After our morning walking tour ended in Santiago's Bellavista neighborhood, we strolled down a winding street to one of the homes belonging to Chile's most revered poet, Pablo Neruda. The home, called La Chascona meaning 'woman with tousled hair,' was built between 1953 and 1958 for Neruda's lover Matilde Urrutia while the Nobel Prize winner was still married to his second wife. Neruda named the home for his lover's rebellious hair! The two met while walking in the nearby Parque Forestal that we had just walked through on our walking tour. For years, the house served as a romantic hideaway before they married.
Neruda was a close friend of Picasso and Salvador Allende, Chile's president before he was overthrown by Augusto Pinochet who saw Neruda as a threat. When the poet shortly died after Pinochet's coup, Chile's citizens weren't sure if he died of cancer or was assassinated; as a result his body was exhumed eight times.
When he died, Neruda had four homes - another one was in Valparaiso that you'll read about in a future blog post. While alive, Neruda dedicated his work to the daily struggles of Chileans. Upon his death, the four homes were to be donated to the Communist Party of which Neruda had been a member since 1943, and used as cultural centers. But after the 1973 coup, the military confiscated the homes' belongings and two of the homes, including La Chascona and the one in Valparaiso, were repeatedly sacked by military patrols. That didn't stop Matilde from holding Neruda's wake in La Chascona, and his funeral became the first march against the military regime.
His homes were designed like ships as he had loved the sea so much since childhood. Earlier, Felipe, our walking tour guide, had said Neruda had been interested in the natural world as evidenced by paintings in the home.
The wrought-iron window decoration included Pablo and Matilde's initials.
The captain's bar reflected the fact that Neruda considered himself as a 'land captain.' The home felt like we were aboard a ship with unusually low ceilings. As a snapshot of his sense of humor, Neruda wrote morphine and marijuana on his salt and pepper containers!
The home was visually fascinating and unlike any other we've seen with winding garden paths, stairs and bridges leading to the residence and library.
At first glance, this looked like a portrait of Matilde. However, if you look closely, there's a hammer and sickle on the left side; on the right-hand side of her hair was a map of Chile. We only knew that, thanks to the audio guide we'd rented, mind you!
The stone mosaic, made by a friend of Neruda's, was designed so that rain would fall over it like a waterfall.
The home's summer bar was created to honor other poets, specifically Baudelaire and Americans Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman.
As interior photos were prohibited, this one of Neruda and his poet friends was taken through the window - thus the glare.
Neruda's library contained his collection of rare books and an astrolabe that was always at his side when he wrote to remind him of the sea.
In addition to receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature, Neruda was honored with the Legion of Honor from France and the Lenin Peace Prize.
We chose not to buy the salt and pepper shakers, Neruda style, in the gift shop, though they certainly would have been a conversation piece!
Visiting La Chascona had been a fascinating look into Pablo and Matilde's day to day lives in Santiago and gave context to his poetry. His life was amazing, and this house gave us a glimpse of what he accomplished and how he lived. We so looked forward to discovering La Sebastiana, his home in Valparaiso, in a week's time.
Walking back through the Bellavista neighborhood after 3, there was lots of street art to admire and remind us of the graffiti tour we'd enjoyed much earlier in our trip.
This hanging chair looked so inviting but we had places to go!
Galindo was one of the famous restaurants in the trendy Bellavista neighborhood.
The University of Chile's School of Law:
One of the reasons we wanted to retrace our steps was to stop at Emporio La Rosa, one of the 25 best ice cream shops in the world.
You can see by my smile I enjoyed the bowl of ice cream I shared with Steven!
Though there was a public museum workers' strike that day in Santiago, the Museum of Archaeology wasn't affected as it was a private museum.
The museum also contained the Museo de Artes Visuales but the 'museum' was only one room of modern visual arts which we only found of passing interest.
The objects in the tiny Archaeological Museum were of more interest but when the information panels talked about there being a "portal where two distant spaces connect, there is a tunnel through which the objects travel to find their original meaning," I found it was way too much mumbo jumbo for me!
I don't know about you but I would have been more interested in the history or facts and figures of the objects rather than reading they "are heading through space into the glow of the sky, spiraling up into the portal of light. Shaking off the dust and leaving behind the conservation drawers, the archaeological tags disappear."
Woven bags and baskets were used by the Andean people to carry the coca leaves that sustained them during their long treks at high altitudes.
Even though the museum wasn't 'our cup of tea,' we figured our costs of admission went to support the arts in Santiago and that was a good enough reason to stop in.
Not far away was Cerro Santa Lucía which our guide had pointed out earlier. As it was still a beautiful day, we wanted to explore the labyrinth of interconnected paths in such a lovely park so close to the center of the city.
Castillo Hidalgo, formerly used in defense of the city, is now used for functions and events.
As it was just springtime, we were blessed with a profusion of gorgeous flowers throughout the park.
As we climbed the steep stairs and hills to the plaza atop the hill, we were greeted with our first sighting of huge Moai sculptures that we would see masses of beginning the next day on Easter Island! As it was Thanksgiving Day back home, we called our four children, each of whom lives in a different time zone, to let them we loved them and missed them.
Sitting among the sweet scent of flowers, it was the perfect place to relax and take stock of how thankful we were for the opportunity to travel for extended periods and see this part of our wonderful world.
It was magical walking through the park even though it was hard being away from family and friends on such a special day.
When Santiago was founded in 1541, the top of the hill was used as a lookout. There was an excellent 360-degree view of the city including the Andes in the distance.
On the way in from the airport, we had hoped to catch a glimpse of the Gran Torre building designed by Argentine-American architect César Pelli who is famous for designing some of the world's tallest buildings, including the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur we were lucky enough to see on a previous trip. The 70-story skyscraper, the highest in Latin America and fifth tallest in the world, was considered a sign of Chile's prosperity by some and an eyesore by others because of being out of proportion with its surroundings. If you read the preceding post, this was the tower that swayed six feet on either side during the most recent earthquake!
After taking in the lofty views, we ambled through the park's Japanese Garden.
At the base of the hill was the splendid Neptune's Fountain.
I also wrote earlier of so many Germans who emigrated to Chile in the postwar years. This statue was another gift from Germany.
It was so adorable seeing this little girl looking at the massive mosaic mural called The City of Santiago as we exited the park.
Just a block away from our hotel cum hostel was Iglesia San Francisco, Santiago's oldest structure, greatest symbol and principal landmark. The Church of San Francisco was also the last trace of 16th century colonial architecture in the city. Construction began in 1586, and although the church survived successive earthquakes, early tremors took their toll and portions had to be rebuilt several times.
Inside were rough stone and brick walls and an ornate wood ceiling.
On the main altar was the image of the Virgen del Soccorro or Virgin of Perpetual Help that the city's founder, Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, carried for protection and guidance.
Feasting on Chinese food with a Spanish twist that evening was one of the more unconventional Thanksgiving dinners we've had but it was the perfect way to mark the day together in the absence of family and friends.
Next post: Hiking among craters on Easter Island!
Posted on April 12th, 2018, in Littleton Colorado.
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