"I have often wondered what I should do with the rest of my life and now I know - I shall try and reach Cuba." - Havana, October 15, 2013

"I have often wondered what I should do with the rest of my life and now I know - I shall try and reach Cuba." - Ernest Hemingway

Big Hemingway day today. On our way to see where he fished from and where he lived, we stopped by for a quick photo op with El Morro. Specifically, the Castillo de Los Tres Reyes del Morro. It was started in 1589 and took forty years to build - the defense held back pirates and the British.

Then it was on to Cojimar. This sleepy fishing village is where Hemingway kept his fishing boat, the Pilar. When he died, every fisherman in the village donated a brass fitting from his boat to make the bust of Hemingway. A bust that today looks out over the water, and where you can still see fishermen on the rickety old pier. Hemingway's skipper, Gregorio Fuentes, the inspiration for "Santiago" in The Old Man and the Sea died in Cojimar in 2002 at the age of 104.

And this is where I had the perfect illustration of what having a Cuban guide means. It means that you get the government version of key events. I couldn't quite tell if our guide actually believed what she was saying, or if she just had to say it. It could have been either way, since the version of events that she recited had a nicer ring to them all way round.

The guide book says that in Hemingway's will, he left the Pilar to his friend and former skipper. But Fuentes couldn't afford to keep it up, so it "became the property of the government," but our guide said that Fuentes just "never did anything with it, so he willed it to the government and they restored it." A little spin, but a pro-government spin. The best spin was yet to come.

We went next to Finca Vigia, Hemingway's beautiful home.  Our guide said that Hemingway happily willed the house to the Cuban government, but the guide book says that the house was "seized" by the Cuban government, even though Hemingway willed the home to Mary Welsh (his fourth wife). The book says that she was "allowed" to take 200 pounds of papers, but that the revolutionary government insisted that most of the home stay as is. The book states that 3,000 letters and documents, 3,000 photographs, and 9,000 books were all stagnating in a humid basement until 2002, when they were finally opened up to researchers. Again, the spin that the government graciously received the home, then restored it just isn't quite right. And it took a joint Cuba-U.S. effort to save the materials via a preservation foundation.

The house and grounds are stunning. It isn't hard to imagine Papa here - drinking and writing. It's also easy to imagine the pool parties - Ava Gardner swimming nude, and Hemingway telling his staff the pool water was never to be emptied. 

Lunch was in the Alamar district on the outskirts of Havana. Amongst the Soviet style concrete apartment buildings, residents are sustaining community gardens called Organoponicos. They grow fruit, vegetables, herbs, decorative plants for the residents and to sell - sometimes to hotels or other residents. This is how these neighbors get fresh produce, otherwise they mostly have expensive, canned produce. This garden is all organic, their employees are well-paid by Cuban standards and half the profits are shared amongst the members. The Cuban government is encouraging working of the land by attempting to give away small plots with deferred taxation, and the citizen's agreement to work it for a certain length of time. Since the embargo and the "Special period," fertilization is hard to come by, so most people who grow their produce in Cuba are, simply out of necessity, organic gardening.

After lunch, we saw a practice at the Centro Pro Danza de Cuba. A dance school opened in 1994 by Laura Alonso, the daughter of world famous Cuban dancers, Alicia and Fernando Alonso. Those dancers who aren't accepted into the national ballet company and school can come here and get an opportunity to grow and perform. The students were graceful and athletic, and working with a sound system that cut in and out, a hot outdoor practice space, and a mash up of clothing and shoes.

We returned to the hotel and had the afternoon to ourselves. I caught up with some reading and writing at the hotel's outdoor cafe, with some daiquiris. Then I walked a few blocks to the Hotel Seville-Biltmore, where I saw a great view, and had some more daiquiris and finished reading, appropriately, Our Man in Havana. The lobby of the Seville is quite famous, and I tried to sit quietly and enjoy it - but a band came in and the band leader came over and started talking to me, and then they started playing. There's no getting away from the music - even when you want to.

So I left. My final walk through Old Havana before dinner. After dinner, we had some dancers show us some salsa moves, and nearly everyone in our group danced. I was again thankful for L's instructional dance lessons, so I didn't make a complete fool out of myself, although I did bow out of the Rumba. Yikes.