Bellavista

This weekend I tried to take care of some of the things I needed to do before leaving Santiago. One of these was to visit Pablo Neruda's house there, called La Chascona. "Chascona", I'm pretty sure, is a word used to describe a woman with messy hair, and what Neruda called his mistress at the time he was building the house. He actually built it as a refuge to hide this secret relationship from the public and his wife.

The house, like anything related to Neruda, is quirky. He was in love with the ocean, and because the house is so far away from the water he wanted it to be built like a boat. Because of this, most of the rooms are small, with low ceilings, and use a lot of wood. In one room he actually went so far as to have the floor built at an angle to further the impression of being in a boat. It also has a balcony built on the top floor which is supposed to represent the deck and gives an amazing view of Santiago with the Andes as a backdrop.


But the most impressive thing about the day was wandering around the neighborhood where the house is located, Bellavista. The neighborhood is best known for its nightlife; it's filled with popular clubs and bars and parking spots are hard to come by on Friday and Saturday nights. During the day, however, it has a vibe similar to the East Village. Filled with trendy restaurants, boutiques, and cafes, it has a very relaxed atmosphere on a Saturday afternoon. The brownstones are replaced with brightly-colored buildings and even the apartment complexes have a bohemian vibe to them with large gardens and unique architecture. Unfortunately, the neighborhood isn't perfect, it is known for being a dangerous place at night despite everything else it has going for it. But it's interesting to see an area like this in a city that sometimes feels so culturally lacking.