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| San Miguel Mission |
We spent a long weekend down in New Mexico exploring Santa Fe and Albuquerque. It was a nice break from the cold weather in Colorado at the time. It wasn't summer down south but warm enough to get a break! Santa Fe was amazing. The architecture is incredible. They use a lot of the rust colored adobe in New Mexico and it was apparent all over Santa Fe. Santa Fe is so full of history and stories. We walked the streets for hours taking everything in. The downtown area is structured around churches. They have the oldest church in the US, The San Miguel Mission. It is a simple looking adobe church but beautiful. it was built in 1610.
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| Miraculous Staircase |
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| Wind Art |
As we continued to walk the streets we also checked out The St. Francis Cathedral which was beautiful and the Loretto Chapel which is most famously know for its spiral staircase that was built without nails. Quite a miraculous feat. Both of these churches were just as incredible as the San Miguel Mission. Once we were finished at the churches we continued walking the streets because besides being a religious city it is also a city known for its amazing art. I personally enjoyed all the wind art that was hung through the streets. Santa Fe was also full of fun little shops and restaurants. The fact that I love coffee also allows us to explore cafes here and there and Santa Fe did not fail me in this area!
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| Adobe |
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| El Pinto |
After we left Santa Fe, we made our way to Albuquerque. Albuquerque is also well known for its art, food and historic district. The famous Route 66 runs straight through their downtown. They also have several shops and galleries that you can walk but it has less of the adobe architecture than Santa Fe does. We went to a restaurant called El Pinto and it was a lot of fun. It had New Mexican food and the atmosphere was great. The service was good. We got seated in the patio area and they had lights strung overhead. We opted for the queso appetizer and I must say it was one of the best if not the best queso I've ever had.
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| One of the Petroglyphs |
While in Albuquerque we also got to visit Petroglyph National Monument. This is not like your normal National Park. It was much more open and smaller as a whole. There was still plenty of hiking that left you with great views of the area. It was interesting to learn about the Petroglyphs and how long they had been there and what they were used for. This monument fits the area as Petroglyphs are a form of ancient art. This was a great trip!
