Neruda in Santiago . . .

We just have two more days in Santiago, and we’re falling in love with this beautiful city. Today we took the Metro to the Bellavista neighborhood to visit Pablo Neruda’s house, La Chascona, so named for the unruly red hair of Matilde Urrutia, his longtime mistress and later his third wife. When the house was first built on the hills overlooking Bellavista, it was a poor neighborhood; today, upscale shops and restaurants line the streets (including a Mexican restaurant called Para Augua Por Chocolate). Even the streets near La Chascona are filled with graffiti honoring Neruda.


As we walked through this multi-level house built around an inner garden and filled with colorful glass, Chinese and Indian art, a surprising amount of pop art, Bauhaus furniture, a breathtaking wooden sculpture of two mermaids taken from the prow of a ship, and rough drafts of his poems under glass – the many artifacts of Neruda’s life, our guide told stories, which somewhat made up for the fact no photos were allowed (except in the gardens).

Apparently at one point, Diego Rivera visited La Chascona and did a quick sketch of Matilde, later painting a formal painting in Mexico and sending it to Neruda. As you can see, Diego painted Matilde with two heads. Ironically, Rivera didn’t like Matilde, for he considered her a seductive woman who broke up marriages, thus painting her “two-faced”. Notice the profile of Neruda buried in the scrolls of Matilde’s red hair (right side).


NOTE: Images of La Chacasona are online at the Pablo Neruda Foundation. You can view any image here in a larger format by clicking on it.

After a delicious soup (think a rich chicken soup with yam, corn, cilantro and great pieces of chicken) at an outdoor café (La Venezia), we headed up to the monumental statue of the Virgin of Conception via a breath-stopping ride on a Funicular that rose 485 meters (1,500 feet) to the top of Cerro San Cristobal. We strolled around the gardens at the very top where Pope John Paul II once blessed the multitudes and visited a small but inspiring chapel to the Virgin. Then we dropped back down to the valley floor via a bubble-shaped air-tram for two in a 2,000 meter (6,500 feet) ride , admiring the snow covered Andes on the way down.


We're almost ready for the 30 hour bus ride to San Pedro de Atacama.

Hello from Santiago . . .

We’re in the heart of old town, Santiago, half a block down from the intersection of Paris and London Streets, those narrow, tree-lined, funky, cobblestoned bohemian streets populated by roving bands of students wearing long hair and dark glasses. At the little café next to our hotel, the Hotel Vegas, we can sit and sip cortados, demi-cups of strong coffee with milk, that first taste reminding me again that coffee came to the world from South America.


Today we had a Chilean national dish for lunch, Pastel de Choclo, a delicious main dish casserole of sweet corn, all ground up and crusty on top; inside, savory beef, large chunks of chicken on the bone, olives, grapes, and boiled eggs, somewhat flavored with milk, cumin and powdered sugar. I know. Is it possible to cook without garlic? But this was absolutely delicious. I can’t wait to cook it -- once I have a kitchen again.

Yesterday’s highlight was visiting the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino with artifacts from 4,500 years of Andean culture. Exhibits are beautifully arranged with maps, timelines, and notes to help clarify the different groups and their overlapping cultures. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the sophisticated codes in these artifacts, and we’re at a loss without an English library.

But, here are my favorites. This Moche monkey has such expressive human hands (Zoomorphic stirrup-form bottle (monkey), Moche IV 400-800 BC, that’s over 2,000 years old. I took this picture at the Anthropological Museum at Vina del Mar).



And from the Museo de Chileno de Precolombino, these two images of textiles show complicated and sacred figures still vividly colored. The round painted cloth from the Chavin culture is over 1,000 years ago (700 BC – 500 AD), and seems very accessible to me, for its frayed edges showed that many generations have cared and protected this rare artifact.


This beautiful tapestry from the Chancay culture is dated between 1000-1430. Click on any image to see the details, please!


I'm left without words to describe our two week cruise around the Horn of South America, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Valparaiso, Chile, with Gordy and Lynda, and Henry and Jamie. Each day was so full, the sights nothing like I expected at all. We started with breakfast, looked out over the ocean from the 9th floor of the Norwegian Sun, and enjoyed every luxurious moment. For me, it will take a little more time to sort it all out -- but, fortuitously, Jamie has posted a wonderfully vivid travel blog with pictures. I hope you will visit and enjoy her comments at her new blog, Jamie Away.