Our City Tour, The Street Art, A New Experience

We had a tour yesterday afternoon - a walkabout in the city of Valparaiso.  The city is built on roughly 16 hills, and each hill is basically a different neighborhood.  The two nearest to our hotel are Cerro Allegra (happy hill)  and Cerro Conception (named after an old fort that no longer exists).  Both neighborhoods are colorful (to say the least) and safe for tourists.

I say that because of the recent uprisings and protests in Chile - the people are mad at the government because of the genocide of the indigenous people, and when others protest, the police are not following law enforcement protocol (which is, if you must, shoot people below the knee).  Instead, police are shooting people in the eye(s).  This causes more uprisings and more discontent...and more people losing eyes.  Many of the murals around town have been altered to show an eye missing.

See their missing eyes?

Editorial note:  It's a shame that so many countries are losing their identity to leaders (and law enforcement) who want to be strongmen.  We've met so many wonderful people in Argentina and Chile who are wondering what the hell their governments are doing.  We feel the same way.  We're just people.  And most of us are pretty decent.  We want to feel safe, to have clean water and good food for our family, to live in a house that's sheltering, to have education for our children, and to be able to afford healthcare for our elders.  We want to live our lives without worrying about air strikes or wildfires.  Why can't governments represent that and strive for that?  It's all about the money, right?  Such a shame.  SMDH

Anyway...the street art here is amazing.  Our guide told us that artists sometimes are commissioned to paint in spaces.  Sometimes, they ask permission to paint if the space if privately owned.  And sometimes, they just tag illegally...but the art is so good, officials just look the other way.  Here are some of my favorites:

Sleeping Girl

jazz

This one and the next two are situated all together.  Left to right the feet, the shoes and the face.  This is a representation of indigenous peoples, but disjointed...meaning something's not right.  Powerful message.

the shoes

the feet.

Life in Valparaiso

it means without fear

Translation:  Ideas are bullet proof

grandma

such fabulous detail

Same artist as the Sleeping Girl

nice use of the porthole in the art as a deep sea helmet

Here's Johnny!

Starry night

We had a great time looking at all the art, shopping, and then stopping to taste some local food and local craft beer.  

At one point, we were walking up the sidewalk, and I suddenly smelled smoke...my nose and lungs burned, my eyes watered, and my throat closed up...I felt like I was having some kind of attack!

At first I thought it was residual wildfires - yes, even Chile is experiencing wildfires - but our guide quickly doled out Kleenex doused with a blend of bicarbonate and water to ease our breathing  It was tear gas causing the distress!

My tear gas "mask"

Nearby, the police had dispersed a group of protesters with the stuff.  I've never known what tear gas was like...and I never want to again.

We had a great time in Valparaiso.  Every restaurant and bar had wonderful staff, great service, and delicious food and drink.  Not everyone spoke English, but since we've now been traveling for 20+ days, our Spanish is a little better...we get along just fine.  Clearly the art is great, and there are vendors and small shops everywhere touting locally made wares. We didn't get to the beach town of Vina del Mar...maybe next time...but our stay here was fabulous, and I highly recommend it!

Sunset

twilight

Tomorrow we head to Santiago with a stop in the wine country on the way!  Salud!!