Santa Fe, a phrase meaning "Holy Faith" in Spanish. Although the weather didn’t look promising our plans didn’t change so drove straight into the city where the parking lots were full. Of course, it’s Memorial Day weekend so probably lots more tourists and Santa Fe is apparently the 4th most popular destination in the country. It’s also the oldest capital city in the nation, with its Palace of Governors in the central Plaza celebrating its 400th year of continuous occupancy by various governments since 1610. On Sunday, 24th May, there is a grand opening of a new History Museum celebrating “thousands of years of New Mexico’s rich history.” Much of this is a mixture of Mexican, Native American and Spanish.
Under the long facade of the covered Portal or porch of the Palace, Native Americans mostly from New Mexican Pueblos, are allowed to sell their goods. There is a very strict code governing authenticity of the artisans’ crafts; each product whether it’s beadwork, sandpainting, silver jewelry, weaving, pottery or hand tooled leather, must have a maker’s mark and all of the handmade products must be made from traditional materials. The spaces are free 360 days of the year but there are so many participants that we were told by one of the vendors that they use a lottery to determine who is allowed a space. It’s a great place to walk through and talk to the people about their crafts and to know that if you buy something, it is absolutely authentic.
The city is rich in culture and the Official Visitors Guide contains a wealth of information. I’ve never encountered so many art galleries on almost every street; fine art, abstract, sculptures, native crafts etc. The authentic adobe homes on the delightful Canyon Street now contain galleries of all types including many from other continents and has become world famous. The Opera brings in international singers during summer, there is a symphony orchestra, a chorale and about 7 museums. On the outskirts are casinos, plenty of outdoor activities and old towns to visit. No wonder it’s such a charming city.
Having just missed the midday tram tour, we walked around the square admiring the chic boutiques before we had lunch at the Blue Burrito Cafe. You can see the photo of an authentic New Mexican dish of a chicken filled blue corn burrito, a chalupa with some sort of bean mixture and two small containers of red and green chile sauces.
Although it was near to rain and quite cold and cloudy, the tram tour lasted an hour and 20 minutes and our guide, Gary, gave us much history and was an excellent source of information.
He explained that adobe is the material which was used centuries ago for constructing the Indian Pueblos and churches made of clay, sand and water with mostly straw to help hold it together. It was often made into the form of bricks and then dried. He told us that the word “adobe” is now used to refer to the city’s architecture and incorporates both Spanish and Native influences. But, the most interesting story was that the city, in 1958, passed an ordinance requiring all buildings to be built no higher than 37 feet and “that the style must be of Southwestern type, either Spanish Territorial or Pueblo.” Such a delightful idea.
The advantage that we found was that there were no skyscrapers to block out the sun and it doesn’t appear like a huge city. The older buildings, we heard, were “grandfathered in”, a term in the U.S. which means that older structures were exempt from the new regulations.
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