Saturday, September 17, 2023: The city of my dreams!
Info:
First the numbers for Santa Fe: 2,230 m above sea level, almost 90,000 inhabitants, 200 galleries and 0 high-rise buildings.
Santa Fe is the capital of the state of New Mexico and is located at the foothills of the Sangre de Christo Mountains with mountains over 3,000 meters high. The city was founded by Spanish immigrants in 1610, the same year the Governor’s Palace was built, the oldest public building built by whites, and the San Miguel Chapel, the oldest church on the continent.
With its many galleries, Santa Fe is one of the most important places on the American art scene. Already in the previous century, the importance of architecture for the cityscape was recognized, so that from the 1960s only buildings in the pueblo style in adobe construction (with adobe bricks) were allowed and old houses were renovated. The result is a city that today attracts tourists and artists alike.
South of Santa Fe on the Turquoise Trail is a former mining town whose houses were abandoned. In the 1960s, hippies settled there – with the result that Madrid (New Mexico) is now an artist colony where business sense is not lacking.
My opinion:
Surprising, and again one of the highlights of my trip!
Diary:
Those who have read my reports on Banff and Jasper will know them: Donna and Paul from Colorado, with whom I spent almost two weeks in the Rocky Mountains in June, and with whom I experienced not only spectacular scenery but also snow, constant rain, a grizzly and many fun games of Triominos.
Donna and Paul did not miss the opportunity to meet me again. After all, Santa Fe is only a day’s drive from their home near Denver.
So I did a little re-planning and booked four nights at a campground near Santa Fe. They didn’t come with their caravan this time, but booked a casita not too far from my campground, a delightful little house in the hills.
What can I say? Apart from the fact that Santa Fe is a wonderful place to dine, there is an excellent French pastry shop where you can also have breakfast – and enjoy pastries in the afternoon – it is the houses and the galleries that make the city special. And as if the galleries were not enough, there is always an art market on weekends, where many local artists present their works in the city center. Central Plaza is also home to the former Governor’s Palace, where Native Americans sell their wares – which they are only allowed to do if they are authentic.
Donna and Paul were on a mission to prevent me from buying a fourth hat – after all, the weather was supposed to stay nice.
Strolling around for hours … there was just so much to discover!
The New Mexico Capitol is modeled after the sun symbol and is therefore round with a cross projection in each cardinal direction. I found the sculpture in the picture on the lower right impressive: On it are over 200 names of those Native American tribes that are known to have been wiped out by the whites. Probably there were many more.
I remembered Grassland National Park, where I had spontaneously said back then, infinitely long ago, on my drive west: I could live here. Santa Fe is the second place on my trip where I felt this way.
Sometime two or three years ago, I had happened to see a YouTube video about Madrid (New Mexico) and decided if I ever got to the area, I wanted to go there.
Paul and Donna were kind enough to grant me this wish. Annie Way stayed at the campsite for the four days and I was chauffeured. A pleasure!
We drove south on the Turquois Trail, stopping in a small village called Cerrillos, and soon arrived in Madrid. Unbelievable how colorful this place is! And of course with a strong tourism orientation.
The diner, which once served as a movie set, now sells T-shirts. There is even a local radio station! Cafes, restaurants, clothing, jewelry, art – everything your heart desires.
Donna headed into a jewelry store where a goldsmith was offering his work for sale.
I do not wear jewelry. But there was this bracelet with a purple stone. Way too expensive, but beautiful. Sugalite was the name of the stone, from a mine in South Africa that has since been shut down. Set in silver.
I do not wear jewelry. And this bracelet was way too expensive.
So we left the store and had lunch in the shade of the trees of a nice open-air restaurant. The bracelet was actually not that expensive.
We enjoyed an ice cream across the street. Madrid has only one street, Main Street.
How long did I work, Paul asked me. Forty years.
I now have a silver bracelet with a sugalite. I’m actually wearing it, and it’s beautiful.
How do you say goodbye to people you’ve been friends with for 35 years and don’t know when you’ll see them again?
You hug them, wish them well, and tell them you love them. And then you wipe the tears from your face.