Touristing in Santa Fe

Last week we had a family commitment to attend in New Mexico.  Normally we would drive to Albuquerque and stay there.  However, this time we stayed in Santa Fe.  When your last parent passes away, it changes the whole dynamic of visits.  There's no longer a central location to hang out in and other relatives are busy so the only visiting that takes place is over a meal in a restaurant.  So we decided if we're going to be staying in a hotel we may as well stay in Santa Fe.

In our 45 years of marriage if we were headed to New Mexico we would get in the car and make a beeline to Albuquerque.  I've always wanted to be a tourist in Santa Fe so it was nice to finally get that opportunity.

Pictured above is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi (the patron saint of Santa Fe).  The Franciscan Friars built the first church on this site in 1610.  That original church was rebuilt and destroyed over the years.  The current cathedral was started in 1869 and finished in 1887.  There is a statue of Our Lady La Conquistadora inside that dates back to 1625 and is the oldest representation of the Virgin Mary in the United States.  Unfortunately we didn't get to go inside because a concert was about to take place.

Now looking at this church I was thinking "where are the spires?".  I did a little research and they were never finished due to a lack of funds.  Reminds me of the churches we recently visited in Europe that had windows painted on because they ran out of funds also.

There is beautiful artwork outside.  This was my favorite.

It rained a lot during the afternoon and that seemed to have sent all the tourists into hiding.  Above is the Palace of the Governors which is the oldest public building built by Europeans that is still in continuous use.  During the day you'll find Native Americans selling their handmade jewelry along the sidewalk.

I enjoyed walking around and looking at all the artwork in the galleries.  This elk gave me the idea of doing a gold background on the hawk I'll be starting soon.  This artist probably used real gold leaf paint, I'll be using a cheap substitute.

We have a favorite restaurant in Santa Fe.  Luckily for us we made dinner reservations several weeks ago. The wait for walk-ins was about an hour and 45 minutes.

The restaurant has been in this location since the 1950s.  It's authentic New Mexican food which is very different from Tex Mex.  The green chile at this place is amazing along with the pinto beans and posole.

We had to walk our dinner off so we wondered around the city some more.  The rain brought out the slugs.  I thought about how we used to pour salt on the slugs in Germany.  I feel really bad about that now...how cruel.

We enjoyed more of the artwork around the cathedral.

Here's the Loretto Chapel with the miraculous staircase inside.  More about that later.

Then we made our way over to the Capitol building.  It's the most unique capitol building in the states in my opinion.

The building was closed for the day, but there was still lots of artwork to admire outside.  This particular piece intrigued me.  What is the artist trying to say?

Lots of Native American names, airplanes, crosses, barbed wire and what looks like profiles of indigenous people.  Irv did some googling and this is what he found from the artist, Bob Haozous about his piece titled Gate/Negate:

"This image of a locked gate was a chance for me to analyze multiple issues of cultural exclusion and identity and a recent public arts censorship issue. This gate has all the characteristics of modernity as seen from an indigenous perspective. The lock keeping the gate shut is a heart symbolizing the pretense of love. On the top of the gate is a coil of razor wire symbolizing our isolationism, and the face of the sculpture is covered with bullet holes, airplanes, dollar signs, crosses and racially stereotyped faces representing the American melting pot concept. After installation I painted the names of the extinct peoples who once inhabited the Americas. The decision to paint the ancestral names of these 460 tribes in public view arose from the need to reacquaint myself to seemingly distant fellow Americans."

I loved the piece, but hated what it represents.

The next morning we went in search of a unique breakfast place and came across a French Bakery and Creperie.  This croissant was every bit as good as the ones you find in Europe.

Irv went for a savory crepe.  Yum!

Afterwards we wandered over to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum which I'll talk about in another blog post.

The Loretto Chapel was open for visitors so we paid our entry fee and went inside.  The Chapel was commissioned by the Sisters of Loretto for their girls school in 1873.  It was used daily by the nuns and students, but it didn't have a stairway to the choir loft.  The chapel is small and a traditional staircase would have taken too much space.  For six months the Sisters prayed a noveno for a carpenter to come along to build a staircase and then he did!

It was built sometime between 1877 and 1881.  The 20 foot structure does not have a central support and contains no glue, nails, or other hardware to hold it together.  The mysterious carpenter left after six months without asking for any payment.  Adding to the mystery is the staircase is made of some type of spruce that is not native to New Mexico and scientifically has not been identified from anywhere else in the world.  

Originally it did not have a handrail and is said to have been so treacherous to climb or descend that the nuns and girls went up and down on their knees.  The handrail was added in 1887.  The staircase was used for 100 years before the school closed in 1968 and the chapel was sold to a private owner in 1971 who fortunately decided to preserve the staircase.  Iron supports have been added and it's no longer used.  Today the chapel is open for tours and is a wedding venue.  It's a shame the archdiocese decided not to keep the chapel in the Catholic Church.

It's quite beautiful inside.  The altar is wood this was painted to look like marble.

There are many amazing stained glass windows throughout the chapel.

Soon it was time to leave for the family event.  

Afterwards we headed to a family meal at Mexican restaurant far out on the Mesa.  The food was mediocre and the service was horrible so I won't recommend it.  The best part was meeting my new great niece, Miss DL.  Her moms were kind enough to drive up just so Irv and I could meet her.  She's a happy happy baby and I immediately fell in love with her.

Then everyone else went home while Irv, myself, his oldest brother, his wife, the baby, and her two moms went back to our hotel for more conversation and some drinks.  I tried a smoked sage margarita.  I can't really say I loved it, but at least I tried it.

I loved seeing a little bit of Santa Fe and hanging out with my SIL, niece, and great niece.  I greatly wish we lived closer together because conversation and laughter flow easily with them.