem skateboarding while I was there (or. thankfully, rollerbiades). People are poor, and skateboards are luxuries far too expensive. But lo and behold, the last day of the trip, there they were. A group of kids clamoring around one simple toy in the shadow of the old capital, among tourists, students, and hawkers. And there it was, the precursor to the modern skateboard. It needed some revamped engineering--it only had three metal wheels, no trucks but simple axles, and the front panel had to go--but the core elements were there: hauling ass, taking spills, laughing with friends, the fake Converse All Stars. A step back in time. but with the reassurance that even a revolution can't stop evolution.