"Ambos Mundos Hotel" ©2001 Elroy
Christenson
Havana was quite a surprise for me. We never expected to come here so I
had not really read much on it. The Ambos Mundos Hotel was discovered
on our first day in Havana. It was a "watering hole" for Ernest
Hemingway up until his death in July 2, 1961. (1899-1961) A room is
still maintained the way he left it on the third floor as a kind of
museum. The old Ford out front is just one of thousands of old cars
still plying the streets of Havana mostly in the form of taxis. There
are very few cars here that are newer than 1959. This is, of course,
when the revolutioin happened. The embargo has prevented the import of
most new cars for the simple reason that no one has any money and that
trade with the USA is prohibited. The hotel is maintained by the Cuban
government because it's a place that attracts tourists, the one real
source of dollars.
