We hadn't been to Viernes Culturales on Calle Ocho for years, so Friday we stopped by after drinks at the Biltmore. Since our last visit it had become more of a scene, with galleries showing art, restaurants featuring singers, a female mime in a long red dress standing statuesquely outside the Tower Theater, paella simmering in pans on the sidewalk, people dancing outside El Pub.
One gallery featured a jazz quartet just inside the entrance, while a cigar shop hosted an Afro-Cuban group: one man in a T-shirt, one in a polo shirt, one in a dress shirt with a loosened tie - all banging drums.
We scored some paella and then, in a grocery store, bought a bottle of Sidra el Gaitero. On the way to the car we watched the excellent dancers outside El Pub.
Viernes Culturales takes place the last Friday of every month. Perhaps something similar will take place every Friday after a Marlins home game. One can hope.
