My next day trip from from Valparaíso was to Isla Negra to visit the house of Pablo Neruda. Neruda is the famous Chilean poet, diplomat and political figure that won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. The award was a bit controversial because of his activism in the communist party. The only knowledge I had about Pablo was in regards to his stay,in 1952, in Capri, Italy. The foreign film Il Postino is about his stay in Italy while he was in excile and although the film is fictional, it has the facts right about his poetry and his activism. I had seen Il Postino when I went through a foreign film netflix phase so, I wasn't completely ignorant as to his life's journey.
I took a 2 hour bus ride to his house on the sea where it has been turned into a museum. He was a collector of all sorts of things from all over the world. He had collections of different globes, bottles, masks, model ships and so much more. The house is still furnished much like it was when he lived there. He loved the ocean and had the house built to model a ship. He and his wife Matilde are burried on the property. He died in 1973 at age 69. Again, it was an overcast day with a lack of sun, but the property was beautiful and the house was very unique. I chilled out for a while by the ocean...can't beat that! One thing though, why is it called Isla Negra when it's not an island...don't know...hmmm...
I hopped on the bus back to Valpo and organized myself for my trip back to Santiago the next day. Valpo - cool city!
No comments:
Post a Comment