CUBA -- Communing with "Papa" Hemingway

One of the things I love to do when I travel is to visit the homes, haunts and graves of famous historical figures. On this trip I got my chance to see Ernest Hemingway's home, bar and fishing village located near Havana and it was truly inspiring.

the useless tower

Ernest Hemingway spent many years in Cuba and had a beautiful tropical home at the 15-acre Finca Vigía (Lookout Farm) where he lived with his third wife, Martha Gelhorn, a journalist he met during the Spanish Civil War. He rented the finca in 1939 and then bought it in December 1940. When Hemingway and Gellhorn were divorced in 1945, he kept Finca Vigia and lived there during the winters with his fourth and last wife, Mary Welsh. She added the tower next to the house, which was supposed to be his writer’s nest. However, he didn’t like it and preferred his bedroom, which had a double bed and desk in it and lots of other interesting stuff to play with. In fact, he didn’t like this home at all because it was too far from the sea.

Hemingway had diabetes and needed to watch his weight carefully. In his bathroom, he faithfully recorded his poundage.

Hemingway decided to breed cats, just as he had bred peacocks on Key West. At one time the couple lived with 57 cats. There’s even a small pet cemetery for his favorite ones: Black, Negrita, Linda and Neron. 







The pet cemetery is near the old tennis court, which after his death became the dry dock for his yacht, El Pilar, which he co-owned with Gregorio Fuentes. The two men had an agreement that when one couldn’t sail, the other would quit sailing, too.

I tried to feel the “spirit” of Hemingway at the finca, and I did, but it wasn’t in the tower or in the house; it was near his yacht. I felt a joy and happiness there, which made me believe that this boat was probably where he was his happiest self. (As a writer, I can easily understand how any distraction from writing gives joy and happiness!)

Gregorio, model for Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea

Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls at the finca as well as The Old Man and the Sea. I haven’t been much of a fan of Hemingway, but I read the latter on the plane from Miami to Detroit and loved it for its style and story. I’m inspired to read more of “Papa’s” work and learn more about him. For example, Mrs. Hemingway, a novel by Naomi Woods (2014) tells the story of “how it was to love, and be loved by, the most famous and dashing writer of his generation.” The Amazon.com review further sold me as my kind of novel:

Told in four parts and based on real love letters and telegrams, Mrs. Hemingway reveals the explosive love triangles that wrecked each of Hemingway's marriages. Spanning 1920s bohemian Paris through 1960s Cold War America, populated with members of the fabled “Lost Generation,” Mrs. Hemingway is a riveting tale of passion, love, and heartbreak.

Hemingway was on good terms with the Cuban revolutionary government. He had his picture taken with Castro and even officially presented him with a trophy in the summer of 1960 for winning a sport fishing contest named for Hemingway. However, when Hemingway went to Idaho to treat his severe depression in early 1961, he and his wife could not return to Cuba because their house had been expropriated, as all abandoned houses were under the new Castro regime.

Hemingway committed suicide in Idaho on July 2, 1961. The official Cuban government account regarding Finca Vigía is that after Hemingway's death, Mary Hemingway deeded the home, complete with furnishings and library, to the Cuban people. It was made into a museum devoted to the author. Mary Hemingway negotiated with the Castro government for certain easily movable personal property (some paintings and a few books), plus manuscripts deposited in a vault in Havana. Most of their personal property, however, had to be abandoned because there was no way it could be moved out of the country at the time. We were told that the furnishings and look of the house were kept as Hemingway left them.

Cojimar

Cojimar today

the fishing village as it looked during Hemingway's time

We continued our Hemingway journey by also going to Cojimar, the fishing village, the setting for his novella, The Old Man and the Sea.

Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for the book, and when he took the Nobel Prize in 1954, Cojimar became a bona fide tourist attraction. Hemingway docked his yacht, El Pilar, in Cojimar and fished here with his friend, Gregorio Fuentes, who became the model for the character of the old man in the book.

Hemingway used to frequent La Terazza, a restaurant/bar that faces an estuary that empties into the ocean. A corner table is enshrined and roped off in his honor along with numerous photographs of Hemingway—and a picture of Gregorio, who lived to be 101. For a 1.50 cuc, visitors can walk through the place and get a daiquiri, a favorite drink of Hemingway.

 I'm not much of a drinker but I couldn't resist drinking a daiquiris in Hemingway's honor, especially since it was free. It was very delicious and very refreshing on this hot and humid summer day. 

The daiquiri is the quintessential rum cocktail with rum, lime, and a sweetener.

 
The town remembers Hemingway with a small gazebo that encircles a commemorative bust, sculpted from the melted down propellers donated by local fishermen. It was the first statue of him after his death It's about 40 yards down the street from La Terazza. The Cubans must have really liked this guy!!

Across from the gazebo is the amazingly photogenic Torreon de Cojimar, a Spanish fort built in 1649 and now used by the Cuban Coast Guard. It was the first fortification taken by the British in 1762 when they attacked Havana from the rear. I was fascinated by its compactness and its lines against the sea and sky.


BTW, Rotten Tomatoes announced the new movie soon to be out: Papa Hemingway in Cuba. It's the first Hollywood film made there in 50 years and it shows many of the places discussed in this blog. Here's the trailer.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2749282/