Hemingway in Havana

  Back in March Janine booked a short four night cruise out of Miami to Havana Cuba for us.  Well we are just back in the USA.  The trip was exciting and wonderful but exhausting.

  Havana is like stepping back into the 1950's.  If you like classic cars this would be like going to heaven.  The cars are beautiful and the owners very proud of them.  Interestingly the engine are usually entirely rebuild, many of them with canabalized Russian engines.  You can hire the car and driver for a three or four hour tour of the city.  Due to the heat (and yes it is very hot) I perfered the air conditioned tour bus.

  A visit to Havana would not be complete without a evening at the famous Tropicana night club.  Again entering the venue is like stepping back in time.  When you enter  ladies are given a rose, and the gentlemen a cigar.  You also get a bottle of Havana rum and a can of cola to enjoy with the show.  A very large and very talented band provided an amazing variety of music throughout the night.  The dancers and their costumes were incredible and would put to shame a Las Vegas show.

  Being a fan of Hemingway visiting his home was a must see. We booked a tour for our second day there which included not only visiting his home but two of his favorite bars.

  The home is meticulously maintained.  It truly looks like you could see Hemingway striding about with a drink in hand or standing in his writing room composing at his typewriter.  The swimming pool is empty which is sad.  But next to the pool is his fishing boat the Pilar.  In town at the El Floridita  there is a bronze statue of him at the bar.  And yes they make a great dacari.  At the La Bodeguita Del Medio you get a mojito. Cheers!

Monumento a las víctimas del Maine

   Last year while in Key West Florida I reported on my hunting for The USS Maine.  Today here I am in Havana Cuba, visiting the actual site of the disaster and the monument to the Maine itself.  Built in 1925 and called The Monument to the Victims of the USS Maine it honors the American sailors who died in the explosion in 1898.  The monument is on the Malecón Boulevard.  The ship had anchored at Havana at the request of American consul Fitzhugh Lee. The explosion and deaths of over half its crew was the pretext for the United States declaring war on Spain.  Based on photographs from the period, I think our cruise ship dock is near to where the ship sank and the wreckage stayed for years before being salvaged.

  On the monument are the two 10" cannon barrels from the ship's main gun turret.  Heavily rusted, they were recovered from the wreck of the ship.  They are painted black and attached to the base of the monument.

One of the ten inch cannons.

  The monument itself was originally crowned with an American eagle, but its wings extended in such a way that a hurricane damaged it.  This is now in the U.S. Embassy building in Havana.  The eagle was  replaced in 1926 by a new one with horizontal wings.  The newer eagle was pulled downed in 1960 because it was considered a symbol of American imperialism.  The eagle's head was recovered by Swiss diplomats.  It too is now in the Embassy of the United States in Havana.  The body and the wings are stored in the Havana City History Museum.  The museum's curator believes that good relations with the U.S. will be symbolized by the reunification of the parts of the eagle.  I hope to see this happen in my lifetime.

Enjoying a cigar in front of the monument.

Photos by Mark and Janine.   
Thank you to Janine for help in editing this article.