I visited the Frida Kahlo museum in July of 2006.

It is located at 247 Londres in Coyoacán. You can get there by taking the Metro (the medium shaded green line) to the Coyoacán stop. Upon exiting walk to the right about 400 yards to Avenida Rio Churubusco and hang a left. When you come upon Avenida Mina hang a right and the 5th street down will be Londres and hang a left which will lead you to the Casa Azul which is the Kahlo museum.

This area of Mexico city is beautiful with tree lined streets and nicely kept homes located in a quiet suburb. The two mile walk was a small price to pay in order to see the home and museum of an artist that I have admired for so many years.

At the time of this writing the price of admission was 35 pesos. Upon entering you are told that it is permitted to take photos of the grounds and the exterior of the museum but photos of the interior including the paintings are not allowed.

The first view upon entering is of the courtyard which contains many trees some of which tower quite high and a small pyramid and there is a water fountain and other greenery and flowers. It is much larger than is depicted in the movie 'Frida' starring Salma Hayek.

There is a snack bar/gift shop combo on the grounds and some tables and chairs where one can sit and relax.

The lower floor to the left contains paintings of Kahlo and Rivera. I have seen photos of many of her paintings but the originals are always a truer barometer of an artist's work and I was impressed by her portraits of people especially her wonderful gift for painting eyes. When someone first told Frida that the eyes are the window of the soul then surely she took it to heart. So expressive and so soulful and wonderfully mysterious are some of these works.

One in particular impressed me the most: 'Portrait of my Father, Wilhelm Kahlo'. Her Father's eyes float in midair. Frida wrote the following in red ink at the bottom of this painting:

Pinte a mi padre Wilhelm Kahlo de origen Húngare y Alemán artista fotografa de profesion de caracter generoso inteligente y fino valiente porque padecio durante sesenta años epilepcia pero jamas dejo trabajo y lucho contra Hitler. Con adoracion, Su hija, Frida Kahlo

{I painted my Father Wilhelm Kahlo of Hungarian and German descent. An artist and photograher by profession with a generous and intelligent character and subtle bravery because he suffered for sixty years from epilepsy but never abandoned his work and he fought against Hitler. With adoration, his daughter, Frida Kahlo}

These touching and beautiful words describing her Father really floored me. How many parents have ever recieved such a fine tribute as this one? From all accounts, she was the apple of his eye.

Further on are the kitchen and the bedrooms and the upper studio where she worked and a descending staircase to the courtyard.

Frida was the 'heroine of pain' and she suffered greatly both physically and emotionally in her life. She was also so charismatic and passionate and deep and mysterious. She had a sense of humor also. Once she wrote: "I drink to drown my sorrows, but the damn things have learned to swim".

Visiting her museum was one of the highlights of my trip and a dream come true.

Lancer aka Street Girl Butler
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