This morning the sun is out in all its glory and we are leaving Albuquerque, NM, but not before we run some errants. We go for a short while onto I-40 East before turning onto I-25 North to Santa Fe, NM. 20 miles short of Santa Fe we realize that we forgot a bed pillow and turn back to Albuquerque to collect it. We turn around and make the same way again, this time completing the final miles. We find a parking spot downtown and have lunch at the Plaza Cafe, Santa Fe's oldest restaurant. After that we explore a little the surroundings of the Plaza, soak in the relaxed atmosphere, pay a visit to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, the La Fonda on the Plaza, and the many art and craft shops, and the courtyards behind the shop fronts. It is a pleasant step back in time and the light afternoon breeze is making it even more pleasant.
Ortega's on the Plaza; Plaza Cafe
The Plaza; IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA)
La Fonda on the Plaza
Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi
St. Francis of Assisi is Santa Fe's patron saint. With the city's original name, La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis, directly referencing him. The city's iconic Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is a Romanesque structure built by Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy in the late 1800s on the site of older churches dating back to the 1600s, all dedicated to the saint.
Some of the many courtyards around the plaza
New Mexico Museum of Art (right)
Street vendors at the Palace of the Governors
.... and did I mention that like yesterday and the day before a thunderstorm was hitting us again early evening, this time only a bit harder than the ones before and a flash flood was making driving almost impossible. No tenting tonight.
"Until I came to New Mexico, I never realized how much beauty water adds to a river." - Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American author, humorist, essayist, journalist, and literary critic.
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