Happy Spring or Fall to all whatever continent you are on! The leaves have been changing colour as it is fall, but it is still warm during the day. Today was our warmest day in Valpo. Alano went for a short 6 km run in the neighbourhood. We decided to visit La Sebastiana, another of Pablo Neruda's three homes.
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| Alano outside our B&B |
We took a bus to La Sebastiana, which is in the hills. It was a great windy trip that gave us a sense of the city. One cannot just follow a map, as many streets in the hills do not connect. We arrived at the nearest bus stop and passed a school adjacent to the Neruda home. It had a wonderful homage to Neruda painted on the wall.
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| Homage to Neruda on wall of adjoining school |
There was a plaque from the Legislature of Buenos Aires on the cafe wall of the Museo on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the death of Neruda.
Plaque on wall outside adjoining cafe from the Legislature in Buenos Aires
The house was spectacular. In 1959, Neruda asked some friends to find a special home in Valparaiso. They found a frame of a mansion on the Florida hill. It had been built by a Spaniard, Sebastian Collado, who had made the whole third floor of the building a bird cage. Collado had died in 1949 and the unfinished home full of stairs had been abandoned until Neruda purchased it. Because the house was too big, he purchased it with the sculptor Marie Martner and her husband Dr. Francisco Velasco. The couple kept the basement, back yard and two lower floors, while Neruda took possession of the third and fourth floors and the tower, with an amazing view of the ocean. Neruda took three years to finish the house. There are many decorations associated with the sea and ships. Neruda loved the ocean, but never learned to swim.
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| La Sebastiana from the outside- five stories high |
Some of the windows were done like ship's skylights. The largest terrace was converted into a living and dining room.
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| Living room and Dining room with a view |
The light was wonderful and the views spectacular. The house was inaugurated in September 1961. Neruda wrote a poem "La Sebastiana" in honour of the occasion. The opening of the poem reads: " I establish the house/I made it first of air/ then I raised the flag in the air/ and I let it hang/ from the open air, from the star, from/the light and from the darkness....
Neruda named the house in honour of the original owner Sebastian Collado.
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| Living room with an amazing view- so much light |
Neruda hung a picture of a woman with a ruff collar in the living room and then purchased another picture of a man with a ruff collar and hung it opposite, so that "they could talk." His collection of objects and art from around the world is very whimsical and playful. All very imaginative.
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| Picture of woman with a ruff collar |
Man with ruff on opposite wall
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| Horse from a Paris carousel |
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| Neruda made punch in this serving piece |
As was the case of his house in Santiago that we visited, Neruda had a small room with a bar. He would stand behind the wooden bar and mix a special drink he had concocted. Neruda usually dined with friends and there were many dinner parties at La Sebastiana.
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| The Bar room |
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| Detail of Bar |
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| Door to bathroom- open by design |
Neruda spent New Years 1972 and the beginning of 1973 at La Sebastiana. He died in the hospital in Santiago on September 23, 1973 just after the coup. The house in Valpo was looted after the coup. His third wife, Matilde Urrutia never returned to La Sebastiana after the coup. She stayed at La Chascona in Santiago.
The house was restored in 1991 and the lower part of the house owned by the family Valasco Martner was also purchased by the Neruda Foundation. The museum opened in December 1991 and an adjoining cultural centre opened in 1997. The English audio tour was very helpful.
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| The bedroom with glorious view and clothes of Matilde Urrutia still in closet |
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| Narrow stairway with ship pictures |
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The view from La Sebastiana
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| Alano chatting to Neruda |
After our visit, a person in the shop told us which street to take to get to Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepcion, where there are many restaurants and cafes. It was a winding 40 minute walk, but we passed a number of excellent lookouts, street art and plaques.
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| Plaque honouring10th year (2013) of being a UNESCO Heritage Site |
We walked past these interesting columns in Plaza Bismark.
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| Plaza Bismark with large columns |
The sea
Lots of interesting homes perched on the hills. This house had a slanted room.
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| A most strange looking house |
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| Another view of the City |
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| Mural with trolley, sea, Valpo houses on hills |
We got to Cerro Alegre and stopped at a great cafe, La Coco, that had wonderful sandwiches. We sat in the back patio and shared a smoked salmon and chorizo sandwich.
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| Sign offering "Sanguches Artesanales" |
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| Patio at La Coco before we sat down |
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| Coffees and sandwich |
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| Alano and half of the sandwich |
On the way down the hill, we saw our first street artists with a work in progress.
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| "Men at work" Street Art Installation |
We took Ascensor Concepcion (the oldest one dating to 1883) down into town (60 cents CAN) and then headed back to the B&B for a chicken dinner. It was a beautiful day in Valpo.
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