Perthward bound

Day 35: Thursday, 6 March 2008. La Chascona. This was the house in which Pablo Neruda kept his mistress Matilde Urrutia for several years, until she became his wife. In fact, the house was named after her (La Chascona = 'crazy-haired woman') and numerous tributes to her abound, notably in the form of portraits [two by Diego Riviera, no less!] and poems [the Captain's Verses were Neruda's secret love poems to Matilde and these are inset into the study desk of the 1st section of the house].

Aurora and I booked for a 1:00pm viewing [you have to take the guided tour. It's available in either Spanish or English]. We leave Luke behind for this one: he has been twice before.

I have high hopes. La Chascona seems at once mysterious; this is a house of sections. The first thing I see are the ripe grapes dangling from the latticework as we head into the public part of the house that Matilde remained in after her husband's death. As for La Sebastiana, the bar and dining room are designed in a quirky yet functional way. The dining table is made of araucaria (the native pine, now protected) and the wine bottle stabbed into the recycled French ship's bar is actually a cigarette holder. What I am really impressed with, though, is the secret passageway behind the cupboard. I feel like I have stepped into a real adventure!

My wonderment is shortlived. The passageway leads to a storeroom with a winding staircase; up the staircase is an everyday dining room and study area splashed with pop art. The study leads into Matilde's bedroom, separated from the bathroom by only a beaded curtain. This reminds me of the bathroom by the bar in La Sebastiana, which was similarly (un)shielded and I wonder what issue Neruda had with private toilets.

Aurora asks plenty of questions, I scrawl frantically in my notebook, the Italian lady on our tour has a heavy duty camera around her neck. The guide thinks we are all travelling together, asks if we are journalists, we all laugh and say no. Aurora keeps asking questions, I continue to scrawl, the Italian lady takes surreptitious photos indoors [Strictly not permitted - I wish I was so game!].

[Much missing text here -> just need to finish the blog before I leave Chile or it will hang over my head.]

In the end, I am a little disappointed with the triviality of the tour, the fact that we aren't free to spend as long as we liked pondering the rooms and grounds, the shallowness of the . I realise that most people do not have their entire personal lives on display in their houses, however this house is a closed book to his life. Sure, there are medals, a few poems, eclectic collections of flea market bargains, pictures of his inspirations [Where are the books...?]. But there is nothing beyond surface insight into the man. I am still inclined to think of him as a brilliant egomaniac. Maybe this is shallow of me.

After La Chascona, there is a bit of running around to sort out Aurora's student visa, lunch at a great little hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant [7,000 pesos each is pretty darn good!], more shopping in Providencia, then a short walk home. I mess up the entire kitchen while cooking dinner and we break a trend by actually starting to eat before 9:30pm.

Day 36: Friday, 7 March 2008. My last day in Chile! I am sad and ecstatic at once - sad to be leaving my friends who have been fabulous hosts but very excited about going home. I feel almost rested.

I start the day with a long walk. The limestone path down the centre of Pocuro is covered with tiny white beads. It reminds me of the sand balls created by hermit crabs on Cable Beach, their shape and the way they crush under foot.

We eat lunch at Casa da Veija, a traditional Chilean restaurant. We meet Aurora's mum (ex-CEO of a hospital in Mexico City) and her partner, Guillamo (he used to run an oil & gas company); they arrived last night. Both in their seventies, they are still super-active and look fantastic. I hope I look as good when I hit 70!

Comment from nowhere: they really love their sandwiches & hotdogs here. They even have a hotdog shop called 'Doggis'!

It is a blessing that the weather has cooled. It rained this morning, is thunderstorming right now - unheard of in March. I was wondering how I would fit everything into my suitcase; now it seems that I am able to wear my excess baggage in layers.

Time to run. Hope the thunderstorm passes before the flight is delayed.
To Luke & Aurora - you have been excellent hosts and I loved my time in Chile/Argentina.
To my friends and family in Perth - see you very soon.
To all - thanks for reading!

H :)