Saturday, July 28, 2012

Three famous homes of Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda was a Chilean poet and diplomat, in 1971 he won the Nobel prize for literature, he always wrote in green ink his personal color of hope. He had three houses in Chile all of which we visited during our trip first trip to Chile together. They are all quite unique showing his passion for collecting trinkets from his trips around the world, his love of the sea and his love of entertaining. All of the houses have a bar which hosted some legendary parties in their time. If you visit Chile's capital city, Santiago, you'll find that all three houses are in easy striking distance. 

La Sebastiana, Neruda's five-story home in Valparaiso, sits high on a hill with windows facing the Pacific and is full of surprises. His tiny top-floor writing room offers wonderful sea views.


La Sebastina, Valparaiso


Neruda's house in the hills above Santiago is known as La Chascona, a Quechua word meaning disorderly or disheveled, and an affectionate reference to the curly, knotted hair of the poet's third wife, Matilde Urrutia.


La Chascona




The poet's house in Isla Negra is a treasure trove of collectibles -- everything from a papier-mâché horse to masks. It's also the final resting place of Neruda and his wife, whose graves face the sea.

Isla Negra



The resting place of Neruda & his wife Matilda
Its fair to say that the three houses may not be that spectacular from the outside, what really impressed us was the flow and interior design more than the exterior. That added to the fantastic locations and sea views of La Sebastiana and Isla Negra, along with the quirkiness of Neruda's collections, make these houses fascinating to visit. We were hooked after our visit to La Sebastiana which was what made us want to complete the set. To read more about the places mentioned in this post, simply check under the heading, Labels, on the right of your screen and click on the relevant place name.







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