Donna and Katherine Meet Sigi and Paul in Polanco

We decided to overlap friends here in Mexico City in order to squeeze more people in. We knew that these four would be very compatible and we were correct. Donna Quirk and her family have been so easygoing and generous on all of their visits with us. Donna also reads all of our blogs so she feels like she knows some of our friends that she has never met. Sigi and Paul had a trip planned to Costa Rica and they really wanted to be able to come to Mexico City for Sandy’s birthday. It worked out so well, as predicted they were very compatible. In fact everyone was exercising together in the morning. We had a great time watching these two sets of friends come together and become friends in their own right.

Our friend Donna Quirk is always a joy to host. She has come to visit us with her husband Tom in Paris, her brother Mark in Mexico and Madrid but this trip she brought her lovely daughter Katherine and we were delighted to have the opportunity to get to know her.

Since the girls had a long travel day we opted to take them to an Italian Restaurant in our neighborhood.

Katherine is training for the La Jolla Half Marathon so we walked with her to Chapultepec Park for a morning run. Donna did a run/walk for a few miles and we did a short run and longer walk for a couple of miles. We all met back at our starting point and despite going in three different directions no-one got lost.

There are many great white egrets that nest in the trees of the park.

On our walk back to our apartment we stopped for coffee and pastry. So much for the calories burnt on our walk/run. Jim tried a Maison Kayser cinnamon roll as he looks the world over for the best one. This was not it.

After freshening up we took them for a ride on one of the “sky buses” which is one of Mexico’s City’s forms of public transportations. It is essentially a gondola. Mexico City has three of them servicing different neighborhoods.

Donna is not fond of heights but she toughed it out for the team.

The sky bus we chose gave us nice views of the city skyline. That is a cable stayed bridge supporting the new train line which we took to Toluca.

After the ride we walked through the garden of the Presidential Palace.

This is the front entrance to the former official residence of the President of Mexico from 1934 until 2018. It is now a cultural center.

Los Pinos (the pines) is located in Chapultepec Forest.

Next stop was Chapultepec Castle which was once the imperial residence of Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg and Empress Carlota of Belgium. It holds the distinction of being the only royal castle in the Americas.

We took a self guided tour in the Castle

These murals on the first floor were done by the famous Mexican Artist Diego Rivera.

His murals include a lot of Mexican history.

Beautiful stained glass windows adorn a hallway in the castle.

The castle sits on the highest point in Mexico City proper.

This second floor balcony on the end of the palace looks directly down Avenida de Reforma.

Donna pre bought tickets to Casa Azul which was the family home of Frida Kahlo, another very famous Mexican artist and feminist icon. Be sure to buy tickets well in advance as Frida is getting very popular.

While waiting in line to enter Casa Azul we saw this person washing the sidewalk. This is a daily ritual that we often see. Mexico City is pristine clean.

This was the last portrait Frida painted before her death in 1954 at the age of 47. The painting is entitled Viva la Vida which translates to “Long Live Life” or “Live the Life”. Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin saw this painting and it was the inspiration for his song of the same name.

Her death mask lies on her bed and her ashes are in the urn on the shelf.

Here we are exiting Casa Azul into the beautiful garden.

Next stop was a lesser known house museum which is a short walk from Casa Azul. This was the home of the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky who the Mexican Government granted asylum to. He was murdered with an ax to the head in his office here. He and his wife along with Trotsky’s last living relative are buried here.

Our dear friends from London Sigi and Paul flew from the Dominican Republic where they were vacationing to have a short stay with us in Mexico City to celebrate Sandy’s Birthday. After a few delays they arrived at 7:10pm. Jim hustled them upstairs for dinner and then the rest of us took an Uber to Le Palacio des Bellas Artes for an evening of a performance by Ballet Folklórico de México.

This is the Tiffany Glass stage curtain.

Sorry but no photos were allowed of the performance.

When we returned home from the Ballet Folklórico de México we found that Sigi had stayed up and put together a delicious Black Forest cake with chocolate covered cherries marinated in a Kirsch liqueur. He harvested the cherries from his home garden in Richmond. It was Sandy’s 80th Birthday Cake and it was delicious.

Everyone helped us complete this puzzle.

Donna and Katherine went to Teotihuacan leaving us alone with Sigi and Paul on their first day in Mexico City.

Sigi made delicious dinners/suppers for us.

We all took a long (over 6 miles) walk to go to some sights in Mexico City. This is the main entrance to Chapultepec Park

At the half way point of the walk we stopped by a hotel that Sigi and Paul had stayed at about 18 years ago. We took a break and had coffee.

First stop was a self guided tour of the Post Office. Palacio Postal is a jaw dropping, century old post office in the center of Mexico City’s bustling historic central district.

As one of the largest post offices in the world, the Palacio Postal boasts of its beautiful Art Deco style, gorgeous stained glass windows and grand central chrome and brass staircases.

Next we went to the Latin American Tower which is an iconic skyscraper in Mexico City famous for its 44th floor observation deck offering 360 degree views of the city. It is known for its earthquake – resistant design and history as the tallest building in Latin America for a while after it was built.

Looking down at the beautiful Las Bellas Artes building where we saw a wonderful Mexican Folk Dance presentation two nights earlier.

In front of the Cathedral. Sigi and Paul stayed here for a concert and the rest of us went home.

Donna and Katherine’s last day was Saturday which is the day of the San Ángel market. Here we are having lunch at Saks.

San Ángel Convent was founded in 1615 for a Carmelite cloistered order and is now a museum.

We then walked to the San Ángel Inn for drinks. Jim is carrying cookies that he bought on the street.

Two weeks after Sandy’s birthday party here.

We had a great time combining our friends.

Donna and Katherine really enjoyed meeting Sigi and Paul as Donna would read about them in our blogs. We love sharing friendships.

We took Sigi and Paul on a sky bus ride.

Early Tuesday morning Sigi and Paul’s last full day they went to central Mexico City and made reservations for us to view the Diego Rivera murals at Palacio Nacional at 4pm.

In 2018 we could walk up these stairs and get much closer to the mural. Now the stairs are off limits but one can look down on them from the floor above.

and Frida (green dress and necklace)into this mural.

Last night here Sigi and Paul met our friends Miguel and Yvonne. More combining of friends.

and then we all met Ivonne’s daughter Loreni and son in law Zack and their children(not pictured) who were visiting them from Los Angeles. After this meeting Sigi and Paul went back to our apartment and caught an Uber to the airport for their late night BA flight to London. We had a lovely dinner with Miguel and Ivonne’s family.

These two very special friends give a toast as they head back to England.

Good bye 71 Anatole France you served us and our guests well.

And that’s a wrap for us in Mexico City. Thanks for the memories.

In all honesty, Mexico City was not as good the second time around. It is one of the largest cities in the world and yet the tourist experiences are somewhat finite. We felt that we were repeating a lot of prior experiences. The hot air balloon and the gondolas were new and very nice as was the train to Toluca. The other observation is that prices have skyrocketed. Our apartment cost this year was triple what it was in 2018. Prices have caught up with the rest of the world. That being said, we would still recommend a trip to Mexico City if you have never been there.

3 responses to “Donna and Katherine Meet Sigi and Paul in Polanco”

Donna

April 21, 2026 at 5:06 pm

Loved reading the post! Such a special week of memories with you both and Sigi and Paul, too. Kathryn and I cherish these memories.

Sigi Mueller

April 20, 2026 at 4:56 pm

You are most gracious and generous friends and hosts indeed, Sandy and Jim, and what a privilege to be able to celebrate an ‘important’ birthday with you, as well as with Donna and Katherine!

Mark Neylon

April 20, 2026 at 1:41 pm

This blog brought back such fond memories for me. Thank you for being so generous to your friends.

Living the retirement dream