The St John’s creepers and frangipani trees were in full bloom on Tuesday 15 April 2025 as the Year 7 class visited Finca Vigia. Hemingway’s home, with its windows wide open, surprised the pupils with its sheer size and the exoticism of its collections, gleaned from the United States, Europe and Africa throughout a life rich in adventure.
One discovery this year was that the room on the first floor of the Observatory was open. But the many hunting trophies adorning its walls elicited mixed reactions from our schoolchildren and, after making sure that the yacht Pilar was still moored at the old tennis court, we headed for Cojimar.
On our way down the coast to the old fishing village, we took the opposite route to the one taken by Santiago and Manolin when they reached the old man’s hut at the beginning of the novel.
Past the Spanish fortress, we walk along the Malecon and let our gaze wander to the horizon without a boat in sight. A little further on, two children are fishing for sardines on a jetty. We finish our tour with a refresco at the La Terraza bar, just long enough to confirm to our young audience that this is indeed where the boy offered the fisherman a beer.
Finca Vigía, Museo Hemingway, San Franciso de Paula, Km. 12,5 Carretera Central.
Ernest HemingwayThe Old Man and the Sea, Folio Collège ,2016
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
