Here in Monterey County, we have been having an unusual heat wave.  During the midst of this heat wave, I noticed the cutest place on Fremont Street in Monterey and it was hopping busy.  I was immediately drawn to the name: Las 2 Fridas.  I am a big Frida Kahlo fan.  I loved her before she was as immensely popular as she is today.  It started with an art history class I took as a college elective in my early 20s.  In this class I learned about her tragic backstory as well as her art.

She was born in 1907 in Mexico City.  Polio struck her at age six, causing her right leg to be affected.  According to writer Nichola Daunton, Kahlo’s father encouraged her to gain strength through traditionally male activities such as “wrestling and boxing”.  Daunton also states that “despite the conservative attitudes of the day and the disapproval of her mother, she spent much of her childhood dressed as a boy”.   A trolley accident when she was 18 broke her spine and pelvis and she spent nearly a year in a full-body cast.  Pain would become an issue for the rest of her life.  Art would become the medium for her to express her suffering as well as her passion.

Frida Kahlo married another Mexican artist, Diego Rivera, in 1929 and the two spent the next 20 years traveling between Mexico and the United States.  Frida and her husband formed an unusual couple.  Her husband Diego was 20 years her senior and a big, clumsy-looking man.  Nonetheless, deeply besotted with Diego, Frida often wrote things in her diary including that he was “her everything” and  “your armpit is my refuge.”  If the weather was as hot then as it is now,  this seems highly unappealing.  But who am I to judge?

Back to Las 2 Fridas.  I was initially lured in by the super cute pink chairs and tables set up outside featuring sugar skulls and other colorful motifs.  I also was hot and thirsty and the sight of people carrying out dishes of ice cream, fresh fruit, and smoothies attracted me like a magnet.

Their website indicates they offer “a variety of Mexican snacks such as spicy fruit, chicharrones, churro sundaes, and tamales”.  They also offer other extremely healthy items made fresh, including açaí bowls, juices and smoothies.  You can order online for carryout or delivery or sit outside at their cute tables.  This is going to be my new favorite!

I hope if you are in the Monterey Area, you get a chance to check it out.  For more information, including hours and complete menu, see Las 2 Fridas.

Thank you for visiting my blog!  Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and beautiful vistas.