Planet Cuba
- Mar 28, 2020
- 3 min read
First of all, apologies for the length of time since my last blog. I think we are all in a state of shock at the complete change in our lives. I make no apology however for writing about a completely different subject and hope you enjoy this virtual travel to another planet.
At the end of February, Matthew and I realised a long-held dream to visit the island of Cuba, a land full of beauty, history, culture and wonderful people.
With its literary connection to Ernest Hemingway, its vintage American cars and its Cuban music on every corner, there was plenty for us both. We were fortunate to be part of a very small group led by our guide, Roberto, as we travelled around the island by minibus, stopping every few days in a different place. Roberto's first words were: "welcome to planet Cuba!" because everything is different there: you cannot always expect hot water, the food is unimaginative, the houses are shabby. There are many reasons for these differences, not least the American trade embargo which has been in place since 1960, but also the fact that Cuba is a socialist state and more or less everything is state owned. We soon realised however that these things don't matter at all compared to the friendliness, enthusiasm and sheer joie de vivre of the Cuban people and their wonderful island. For a taste of the island, Joanna Lumley's recent documentary is a good start, click on the picture to view.
Our first few days in Havana confirmed everything we had hoped, but suspected had begun to disappear. The classic cars abound in their thousands throughout the island and many of them are taxis and state-owned.
Musicians abound on every street corner, though they will expect you to put money in the hat if you take a photo! It makes for a festival atmosphere and because the weather is nearly always warm and sunny it goes on all year round!
We have been fans of the Buena Vista Social Club (the famous Cuban band) for many years and, although most of the original members have long since died, the band goes on. We were delighted to be able to visit a music venue and listen to a much younger version but still playing that unmistakable Cuban sound. The original though is unbeatable - listen here.
Our holiday was entitled 'Hemingway's Cuba' and did not disappoint in that respect. Ernest Hemingway loved Cuba, built a house outside Havana, and lived and worked on the island for over 30 years. Hemingway was a great sea fisherman and wrote his great novel The Old Man and the Sea based on an old man he met in a Cuban cafe.
In total he wrote seven books on Cuba, writing away in his beautiful house The Finca Vigia. It was a delight to visit and has been kept untouched since his death in 1960.
Whilst I was there I read A Moveable Feast, a memoir he wrote on Cuba about his time in Paris as a young, struggling writer in the 1920's. His writing is spare yet full of emotion and it was well worth reading.
I would also recommend The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, a fictionalised account of those years and his first marriage which gives a rather different story.
The Cuban people suffer a great deal. Though only 100 miles from Florida, they are cut off from much of the world's trade, hence the necessity for rationing of many of life's basics. Despite, or perhaps because of it, they are fiercely independent and proud of their culture and history. Their health and education services are amongst the best in the world and everyone one is extremely well-educated. One of the most important aims of the 1959 Revolution was literacy and huge efforts were made in the early 1960's to educate the whole population. Now, every young person goes to a university or technical training college and they export many professionals around the world. I visited a beautiful library in Havana with a class of school children enjoying a lesson and was glad to hear that every small town has an often shabby but much loved library.
The history of the revolution and the various places associated with it was a fascinating highlight of our holiday and it seems fitting, in a time when we are all rethinking our priorities to quote the famous Che Guevara: “The life of a single human being is worth a million times more than all the property of the richest man on earth.”
And for more sights of this beautiful island, view the recent BBC Natural World documentary (click the map to view).
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