We mostly went to the seaside town of Valparaiso because Neruda had lived there and his house is a museum we wanted to visit. But what captivated us more than the house was the incredible street art. Art on walls, on doorways, on steps on lampposts, just about anything that can be painted or collaged. Here is a gate made of bicycle parts:
The city is built on steep hills with ravines between them, and there are many concrete walls and concrete and stone sides of houses that lend themselves to large murals. To get a sense of the variety, look here.
Every time you turn a corner, there’s some new marvel. Here are a two of my favorites:
A skeletal sax player–on a house wall next to a barred window.
And an eye painted on a corner wall.
Because of the steepness of the hills there are many staircase shortcuts between streets, and most of these are painted, too. As this one, a high heeled shoe going up the stairs, and a man ling on a couch with a cat on his lap on the house next to it.
Just walking through the streets is a great museum tour. It was hard to keep from taking pictures at every turn. Lots of graffiti, too. Larry’s favorite was “Tourism is worse than Trump.” I’m not sure I agree.