Museo Frida Kahlo
Casa Azul (Blue House), where the iconic artist was born in 1907 (not 1910, as she wanted people to believe) and died 47 years later, is both museum and shrine. Kahlo's astounding vitality and originality are reflected in the house itself, from the giant papier-mâché skeletons outside and the retablos (small religious paintings on tin) on the staircase to the gloriously decorated kitchen and the bric-a-brac in her bedroom. The house displays relatively few of Kahlo's original paintings, but you can admire her early sketches, diary entries, tiny outfits, and wheelchair at her easel, plus her four-poster bed fitted with a mirror above, and in a separate exhibit space across the garden, a collection of her dresses presented in the context of her physical disabilities. The relaxing garden also has a small but excellent gift shop and café.
The museum has become astoundingly popular in recent years and carefully limits ticket sales to avoid the house becoming too crowded at any given time. Tickets can only be purchased online. You can buy them from the museum website, but these tend to sell out quickly. If this happens, you can try buying tickets from a third-party tour site, such as Tiqets.com, GetYourGuide.com, or Viator.com. You'll pay a surcharge, but these sites sometimes have tickets available on shorter notice, and they also sell tickets many weeks in advance, which the museum's official site does not. For all the hassle of buying tickets, it's worth the effort to visit this very special place, and once you're inside, you can explore at a leisurely pace (and be glad the museum is never allowed to become too crowded).
