Sculptures of Ernest Hemingway in Cuba Attract Tourists

Two sculptures of the U.S. novelist Ernest Hemingway have a particular impact on tourists who visit Cuba from all over the world.

The first one is a bust is in the coastal town of Cojimar, east of the capital, after crossing the tunnel under the bay, where the author was very close to local humble people.

The writer is facing the sea, where he sailed several times, and the bust was built in the 1950s with bronze collected among his friends and fishermen from propellers and other parts of boats.

Magic, mystery and kindness are part of a personage who was well known to Cubans, the U.S. author Ernest Hemingway, who is part of the island's cultural and tourist panorama.

It is a very strong link, and his friends, legends and meetings can inspire several film scripts.

However, his spirit is in the Bar-Restaurant Floridita, in Havana, where there is life-size bronze sculpture created by the Cuban artist Jose Villa. It is a statue of Hemingway leaning on the bar while drinking his favorite cocktail, a daiquiri.

Hemingway lived for more than 20 years in Havana since the 1930s, and established his headquarters in el Floridita, which was founded in 1817 and had a very special clientele.

The sculpture by the bar weighs about 300 kilograms, it is made of bronze and it has a book and reading glasses in front of it, also made of that metal, along with a real daiquiri, which is replaced every day as eternal tribute to the U.S. novelist. The two sculptures are visited by travelers who want to tour the main places where Hemingway lived and to learn about his relationship with Cubans.