Random "Day of the Dead" Photos

Here are some more photos reflecting the festive nature of Mexico City as we approach the Day of the Dead...

A "catrina" (an elegantly dressed skelton) with her skeletal dog outside a coffee shop not far from my apartment.

A vendor parked his van down the street from my apartment to sell a variety of plants.

Of course, there were potted marigolds, the traditional flower of this season.

The balcony of an apartment in my neighborhood, decorated for the Day of the Dead / Halloween season.

A nearby nursery school called "La Casa de Garfield" (a copyright violation?) is decorated for the season.  A big, inflatable black cat stands at the entrance, and in the window is a traditional "ofrenda", the altar in honor of the dead.

I would assume that the photograph on the "ofrenda" is of the founder of the school.

 A "catrina" outside a beauty shop in Polanco

Another "catrina" in Polanco

Workers were planting thousands of marigolds in the median strip of the Paseo de la Reforma.

Outside of a restaurant in Alejandro's neighborhood

Skull mugs in a stall outside the market near Alejandro's house

I asked the vendor if they were made in Mexico, and he said that everything in his stall was "hecho en México¨.

More marigolds for sale near Alejandro's house

This candy vendor's wares included skulls made not of sugar nor of chocolate but of amaranth, a cereal that has been cultivated in Mexico since pre-Hispanic times.