Pablo Neruda (1904 - 1973) is a Chilean hero and seminal poet, a man with a vast literary range and someone who was key to every major poetry movement of the twentieth century. He also worked as a Chilean diplomat and ambassador, and travelled throughout the world. Neruda was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. Excellent translations of his poetry available, if you're interested in looking him up.
Neruda lived in three houses that have since been turned into museums, and Isla Negra is one of them. He was a lover of the sea, and Isla Negra is built to look like the interior of a ship. He was also a consumate collector, so the house is filled with maritime trinkets and treasures.
It is 85kms to the south of Valparaiso, and buses run from both Valparaiso and Santiago. There is a charge to enter, but the surrounding coastline itself is impressive. And after all, it was the landscape, and not the house, that inspired the poetry!
Image from wikipedia.org
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