National Holiday

Wednesday was a national holiday in Chile and so the University was closed.  We took the opportunity to do a bit of sight seeing.  Stacy and her parents were with us as they stopped in for a couple of days on their way to Santiago and then home.

We started the journey with our usual bus trip into Valparaiso.  We were then walking to the bus terminal when we discovered a big flee/produce market set up in front of the parliament building.  We took a stroll through and saw lots of interesting things.  For the most part produce here is very inexpensive.  For example below is a stand with clementines.  1 kilo (2.2 pounds) is 200 pesos (40 cents).

We took an hour and a half bus ride south.  Our destination was Isla Negra.  This was the favorite home of Pablo Neruda.  Neruda was a Nobel Prize winning author from Chile.  He is dearly loved by the Chileans.  His home is right on the ocean.
When we arrived we had a fantastic lunch right on sight.  Some of us had a Neruda pisco sour which was blue green in color.  Neruda did all of his writing in green ink because he felt it was the color of hope and life.

After lunch we went on an (English) tour of the home.  Neruda was a big collector so on display were many interesting items from all over the world.  I particularly liked his collection of bowsprits, the carved women from the front of ships.

After a tour of the house I went down to the ocean.  The waves were big and giving off lots of spray.  From here I got a good view of the entire home.  The house is long and skinny, Neruda said it was like the shape of Chile.  It also has lots of nautical features as Neruda really enjoyed the ocean.

During the evenings at our apartment Brant has been reading us translated Neruda poems.  His favorite, considering our locale, is "The Great Ocean."  I tried to find it online but didn't.  I will keep looking.