La Casa Azul -- Frida Kahlo Museum

I recently discovered that my friend Lisa is a kindred spirit when it comes to the artist Frida Kahlo. Most people (at least Americans) despise the woman and find her art freaky, but Lisa and I like both her work and her intriguing life. So Lisa invited me and Kathy (our friend who is famously game for anything) to go with her to Frida's childhood home and where she lived with her equally famous artist husband Diego Rivera. Finally, we added another friend Emily (the photo-jumper), and made a date of it.

La Marquesa

La Marquesa is national park between Mexico City and Toluca that is more amuzements rather than hiking. Our church had a picnic there. The fellows that provide horses and guides along the trails were like vultures, constantly trying to sell us rides. Finally, after our bellies were full of hamburgers and hot dogs, nearly the whole congregation set off on horseback.

Eye of the Beholder

In April, a few girlfriends and I went to Cholula and Puebla for the main purpose of buying Talavera pottery (which we al bought in spades). One lady asked what they did with broken pottery, and was told that they sell it buy the large box. Another friend and I decided to go halves on a box (for about $26US), but she was certain that her husband wouldn't understand the awesomeness of a box of broken pottery, so we stored it at my house.

This past week, we finally opened the box, cleaned each piece, and set them all over my table to pick out which ones we wanted. Even broken, they are beautiful. Now they are ready to be used in crafty-type projects that I haven't yet determined.

Coyoacán

Coyoacán means "Place of the Coyotes" in Náhuatl. But now it is a fashionable neighborhood within Mexico City. It is firstly famous for being where Cortéz set up house across from this church (which he had built) and also for keeping his mistress only a few blocks away. Further down the street is Frida Kahlo's house, but I didn't visit her until later.