Thursday, September 6, 2012

Cojimar, Cuba

Cojimar Fort and Jetty

They sat on the Terrace and many of the fishermen made fun of the old man and he was not angry. Others, of the older fishermen, looked at him and were sad. But they did not show it and they spoke politely about the current and the depths they had drifted their lines at and the steady good weather and of what they had seen.”  Ernest Hemingway

A tiny little fishing village near Havana.  A place of warm friendly people, anxious to have tourists stop in their restaurant or gift shop to purchase a trinket or a small bowl of soup. It was here Ernest Hemingway docked his beloved Pilar - a cabin cruiser that played a huge role in his life.   The people of Cojimar welcomed Hemingway and influenced his writing.  The Terrace referred to in The Old Man and the Sea is most likely the one still found here, and although there is no longer a place to dock cabin cruisers or yachts, there is a memorial to Hemingway, reminding all who visit that this was a place he loved and that the people loved him.