Our first stop was at the Santa Fe Farmers Market. This market is the largest in New Mexico and hosts over 100 full time vendors and assures that 100% of the vegetables, fruits, and nursery plants available at Santa Fe Farmers Markets are grown right here in northern New Mexico. This is also true of the crafts that are sold there - at least 80% of the ingredients and materials used to create the crafts are grown in northern NM. The Market is now housed in the newly renovated Railyard area. (http://www.santafefarmersmarket.com/)
Santa Fe Farmers Market
After our stop at the Market, we headed to the Plaza. It was a brisk walk around the Plaza, that was unfortunately under a lot of construction, as it was pretty chilly. We visited a few shops and peeked into the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, commonly known as Saint Francis Cathedral. The facade of the cathedral was under scaffolding and plastic wrap for renovations, what a bummer that Mom wasn't able to see the beauty of this church. And there was a wedding happening inside so we weren't allowed in any further than the vestibule/gift shop where we could peek in the back windows.The Cathedral was built by Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy between 1869 - 1886. It was built an older adobe church called, La Parroquia (built 1714-1719). La Parroquia in turn was built on an even older church built in 1626. The cathedral was built around the original adobe walls for support, once the cathedral walls were stable, the adobe was removed through the front doors.
We spent some time in the Palace of the Governors, originally built in the early 17th century as Spain's seat of government for this region. This Palace is the oldest, continuously occupied public building in the US. The building now houses the New Mexico History Museum. We joined the tail-end of a tour and then walked through the exhibits on our own. As Santa Fe celebrates it's 400th birthday (yep, 400 years!!) there is a special photographic exhibit on display. Try to visit this museum if you get a chance. It's small but really nice historical account of New Mexico's history.
From there we visited the famed Loretto Chapel with is miraculous staircase. In 1873 the construction of the chapel was started and completed 5 years later in 1878. The 'miraculous' staircase was builtby an unknown carpentor sometime between 1877 and 1881 - it took at least 6-mos to build and has two full 360-degree with no visible means of support. The Loretto Academy was closed in 1968 and deconsecrated as a Catholic chapel in 1971. It is now a private museum.
Loretto Chapel
Alter at Loretto Chapel
The "Miraculous" Staircase Loretto Chapel
Alter at Loretto Chapel
The "Miraculous" Staircase Loretto Chapel
The last church we visited is the San Miguel Mission. This mission was built between 1610 and 1628 making this one of the oldest, if not the oldest mission in the US. During the Pueblo Revolt, the ceiling was burned and the church rebuilt in 1710 and several more times in its history. The alter and sacristy are so simple, but that's what makes it so beautiful.
San Miguel Mission
Alter in San Miguel Mission
Bryan & his Mom in San Miguel Mission
After our day of sightseeing in the capital city we headed south to see the River of Lights (http://www.cabq.gov/biopark/garden/educationlights.html) display in Albuquerque. We stopped for dinner at the Sandia Resort & Casino, Thur Shan Buffet. It was surprisingly good. Mom really seemed to like it and Bryan and I just ate too much... After dinner, we sleepily made our way to the Botanic Gardens to see the Christmas light display. We got stuck in the Twinkle Light Parade along Central Ave. After missing our turn into the Gardens and having to backtrack back through the traffic to try again, we called it quits and headed home. Hopefully Bryan and I can go see the lights sometime soon.Irene headed home this morning (Sunday) for Dallas.
