Gabi On The Go: March 20 - Neruda's world and Santiago

Before we leave Valparaíso, we must visit Pablo Neruda's house in the city. It's called La Sebastiana, in honour of the architect who built it for Chilean's most famous poet: Sebastian Collado.

This is one of few Pablo Neruda's house.
We were only allowed to take photos outside.

FROM: https://valparaiso.com/en/tourist-attraction/la-sebastiana-2/

La Sebastiana is a house museum, which originally belonged to the great national poet Pablo Neruda.

Before living there, the Nobel Prize for Literature had commissioned some friends to find something to escape from Santiago's fatigue: "I want to find in Valparaiso a little house to live and write in peace. It has to have some conditions. It can't be too high or too low. It must be lonely, but not too lonely. Neighbors, hopefully invisible. They must not be seen or heard. Original, but not uncomfortable. Very winged, but firm. Not too big, not too small. Away from everything but close to mobilization. Independent, but with commerce nearby. Besides, it has to be very cheap. Do you think I can find a house like that in Valparaiso?", were the poet's words.

And well, he made it. The house was inaugurated on September 18, 1961 with a memorable party. Each of the guests was also included in a "List of Unforgettable Merits", which highlighted the help they had given to convert that abandoned thick work, in "La Sebastiana", as Neruda named it in honor of its first owner and builder Sebastian Collado.

In the house are preserved collections of old maps, navies and other paintings, including a portrait of Lord Cochrane and an oil painting that shows José Miguel Carrera shortly before being shot. There are many other relics from the port and curious pieces, such as music boxes and an old carved wooden merry-go-round horse. Without a doubt, a must-see when visiting Valparaíso.

The view is as fun's the parties Neruda used to have here.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Neruda

Pablo Neruda; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old and wrote in a variety of styles, including surrealist poems, historical epics, political manifestos, a prose autobiography, and passionate love poems such as the ones in his collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1924).

Neruda occupied many diplomatic positions in various countries during his lifetime and served a term as a senator for the Chilean Communist Party. When President Gabriel González Videla outlawed communism in Chile in 1948, a warrant was issued for Neruda's arrest. Friends hid him for months in the basement of a house in the port city of Valparaíso, and in 1949, he escaped through a mountain pass near Maihue Lake into Argentina; he would not return to Chile for more than three years. He was a close advisor to Chile's socialist president Salvador Allende, and when he got back to Chile after accepting his Nobel Prize in Stockholm, Allende invited him to read at the Estadio Nacional before 70,000 people.

Neruda was hospitalized with cancer in September 1973, at the time of the coup d'état led by Augusto Pinochet that overthrew Allende's government, but returned home after a few days when he suspected a doctor of injecting him with an unknown substance for the purpose of murdering him on Pinochet's orders.

Inside, we could really have an idea of his personality and his surrealistic mind. Many objects acquired in his travels, antique stores or given by friends, inspired me to fullest live life and enjoy loved ones company's.

The poet must attract cats... they are everywhere here.

So are succulents.

Jade trees.

Aloe Vera (?)

Neruda's house garden.

A little chat with Mr. Neruda.

We found our last chance to make it right and try an authentic Chilean empanada in Valparaíso, right beside the La Sebastiana Museum. This one was right... an delicious as well.

We can check it out from our list. Checked!

To leave Valparaíso by car, you must go up, up, up, up, till you reach the highway.
Goodbye beautiful place! We'll carry great memories from here.

After about 1 hour and 20 minutes we arrive in Santiagos' fancy neighbourhood of Providencia.

What a different world here!

Detail of our hotel Olá - Providencia (by Hilton).

Guess where the little fish found comfort?

From most of the flat city, the Costanera Center building sticks out.

It's the tallest building in Latin America.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costanera_Center

The Costanera Center is a commercial and business complex located in the commune of Providencia, Santiago, Chile. Owned by Cencosud, the complex consists of four skyscrapers, including the Gran Torre Santiago, two high-end hotels, an office building, and a six-floor shopping mall.

The Gran Torre Santiago, which stands as the tallest of the four buildings, was designed by renowned architect César Pelli and measures 300 metres (980 ft) tall. It is the second tallest building in Latin America, following Torres Obispado, and the fifth tallest in the Southern Hemisphere, after Indonesia's Autograph Tower and Luminary Tower in Jakarta and Australia's Q1 on the Gold Coast and Australia 108 in Melbourne. One of the other buildings in the complex is 170 metres (560 ft) high, while the other is only four stories.

Construction of the Costanera Center was temporarily halted in January 2009 due to the late 2000s recession. The developers were concerned that they would not be able to find tenants if completed by the originally proposed date. After the recession ended, Cencosud announced that construction would resume on December 16, 2009. The construction process restarted at the end of 2010.

On February 14, 2012, the Gran Torre Santiago reached 300 meters and became the tallest building in South and Latin America. The mall in the complex, designed by Canadian retail agency Watt International, opened on June 12, 2012, and is the largest in South America. It comprises six floors and includes the Jumbo (hypermarket).