Granny looks annoyed and taps her fingers. “What did I do?” I wonder, watching her as I sit in a sandwich shop in Valparaiso, Chile. The woman next to her is casting an evil eye at me, too.
But it’s only my imagination in hyperdrive as I study the painting of a bespectacled grandmother and friend on a building wall across the street. We are on a street art graffiti tour in this Chilean city, and I bounce between awe at the artistic talent and wonder at how creatively artists have painted their dreams and political views on buildings and stairs.
Street art-graffiti tours are big business in this Chilean seaport built on steep hillsides that plunge into the Pacific Ocean. Tourists flood Valparaiso, some off ships that dock for the day, and others who’ve driven to this UNESCO World Heritage Site to ride the gondolas up and down the hills and tour the street art. Read more