Day of the Dead, Mexico City Pt. 2

Dia de los Muertos while it is a time of honor and reminiscing, it is also a time of celebration, feasting, painting of faces and dressing up! Celebrating the lives of those we lost & miss but had the honor of being a part of.

San Andres, a small village right outside of Mexico City, has some of the best festivities to partake in and I highly recommend taking your time there. I took an uber from the center of Mexico and the cost was about $35. It was completely worth it considering this place gets packed. I also suggest you go early enough to walk around during the daylight and then plan to stay for a while after dark. Things just start to get exciting when the sun goes down.

Keep plenty of small change on you so you can buy some of the amazing street food, to use the restroom anywhere and to tip any of the fully dressed up people if you take photos of them. You can also use this small change to tip the families if you decide you want to visit some of the offerendas inside their personal homes.

What is Dia de Los Muertos?

Dia de Los Muertos is a Mexican Holiday where family and friends come together to help guide and support their lost loved ones journey. They come to clean and tidy up the graves and they bring Marigolds, which is the traditional flower used to honor the dead and they bring gifts (offerendas) like pan de muerta (a special bread) and calaveras (sugar skulls).

Some families feature alters or shrines in their homes putting the photos of their deceased loved ones up on display to help guides their spirits back home to visit.

During this 3 day period many of these families will open up their homes for you to visit if you pay a small offerenda. Please remember this is a time of honor and respect so while I encourage you to visit and experience this amazing holiday, I also remind you that this is a deeply personal experience for each of these families.