Pablo Neruda´s House

Saw Pablo Neruda´s house in Isla Negra.  I had no idea he had changed his name.  He was born Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto.  He loved the ocean but was afraid of it at the same time.  Land locked, he built his homes with a nautical theme.  Extremely narrow stairways, closets he had to bend down to walk into, even a couple of portholes as windows.  He wanted his house to feel like a ship.  His bedroom had an amazing view of the ocean.  Two glass walls that overlooked the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean.

That man also collected a lot of shi-stuff, nautical stuff of course, including a bunch of those clear bottles with miniature ships inside, sea shells, porcelain sinks, and merry-go-round horses.  He did write a poem about having and enjoying material things, touching them and having them join him in life´s journey.  That redeemed his rat pack ways a little bit.  I can´t show you any pictures because The Neruda Foundation doesn´t allow any photography.  I didn´t know his name wasn´t Pablo Neruda.  Another cool thing I learned about him was that he washed his hands before and after he wrote. 

 His gravesite is at Isla Negra where he is buried next to his 3^rd wife. 

Pablo Neruda´s grave

On my way here I met a young Palestinian student.  Very interesting conversation.  He wanted to clarify that Palestinians don´t hate Americans, they hate the American government.  He said that Palestinians joke that Bin Laden is hiding in the White House, Condoleeza is a bitch and Israel is the 51st state.  I thought that was interesting…

The weather in Isla Negra was chillier than I expected.  Took a walk down to the shore.  Can´t call it a beach because the waves were so big, it was impossible to swim.  I just sat there for at least a half hour watching the waves crash on these gigantic rocks.  Then I walked over and had another churrasco for lunch.  It´s like a steakburger with avocado, tomatoes, may and sometimes greenbeans.

Churrasco in Santiago

The one you see here is from a German restaurant that is really old.  Kind of like Katz´s Delin in NYC.  All they make are Churrasco´s.  Kind of pricey but big and delicious.