Santiago, Chile: La Chascona

Today, a bunch of students from the school and I visited La Chascona, Pablo Neruda's house in Santiago.  He had three houses in Chile: this one, the one in Valparaiso that Kim and I visited two weeks ago, and one on Isla Negra, near which he is buried.  This house he built for his mistress, who eventually became is third wife and was the love of his life.  Above, some friends and I near the entrance.

Although we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house, thus somewhat limiting my blog material, I was permitted to take this picture from the outside looking in.  Strange and eccentric like the house in Valparaiso, La Chascona is a hodgepodge of items from the world over, including some works by the likes of Picasso and Diego Rivera, who were apparently close personal friends of Neruda.

Teresa (another German friend) and I on the terrace of La Chascona, just about to leave and get some ice cream.  While I'm glad I got to see another house of Pablo Neruda (and this time I actually got to read some of his poetry), it left me with a stronger-than-ever conviction that there really is a fine line between genius and madness.