Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera Museums

Had a great day today but first a little note I want to bring to the attention of future travelers here. Mexico City is so huge that distances going from point A to point B can be really difficult to navigate by bus and metro especially when you don’t know the names of the streets and it’s never very clearly indicated on the buses.  We have had to rely mostly on taxis to get around. This is where the bulk of our expense has gone, excluding, of course, the hotel.  There is no way around that.  Last time we were here we did take the metro but they separate women from the men thus we were riding in different compartments and not too sure where we were to get off. Luckily we managed.  The buses come in different shapes, sizes and states, some not too great looking. Again way too complicated in a city this size.
Today we spent 45.00 in cab fare but that’s 3 cabs in total with an average time each ride of around 45 minutes.  Apparently a 45 minute cab ride is short in Mexico City.
We arrived at the Frida Kahlo Blue House where she spent a big part of her life. That was the first place where there was a crowd and some foreigners.  We had a little bit of a waiting time but it was well worth it.
The house itself is composed of many buildings, painted blue on the outside, with a beautiful spacious interior courtyard.
The Museum has many original Frida Kahlo paintings, including lithographs, photographs, her studio, with her iconic wheelchair, her bedroom and a number of the dresses called Tejuana dresses which she especially favoured.
Due to an accident which left her partially crippled she wore a lot of corsets which she decorated with many motifs some of them political. She remained a committed activist and Communist for most of her life.  I did take some photos with the IPad and will be attempting to post some later. Frida and Diego Rivera entertained a number of famous people in the Blue house.  One of the most famous guests was Trotsky with whom Frida had a brief affair. Trotsky was always concerned with the threat of assassination with good reason since he did end up with an icepick in his skull so Diego tried to accommodate him by buying the house next  to Frida which was very generous of him. There are many interesting photos of their time together.
The ticket booth was very weird with a mirror on one side and a little opening to talk so you couldn’t see who you were dealing with. I asked for the tickets in Spanish, guess my accent was pretty damn good because she asked how old we were. I responded with the truth which I won’t mention here but suffice it to say that we got in as Mexican citizens for the grand total of $2.64.  This ticket allowed us to visit the Diego Rivera museum in another part of town requiring anothert taxi.
The museum was designed by Rivera and is absolutely impressive. It’s built entirely of black volcanic rock recuperated from volcanic eruptions close to that area. It’s a massive building in the style of an Aztec pyramid with ceramic tile ceilings and alcoves filled with archeological treasures. There is a beautiful courtyard unadorned with plants or flowers except for three gorgeously huge  Aloe Vera plants.  There is also a sketch for a monumental mural consisting of 3 panels. It apparently represents one of the largest murals ever conceived.
A great day and with our previous cab waiting we headed back to El Centro. Traffic wasn’t bad at all. Tomorrow another adventure awaits.