It’s hard to go to Puerto Vallarta without thinking about art. The town is full of art. For example, you can find shops that sell objects of art still being made according to ancient tribal techniques. These decorative items are made of beads pressed into beeswax on paper mache.

You can also find strictly made-for-tourists art for sale at reasonable prices on the way back to the ship. This seriously talented young man creates detailed scenes entirely by fingerpainting! I wonder what he was like back in kindergarten.

One thing my mother likes in Puerto Vallarta is the formal sculpture along the beach. She made sure that I photographed some of them. (Hi Mom! Here are some pictures for you!)

I like these sculptures, too. But even more, I like the street art: crumbling walls painted in strange glyphs that evoke other, impossibly distant civilizations. Like some of the best graphic-novel art, these paintings evoke moods for which we have no words.

And what else I like about them is their universality. This could be the street art of an ancient Mixtec culture. Or the street art on Beta Centauri 4. Or then again, it could be the street art of San Francisco.