Firstly I think this is amusing so I’ll start with it up front. Most conversations I have had in the last couple of weeks have been something like:

“You went to Mexico?”

“Yeah!”

“Why? Was it a music thing?”

“No!”

“So like…you went for fun? Like a…vacation?”

“Yes! Like a vacation.”

I guess I can see the confusion because I honestly not sure when is the last time I have taken what can be termed as a “real vacation.” I LEFT MY LAPTOP AT HOME, YOU GUYS. I mostly did not check my email for 3 days (mostly). It was…weird. And beautiful.

But anyway – yes. My friends Denise, Michael, and Charlotte and I took a flight from San Antonio to Mexico City for 4 days and it was an incredible time. My goal was to see Frida…Frida Kahlo has always been an inspiration and a mystery to me. I read about her Casa de Azul where she grew up, her house right next to Diego Rivera’s where they lived separately but were joined by a rooftop bridge (a metaphor for a lot of things with their relationship), her garden in her courtyard, her bed where she painted her intense self portraits with a mirror hanging overhead…I had read it all, I had seen the movie, but I wanted to GO THERE.

Thankfully my friends were up for adventure, so we immersed ourselves in Frida for a couple of days. We stayed in Coyoacán, a few blocks from Casa da Azul. It’s a beautiful part of the city, with colorful houses and walls, a big marketplace, public art, a gorgeous square next to Parroquia San Juan Bautista, one of the oldest churches in Mexico City.

Some Frida highlights:

After we visited Casa de Azul, we were informed that Frida and Diego’s studio was not that far from our plans for the day, so we walked over. It was the icing on the cake, and we got to see a lot of Diego’s world here. Frida lived here off and on, but ultimately moved back to Casa de Azul for the most part.

My favorite kind of tourism is the immersion kind, so any kind of house or studio tour just makes me slack-jawed with wonder. Something about seeing the paints Frida was using to make her last works, or her book collection, or Diego’s collection of indigenous art…it’s inspiring. It makes me think about my space and what I choose to put in it, and what I need or don’t need.

More about Mexico City in another post, but for now:

“I hope the exit is joyful and I hope never to return.” – Frida Kahlo