Captivating Cuba

Hi there. Not everyone who first goes to Cuba knows it was the adopted home of one of the most famous writers of our time - Ernest Hemmingway. But once they get to Havana it soon becomes obvious! There are lots of tributes around the city pointing out his favourite haunts and points of interest relating to him. As I have always been a huge fan, one of the things I really wanted to do when I was there was to visit his former house - which is now a museum.

It is a little out of the way being about 15 km out of town, but it will only take about half an hour to get their from your Havana hotel. It is known as Finca Vigia which apparently is Spanish for 'Lookout Farm' and you can see why, because the views are really spectacular. The house is set in lovely gardens and has a really calm and relaxing aura about it. Although he visited Cuba for many years beforehand, Hemmingway also lived here permanently for over twenty years. It is easy to see why he loved it so much and how he drew such inspiration from his surroundings.

Inside the house, although it is called a museum, it's not set out like you would normally expect a museum to be. It is really just preserved as a residence, exactly how it would have been when he lived there with his wife. All the original furnishings are intact and the house contains around 9000 books from Hemmingway's personal collection. Most of them are now in reasonable condition even though, before a huge restoration project in the last few years, many valuable papers and books were lost due to the humidity. There are also around 3000 photographs throughout the house, either of Hemmingway, or ones that he took himself.

The Cubans really adopted the author as one of their own, even giving him the affectionate nickname 'Ernesto'. And he loved them just as much and his affection for the people as well as the country itself shows in many of his most famous novels - especially 'The Old Man and the Sea'. Inside the house, you can go into his study and see the typewriter on which he created all his famous work, and as you look out the window onto the fabulous views, it's almost possible to imagine that you could create a masterpiece from here too!

All in all, the Ernest Hemmingway Museum is a fantastic insight into this great man, and well worth a visit to learn about one of the most famous residents of Cuba. Hotel staff can organise a lift there for you even if you aren't a fan yet - you will be once you leave!

Til next time

Peter

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