Visiting Pablo Neruda's Homes in Chile

Filed in archive Latin Culture on May 10, 2009

Frommers recently had a piece on Pablo Neruda's homes in Chile. They're definitely worth visiting if you're in the country.

Pablo Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.
"Pablo Neruda" is a pen name; his real name was Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. And in addition to being a poet, he was a diplomat for Chile and a dissident. He was eventually forced to leave Chile and live in exile.

Pablo Neruda had three homes in Chile: La Chascona in Santiago, La Sebastiana in Valparaiso and Isla Negra in Isla Negra.

None of the houses are what could be considered fancy, but all of them are decorated in a fanciful way - filled with eccentric collectibles, mismatched furnishings, and memorabilia of importance to Neruda. Each house has a large photo of Walt Whitman; a shrine to the man Neruda called his "poetic father." And they all have the ubiquitous bar. The houses have a nautical theme décor but Neruda was the captain of the wet bar, pouring out libations for all his frequent guests.

If you have an interest in the poet, a visit to the homes gives you an insight intot his life.


© blmurch