Santa Fe, New Mexico
June 2008
We really enjoyed our stay here in Santa Fe. Both of us finally adjusted to the elevation ( 7,000 ft ) after a few days but then some of our daily treks took us to 10,000 plus higher elevations. That was tough on us both. Needless to say I slept all night hooked to the oxygen concentrator I have with me.
I guess the best way to explain this city is with one word .. ART. There are Art stores, Artists, Art galleries, and Art museums. Downtown is one big Art scene. Of course Ally found it all wonderful and I found a few craft ideas myself. The items themselves ranged from everything from paintings to jewelry to clothes, pottery, etc. If you love Art, head to Santa Fe. If you love laid back, liberal minded, friendly people, head to Santa Fe. If your a conservative, then you may find yourself uncomfortable.
What I fell in love with in Santa Fe was the gorgeous architecture. I love the Southwestern style homes and businesses and you could see the Spanish influence everywhere. We explored the Plaza a little and then headed out into the mountains. What we found was some amazing scenery, awesome rock / geological formations and some vast areas of emptiness that was ranch land. Our travels took us to the Sandra Crest as well as the Carson Forest and Taos Mountains. The Rio Grande Gorge was amazing to see.
Exploring the area around Santa Fe is quite easy if you have a good sense of direction. We did get lost in the mountains twice which added an extra 100 miles to our trip. But our excursion of course showed us some very nice scenery and a couple very cool small tiny villages where the streets are single lane and the homes right next to the road. It reminded us both of villages in Europe that we visited. So getting lost can be a good thing sometimes.
The homes in and around Santa Fe are predominantly adobe styled. Santa Fe itself has very strict building codes to preserve the Southwestern architecture. Even McDonalds, Burger King, Lowes and Wal Mat have to have Southwest styled buildings. It's pretty cool to see.
I could go on about the area but will let the photos below tell the story. Overall, this has been a very fun stop over. I have always wanted to see Santa Fe and am very glad we stopped here and spent a few days. I encourage anyone to visit this area and explore the city as well as the mountain areas. You will surely enjoy your stay.
I have included pictures of downtown Santa Fe here and also created a separate page of the outlaying area in the mountains. You can access this page by clicking here - Santa Fe Area
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| An Amazing Story lies inside the Loretto Chapel which was built in 1873 |
The entrance to the Chapel with a historical story told for generations
about the
" miraculous stairway " |
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| Being Catholic, I have always loved the Statues and art inside a Catholic church | The altar looked to be crafted from a white rock / marble . It was stunning to see. |
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| This is a place where you will rarely find me - a confessional booth. This one is very old and ornate and beautiful | This is the focal point of the chapel. It makes over two complete 360-degree turns, stands 20’ tall and has no center support. It rests solely on its base and against the choir loft. |
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| The story is that no carpenter could find a way to build a staircase to the choir loft without a major rebuilding of the chapel | One day a mysterious carpenter showed up with a donkey, some buckets to soak wood in and a small toolbox |
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Click here to read the full story of the Loretto Chapel |
| It took this carpenter 6 months to build and he then left as mysteriously as he came, without collecting any pay | |
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| The " Plaza " in downtown Santa Fe is filled with Adobe styled buildings | I really enjoyed seeing the different ways architects designed these buildings |
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| Some buildings were newer an modern but retained the adobe style due to strict building codes | The Plaza is filled with many small markets / vendors selling arts & crafts |
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| Artists display their creations everywhere on the Plaza | I was just getting ready to shoot this picture of this old building when this car came through. Impeccable timing I would say :) |
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| Pottery has a huge following in Santa Fe. These shops are plentiful there | Not all art is pottery or paintings. This statue shows just how talented some of these artists are |
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| Another great example of amazing talent | This statue is much larger then it looks and highly detailed |
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| I found all of these statues amazing | Ally and I found this cupboard sitting in front of a hotel. I couldn't help but take a photo as I found it to be an awesome southwestern piece |
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| This Catholic Cathedral was magnificent. I only wished it would have been opened for inside tours but restoration work inside the Cathedral prevented us from seeing much. | A side view of the Cathedral |
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| A frontal shot of the Cathedral | Shooting the shooter |