Mexico City - Day 2: Coyoacan

I woke up after a fairly restful sleep -- it was a little hard getting to bed at first because of a yappy dog in one of the apartments around us but eventually they went to sleep. 

Today the main attraction was Casa Azul: Frida Khalo's house & workshop turned museum. We had tickets for a 2pm entrance which meant the morning was open for gastronomic exploration. Our original choice was Expendio de Maiz, this cool restaurant concept where you have no menu but instead eat whatever the kitchen is serving when you sit down and then continue eating until you're full (charged by the number of courses you stick it out for). They opened at 9, but unfortunately upon arrival at 10am, the waiting list was already 3 hours deep. Maybe not today... Luckily we had a backup plan within walking distance - the famous Panaderia Rosetta. The line was daunting but for takeaway moved very quickly.

I have to admit I did not come in with high expectations. I am not a big bread or pastry fan, so not sure if it was me being on an empty stomach or if it was a matter of having very low expectations, but I was actually quite pleasantly surprised! We ordered six different pastries (guava roll - enjoyed it quite a bit, chocolate croissant - LOTS of chocolate inside, ricotta and cacao roll - good flavor, cinnamon roll - Baba said it was just okay, dulce de leche roll - R gives it two thumbs up, and a traditional concha - a little dry for me but L enjoyed it). This is the only photo I remembered to take:

After we were full of dough and sugar, we called for the UberXL to head to Coyoacan. Coyoacan is a bit apart from downtown Mexico City (for perspective, our rental was in Polanco, which is about an hour walking from Centro Historico - but Coyoacan would be 2.5 hours away walking). The neighborhood is often described as lively, bohemian feel with lush and bustling public spaces. We arrived around 12:30 so had some time to kill before our museum reservation. Time for some market action!

I decided to try one of the fresh juices...but this was a miss. It was a combination juice with papaya and guava and something else...the papaya and guava I think were too strong. 

Happily, reviews on the shrimp tostados were much higher. Very fresh -- and the veggies on top were a nice change of pace after all the pastries. 

And then...more shopping. I wasn't a big fan of stuff in this market, it was more a time passer. The crowds admittedly were a bit much even for me...but it was interesting seeing a working local market, with everything from handicrafts to fresh vegetables, spices, and candy. 

Around 1:30 or so, we decided to mosey over to the Frida Khalo museum. This was the hottest ticket in CDMX, when we were in line, a sign said that tickets were already sold out until the last week of April.

Good thing we went a little early too, because even with timed entry, the line was quite long. Reminded me a bit of Ghibli Museum in the "small museum, very specific focus, hard to get tickets, in a random neighborhood" feel. Luckily, the twins came prepared for line waiting. 

This is basically what they looked like whenever they weren't in motion. Waiting for food, in the ubers, while Mama was taking too long in the shops...sometimes even when walking they'd still be trying to read at the same time. I guess I should be supportive -- better reading than looking at YouTube shorts!

The estate where Frida spent most of her life was both grand and small at the same time. Technically the acreage was probably fairly large, it fit gardens, two museum sections, gift shop, cafeteria, etc...but everything you went still seemed very quaint and personal - everywhere you looked, it seemed a plant was intentionally put there, or a stone pattern specifically designed this, a plate or doorway painted a particular shade of red or blue or green. I suppose that is the heart of Frida's artistry -- you really did feel like this was the home of a true free spirit.

Sadly, the childhood polio combined with teenage tragic car accident and then countless surgeries over her life meant much of the museum reflected a life of significant pain and struggling. Here is a photo taken from the perspective of Frida's bed, on which lies her death mask, looking up at a mirror installed above the bed so that she could paint her self portraits while lying horizontally (due to her immobility after certain surgeries). 

This is the wheelchair from which she would paint, in front of a moveable easel gifted to her from Nelson Rockefeller. 

Her kitchen - I took a picture of this because that bowl in the middle of the shelf there is SO huge! The picture doesn't convey the immenseness of it -- I have no idea why you would ever need a bowl that size!

In so many of the rooms, there are these skeleton-like sculptures that are colorful and yet very macabre, focusing your attention on the delicate nature of the rib cage and spine -- I imagine intentionally, given how much that area pained her, both physically and emotionally (due to its impact on her inability to have children).

 

There was also a very cool separate exhibit showcasing her dresses and corsets as well as present day fashion examples that continue to take Frida as their inspiration. No photos of that area as the lighting is kept intentionally very low to preserve the dresses. 

I really enjoyed the museum so this is not meant to detract from the impressiveness of either the museum or Frida's art or experiences...but I couldn't help but wonder how much of her legacy is also due to the fact that she had the financial means to enable it all. I don't at all doubt her enigmatic and charismatic nature -- clearly she had great allure to so many...but all of those surgeries could not have been cheap. All of the art supplies...the special corsets...the special furniture...and the ability to have been introduced to Diego by a family friend in the first place -- it makes you think about the other Fridas who have likely lived and passed away in anonymity because they did not have all of those. 

After we finished at Casa Azul, we headed towards the central square at Coyoacan, where we noshed on some street food while checking out the street performers and souvenir stalls. 

R enjoyed the fresh mangos so much that she ended getting two servings. Laoye on the other hand was a bit disappointed by the elote...he chose poorly and got one where the grilled corn had gone cold.

The colorful entrance to the Artisans Market Coyoacan with the coyote statue -- the name Coyoacan means the those of the coyotes, I'm told. 

Some of us were...perhaps less than thrilled with the amount of market-ing today.

We had to reward Baba's patience with his version of an ice cream treat: beers and pizza. 

The pizza at Traficante was quite good but my favorite part of dinner was actually the watercress salad. That sounds crazy, but the roasted sesame and garlic dressing and radishes really made for a tasty combination! Photo of the kitchen hard at work:

We did a little more people watching after dinner (beat boxing act, comedian/juggling act, I even threw a couple darts at some under inflated balloons) but we knew that a thunderstorm was brewing...we managed to call and hop into the Uber JUST as the sky really opened up. 

And back at the rental, Jiujiu and Jiuma had arrived! Bring out of the card games! They had been up since 3am Mexico City time catching their flight from Boston though so no late night today. We all have a bike tour to catch in the AM anyhow.

Parting shot of me admiring my new earrings from the Coyoacan market!

Mexico City - Day 1: Arrival

Spring break is upon us again! This year, our spring break trip is to Mexico City - why Mexico City you ask? It is on a ton of Places to Go lists thanks to the food scene, history/cultural offerings, and easy accessibility from the US (many friends have gone or are planning to go soon) but in our case, this trip is also a birthday celebration. LaoYe is turning 70 this year and we asked him where he would like to go to celebrate and he suggested Mexico City -- no need to twist any of our arms!

So it's a big family trip -- Jiujiu and Jiuma, Laolao and Laoye, Baba and Mama and L/R. We don't even fit in a single UberXL. 

The flight out of SFO was a little delayed because of the runway construction but we ended up arriving not too far from schedule. Managed to finally watch Greatest Showman while on the flight - I'm a bit delayed in my movie watching. Nice songs!

Biggest tip for the MEX airport -- bathroom was STINKY. I didn't even go in and even from outside it was very pungent. So...go on the plane or hold it until you get to your hotel. 😆 The customs and immigration lines weren't too long but it still took us an hour or so to get through everything. The Uber picked us up very quickly though and we were off to our rental for the week. Very spacious -- plenty of beds. 

We unpacked and then walked over to Avenue Masaryk for dinner. It is a very clean, wide street with lots of high end shopping (eg, Tiffany) and restaurants. We ended up at Klein's (yes, so Mexico sounding eh?) but they served "homecooking" style food and were well reviewed. I forgot I was blogging this trip and took no photos. 😢 But I thought my sope dish was SUPER tasty. Everyone else liked their selections too (Baba got the chicken tacos, L&R the steak tacos, and Laolao and Laoye shared a club sandwich). After dinner (about $85 for the six of us, with some beers and waters), we walked over to the supermarket to pick up some fruit, cereal, and ice cream - the necessities obviously. 

And then back to the rental -- watched a few episodes of Zhu Yu (the new hit cdrama on Netflix, everyone seems to be recommending it so we decided to give it a shot) and then to bed. 

Tomorrow, Casa Azul and pastries!