Ernest Hemingway
in Cuba
Hemingway still looms
large over the Cuban
literary and historical
landscapes. Cubans
virtually adopted the
American writer in
the two decades after
he bought a home in
1940 in the small,
working-class town
of San Francisco de
Paula, just south of
Havana.
CUC’s (convertible pesos) on our first day
after arriving from Miami on a 40-minute
charter flight. In the one-room reception area
at Jose Marti International Airport we were
asked for for a ’70s-era customs form that
curiously asked if we were carrying walkietalkies into the country and for paperwork
showing why as Americans we should be
allowed into Cuba.
“U.S. tourism to Cuba is still technically
illegal, although it still occurs,” said Tamar
Lowell, CEO of Access Trips, which began
guided culinary and cultural tours of Cuba
last month. “So, all of our tours are operated
as licensed “people to people” educational
exchanges.”
Piling into a ’57 Chevy station wagon
(reconfigured with a new Mercedes Benz
engine), we checked into our seaside villa
reserved on Airbnb (which began operating
here last Spring), and set out to discover
culturally-rich Havana.
We explored open-air art exhibits, organic
city gardens and farm-to-table mercados, took
salsa lessons and mojito classes and prowled
the cobblestone streets of Old Havana, home
to four city squares teeming with vibrant
street life and color.
On Havana’s streets you meet people who
do their best with the status quo – the average
Cuban earns $20 per month – making do
while maintaining their passion and optimism.
Under socialism, Cubans have guaranteed
health care and schooling and artistic freedom
is encouraged - up to a point.
In the old squares, we found street
performers and pop-up art galleries, such
as that of mixed media muralist and painter
Salvador Gonzalez, who utilizes everything
from bathtubs to car parts.
Some of our best meals were found at
paladares, or privately-owned restaurants,
a concept that has allowed both average
Cubans and culinary superstars to open their
kitchens to tourists looking for something
more palatable than the starchy fare served at
government-owned eateries.
We found some of the best via “finders”
hawking menus on the street and then
guiding us up rickety stairs for home-cooked
meals.
Try eclectic modern Mediterraneanstyle cuisine at Atelier or La Fontana for
spiny lobster, whole octopus and ropa de vieja
(traditional Cuban pulled pork).You’ll love an
old favorite like the low-key Casa de Erasmo,
owned by Fidel Castro’s former chef.
As a sprawling, traffic-choked city of
two million people, there are few beaches
in Havana worthy of a swim. The best place
for a beach break is an hour to the south, at
Playas de Este, where the 80-degree, crystal
clear waters feel like a warm, relaxing bath.
Ahh, Cuba.
MUST STAY: Havana
A more authentic – and more affordable – lodging option is stay in a Cuban
home, as Airbnb recently launched in Cuba and has 1,000 listings (www.
airbnb.com).
Otherwise, Cuba has more than 44,000 affordably-priced hotels. A few
in Havana’s five-star luxury class include the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, the
Melia Habana, Hotel Mercure Sevilla Havane and Hotel Saratoga
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
| o c to b e r
2015
| washingtonlife.com
The heads of prized African antelope still hang on the
walls. In a writer’s studio overlooking the ocean, his
Corona typewriter sits idle, having produced two of his
most celebrated novels, “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and
“The Old Man and the Sea.”
Hemingway’s sport-fishing boat “Pilar” is docked near a
pool where on warm Summer nights Papa and Fidel sat
by the pool, smoking Cohiba Corona Especials.
Cuba’s Cigar Country
Two hours south of Havana lies Pinar del Río, Cuba’s “cigar
country,” encircled by the stunning mountains and dense
forests of Viñales National Park. It is worth the drive, as
this is one of the lushest, most scenic parts of Cuba.
We shared the road with horse-drawn buggies and
farmers herding cattle before t ouring a tobacco
plantation and small plants where laborers produce
Cuba’s finest rums.
With abundant hiking, rock climbing
and spelunking, the Vinales Valley
has become one of Cuba’s top
destinations for ecotourism. We
explored a massive cave which
snaked under a mountain and
into a clearing, where a local farmer
was giving his water buffalo a warm
Summer bath.
MUST DRINK Havana
Best Places for a Cocktail
Havana is swelteringly hot and
sticky humid on any given day
of the year, but luckily has no
shortage of watering holes to
cool down.
In Plaza Vieja we found a private
microbrewery serving beer
mojitos and a roastery serving iced coffee. The Hotel
Nacional has live music on its outdoor patio most nights, as
do the Hotel Riviera, La Bodegita del Medio, the roofdeck
of Dos Mundos or the pool area of Parque Central. Be
sure to check out La Floridita, the watering hole of Ernest
Hemingway and birthplace of the daiquiri.
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