Hello all! I recently got back from a month-long trip to Mexico. Wow! I wanted to visit Mexico for the longest time. I really love folk art and maybe Mexico is the folk art capital of the world. I’m not totally sure I can even explain what folk art is or why I love it so much. Maybe it’s just regular art without all the nonsense-stuff surrounding it? Anyway, here’s a little travel blog about that trip.
Mexico City
Getting into Mexico City, the first things that struck me were - all the purple blossom trees, the pink taxis, the buildings made of volcanic rock, street food everywhere and the smell of masa floating down every street.
I got some weird looks for photographing all the hand-painted signs. Every business seems to have them. Mechanics, laundrettes, ice cream shops, you name it, all with beautifully wonky/perfect signs.
I got weirder looks for photographing the displays of sink plugs and taps that are neatly arranged on coloured peg board outside of the very specific shops in Centro.
Some highlights from CDMX for me were Frida Kahlo’s blue house (her ashes are in a ceramic frog), sailing along the canals of Xochimilco on brightly coloured boats, exploring the anthropology museum, and maybe my favourite, the Museo del Juguete Antiguo (antique toy museum). I love old toys and very much enjoyed chatting to the owner about his huge (4 story building…) collection.
I also really wanted to pick up some papier-mâché masks in Mexico, but they were a lot harder to find than I imagined. I eventually found some in Mercado de Sonara (great place if you’re looking for ritualistic goat hooves or a potent love spell), where the market seller very obligingly dug out a dusty old bin bag from behind her store full of apparently the only paper masks left in Mexico City. Thank you kind lady.
Oaxaca and the Pacific Coast
I also visited Oaxaca and the Pacific Coast (by a tiny 15 seat airplane). This part of the trip was more of a holiday, so not loads to share for the newsletter, but wow! Bright coloured houses, incredible history, kind people, baby turtles, drinking out of coconuts, humpback whales, bioluminescent lakes, beaches, amazing food, lizards in trees. Wow. I recommend you visit immediately.
Now back to… well, not reality yet… I’m in France for the next month looking after some goats and working on some new stuff. Hasta luago…. I mean… À bientôt.