I am the first to admit, I am not very good at sightseeing. I regularly choose the city’s oldest bar over the city’s oldest church, and find many museums a bore. What does interest me, is museums and monuments that have a human connection. To me, that means a place where it’s not just a room with artefacts in a glass cabinets, but a place that is trying to tell a story as a whole entity.
That’s why I knew The Hemingway Museum in Havana was going to be perfect for me.
“I think it sounds stupid,” complained C as I bugged him for the umpteenth time about wanting to go to the Hemingway Museum, “It says here that you can’t even go inside, what’s the point in that?”
Can’t go inside? Even better. Less chance I will get bored and my attention span will wither. But it’s true. You can’t go inside. The museum is the finca (farmhouse) where Ernest Hemingway lived for 20 years, until shortly before his death. Aside from tidying reorganisation for practical purposes, and restoration of the building to keep it to the standards of its former glory, the house and its contents have been left intact.
We were only five minutes into the 20 minute taxi ride before I decided that visiting the museum was a good decision. The museum is nearly 15 kilometres out of town, and the drive took us through parts of Havana we wouldn’t have seen otherwise – local suburbs filled with bustling markets and their inhabitants going about their Saturday on the streets. After a few days of exploring Havana Vieja, this change in scenery was more than welcome.
Ernest Hemingway’s Finca, now Havana’s Hemingway Museum
We pulled into the gate of The Hemingway Museum and paid for our 5 CUC ($5 US) entrance fee right there, whilst still in the taxi. It seemed a bit odd, but then Hemingway was an odd guy, so why should I expect anything different from a museum dedicated to him?
We reached the end of the long driveway and I was disappointed to see a large tour bus outside. Its occupants were distracted watching an entrepreneurial local squeeze sugar cane juice to sell for inflated prices, and once we got out of the taxi and wandered up through the trees towards the Spanish Colonial style finca, the busload of tourists were no longer a concern.
A peek inside Hemingway’s lounge room – books, booze and bullfighting posters
We could see a few other people moving around the finca, but otherwise we had the place to ourselves. Our taxi driver offered to come with us and play Tour Guide, and whilst we knew this would be with the expectation of a tip at the end, we obliged. He had been friendly, as well as honest about the price for the 30 kilometre round trip. We had asked around about the price before we got into our taxi, and other drivers were demanding 30 CUC ($30) for taking 4 of us on the return journey. Our driver had happily agreed to do the journey for 20 CUC ($20).
As soon as we approached the finca I could understand why no visitors are inside. It’s not an exaggeration when they say that the house has been left as Hemingway left it. From books on the bookshelves and coffee tables, to the dining room table carefully set, and clothes hung neatly in their closet, everything is in its place. The thought of people inside made me shudder. Imagine large groups of tourists trampling through the small finca, dirty feet, backpacks ready to smash ornaments off their shelves, and the temptation of pinching an unofficial souvenir such as Hemingway’s eyeglasses.
Look familiar? Hemingway out hunting (above) and Hemingway’s study with trophies from hunting on the wall (below)
The finca has many large windows which means there is not a room that you can’t properly inspect from the outside. I poked my head in the windows that were open, and happily photographed the time away (unlike many other monuments in Cuba, the Hemingway Museum no longer charges extra for using cameras).
It really was an insight into what a character Ernest Hemingway was, and it was a huge bonus having Tony, our taxi driver turned Tour Guide, to point out things we may have otherwise missed or not understood. Some interesting points about Hemingway’s finca:
1. Every room has a book shelf and books.
2. Even though Hemingway lived with just his wife, the dining room table was always set for three guests. This was because Hemingway insisted on setting the table for three, incase they had an expected visitor call at dinner time.
3. He was a keen hunter and “trophies” from his hunting in Africa (animal heads) adorn almost every room in the finca. What’s the strangest are the “trophies” in jars – creatures that he found and decided to preserve. A bat, a toad…and some unidentifiable objects.
4. He was obsessed with his height and weight, and had scales in the bathroom. On the wall next to the scales he would constantly mark his height as he was shrinking in his old age.
5. Hemingway loved mangos, so in the grounds of the property there are 28 different varieties of mango trees.
5. His swimming pool was the first swimming pool ever built in Cuba. Whilst it is empty of its water now, in the 1940’s and 50’s it was the place to be seen if you were a somebody in Cuba – political figures, performers and movie stars had all been known to laze about in the shade around the pool, enjoying the oasis and drinking cocktails.
6. There is a tower that is still possible to climb part of the way up for great views out over the city. Hemingway also took advantage of these views, but in his own twisted way. There is a room in the tower where kept a telescope so he could spy on his neighbours. Of course, like every other room in his house, this room also had a space where he could write so next to the telescope there he had a desk and typewriter.
Hemingway’s bathroom with some of his preserved created on the shelf (above)
His scales, and markings on the wall of his shrinking height (below)
By visiting the finca I realised why it was love at first sight for Hemingway and this house. It really is it’s own little pocket of paradise, hidden but still within easy reach of the charming city of Havana. Although he loved to travel the world, I can understand why he chose to spend many of his last years here.
Visiting an ordinary museum with the articles obtained from his house just wouldn’t have had the same impact. Boredom would have struck me after the third glass cabinet displaying Hemingway’s pipe and favourite pen, and I would have been out of there in 10 minutes.
What different museums have you come across in your travels?
Whispering Gums says
I do like house museums best … On our last trip we saw Liszt, Goethe, Schiller and Beethoven house museums. I like the sense of knowing where they lived and worked, though Beethoven’s house was only where he was born and lived a very few years.
I like outdoor museums, too, and have been to a few in Japan including the famous one in Takayama and a similar one in Sapporo. Near Takayama is also an historic village Shirakawago. It’s really a living museum I think … We also went to an outdoor farm museum in Southern Germany.
I don’t much like those old little museums in towns full of glass cases crammed with stuff.
Pam @Skinny chick travelling says
I’m also bad at sightseeing, in general I rather spend time with the locals talking about the real siuation in the country or just talking random stuff 😀 I always say museums are more or less the same everywhere like the 19th century painting 😀 But would go to a specific museum for sure, so this one was pretty cool. Actually, didn’t know that he was a passionate hunter, kinda a like him a bit less now :-/
Cyra says
I am exactly the same, but yeah, if it is something different I make the exemption. Errmm yep, I know what you mean, haha.