Day of the Dead

There’s probably something you look for immediately on your first day exploring a new destination. Maybe it’s the most interesting museums, delicious street food, local markets; everyone has their go-to travel highlights. As for me, after a long journey to a new city, I often steer myself toward the places where people rest—eternally, that is.

A morbid fascination? Not really. I certainly mean no disrespect to the dead in my enjoyment of the world’s cemeteries. There’s just something about them; all essentially the same, but so different in their designs. Some grandiose, others modest or even run down. Some orderly and geometrically precise, others rambling and maze-like. Recoleta in Buenos Aires, and Pere Lachaise in Paris, like small cities in their own right. Some to honour a loyal canine companion, others to commemorate national tragedies.

No matter the details, I am not spooked by cemeteries. Perhaps because I have successfully avoided The Walking Dead and many of its kin. Instead, I am immediately calmed as I walk along these silent paths. No one power walks or blares music here. The day moves along slowly and quietly, exactly as it should in a place of rest. Sometimes the living need such places, too.

Amy is our longtime Sounder editor who spent last year wandering through some international cemeteries… among other travels.