Ernest Miller Hemingway (1898-1961), who was considered one of America’s premier novelists, fell in love with Cuba after he first visited in 1928, while on a layover to Spain. So enamored with the country, Hemingway considered himself to be a Cubano Sato, a garden variety Cuban. He felt a kinship with the Cuban people and was inspired by his experiences. He lived in Cuba for 21 years.

Despite the United States-Cuba political dispute, devotion to Hemingway was kept alive on the Communist island. In fact, he is one of Fidel Castro’s favorite writers.

He wrote many novels while in Cuba, most of which were published after his death in 1961. His most famous work, The Old Man and the Sea, was written while he lived in Cuba.

We visited Hotel Ambos Mundos, his home for seven years in the 1930s. Unfortunately we were unable to visit his home, which had damage from Hurricane Irma.

This is how the story of how the hotel and Floridita bar became intertwined, as written by Amy Goodman –

Ernest Hemingway liked to get up early. He did his best writing in the morning, standing in front of his typewriter, plucking the keys as fast as the words might come to him. This was fortunate, because by 11 a.m., the Havana heat began to creep into his rented room at the Hotel Ambos Mundos. He couldn’t think in the swelter, much less write.

If the trade winds were good, Hemingway might make his way to Havana Harbor, where his boat, Pilar, was docked in the 1930s. But on other days, he would take the ornate caged elevator down from Room 511 to the lobby and make his way out to the sun-speckled street. It was just a 10-minute stroll through Old Havana from Hotel Ambos Mundos to El Floridita, Hemingway’s favorite bar.

Between the heat and the morning spent cooped in his small room, Hemingway was always parched by the time he arrived at El Floridita. Luckily, bartender Constantino Ribalaigua was always waiting in his white apron, shaker in hand and cocktail glasses lined up on the dark wood bar. A good bartender knows the right way to greet a thirsty customer. A great bartender knows that Ernest Hemingway was not your typical thirsty customer.

 

First time visitors are obliged to order a daiquiri in the Floridita Bar, one of the two most famous bars in Cuba. It is said that owner and bartender Constante, created the drink for Hemingway.

In an interview with NPR, Hilary Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway’s niece, explains: “In the early 1930s, Hemingway went into the Floridita to use the restroom one day. People in the bar were bragging about the daiquiris that were being served there. So he ordered one and took a sip. Ernest asked for another one, this time with ‘less sugar and more rum.’ And that’s how the Papa Doble, or the Hemingway Daiquiri, was born.”

The other most famous bar is Bodeguita del Medio, where Hemingway used to drink mojitos.

 

I was just delighted to see the old typewriter.