Valparaíso y un Cumpleaños

This past Saturday was Flo's 5th birthday ("Una mano completa!" - A full hand!) and her party was supposed to take place that afternoon, but due to rain the previous day the party was postponed.  I still went over to her house with Alice and Antonio though, along with several other grandparents and relatives.  By the time we got there, a new tea set had already broken out and Flo was offering tea, coffee, and milk to adults whose faces had been adorned with stickers.  The evening was spent watching and commenting on the Olympics over drinks and snacks; we were watching weight lifting, which lead to some interesting conversation haha.  "Look at that chino, he's so tiny!  He's not gonna --UYY pero qué fuerte!"  (Sidenote: Chino or Chinese can be used to describe anyone remotely Asian-looking.)  It was a fun night, even without a formal party - which is now scheduled to take place this coming weekend.

We were scheduled to make a trip to the neighboring city of Valparaíso on Friday, but again we were rained out so we postponed it to Sunday.  As a port city, Valpo is gorgeous and has a rich European history that spans back to colonial times.  Consequently, there's a lot of European influence in the art and architecture.  Houses are built into the hills and on top of each other, where they somehow manage to cling tight even during earthquakes.  

Ascensores - lifts - are a common mode of transport and have been around for years as a means of getting around the hills.  

One of Valpo's defining features is the color.  Every house and building is painted in bright colors and the street art is incredible.  This is so ironic because Chile is more widely known as an introverted, mellow country.  I don't want to say that it's cold or bland, but it's certainly not as vibrant as, say, Mexico.  Everybody on the street wears dark clothes that don't draw attention, and houses are pretty average colored.  That's why "Chile de colores" is so unique, to the point that our guides refer to it as the Paris of Chile.  

Also, I found this cat.

The Nobel Prize-winning author and poet Pablo Neruda made one of his three homes in Valparaíso - which we visited.  It's such an incredible place that it only makes sense for someone of his occupation to settle there.  There were a ton of great tiny restaurants and cheap shopping, too.  Since it was Sunday most everything was closed, but the nice thing is that it's so close and easy to get to that we'll most likely hit it up pretty frequently.