Summer II Program in Isla Negra

On Saturday, July 11, the students from the Summer II Program at the Universidad de Viña del Mar’s International Office took a trip to Isla Negra to visit Pablo Neruda’s famous seaside home. Isla Negra is somewhat of a misnomer because it is not an island, but a sleepy coastal fishing village about an hour from Valparaíso. To get to Neruda’s house, the students walked from the main road of Isla Negra down a dirt road into a neighborhood of cute country homes that smelled of the sea and fresh pine needles.

Neruda’s home is nestled along the ocean, and the views from the many windows are exquisite. The waves splash up on the rocks, creating a startlingly white foam against the dark greys and blues of the ocean. This house was his most favorite, and he built and decorated it to be reminiscent of a ship. His third and last wife had the dream to turn the house into a museum, and left it exactly as Neruda had it while it was closed during the dictatorship. The only part of the house she disturbed was his library, when she packed up Neruda’s book collection to take to Santiago so that they would not be ruined by the seaside climate.

Throughout the house, there are mastheads from ships in the shape of women’s torsos, colored glass bottles, bottled ships, shells and other ocean-related paraphernalia. There are also extensive collections of paintings, exotic insects, African and Asian masks and statues. One of the fireplaces and several of the outside walls of his house feature wonderful ocean-themed mosaics made by an artist friend of his. Outside the house is a small sailboat, which he apparently never actually took to sea because he was afraid to sail alone. Neruda is also buried at Isla Negra.