We flew out to Albuquerque, New Mexico on December 23rd to spend our Christmas holiday on a tour of the northern part of the state. And, thanks to El Niño, New Mexico was truly a winter wonderland at the end of December, covered with more snow than they could sometimes even handle on the roads. After quick authentic New Mexican meal (those chiles are spciy—red or green, if you ask me!) at The Frontier in Albuquerque, we headed up the Turquoise Trail towards Santa Fe. We attempted a little detour off the Trail to drive up to the Sandia Crest, but our rental car could not handle the snowy roads, so we turned around (perhaps a little too late than was comfortable) to get back on the well-worn Turquoise Trail.
The Turquoise Trail winds through the foothills of three mountain ranges and takes you through old mining towns and artist colonies, and by ranches. The drive is quite scenic and provided views of landscape unlike any Ella and Jack had seen in person. We arrived in Santa Fe by mid-afternoon and there was quite the crowd trying to check in to the hotel. Santa Fe is a very popular place to spend Christmas. All of New Mexico is decorated with luminaries (the sand filled paper bags lit with candles to light the Christ child’s way—although, as a child in New Mexico I thought they were to light Santa Claus’s ride) at Christmastime and Santa Fe is no exception, although they call the paper bag lanterns farolitos and luminaria is the small piñon wood bonfires. On Christmas Eve in Santa Fe, Canyon Road (a mile-long stretch of road lined with art galleries) is decked with thousands of string lights, farolitos, and luminarias—this Farolito Walk is what draws many, like us, to spend Christmas in Santa Fe. On the 23rd after checking in, we loaded up at Whole Foods on snacks, fruit, water, and some local beers (unsure what we’d find to eat on Christmas Day). We walked around Santa Fe a bit and then enjoyed our favorite authentic New Mexican meal of our trip at La Choza, complete with sopapillas, blue corn tortillas, green chiles, and amazing margaritas (we were quick to notice that it is certainly true that higher elevations make you feel the alcohol that much sooner). We nearly stayed on EST while we were in New Mexico, early to bed and early to rise for the whole family.
Christmas Eve was to be our only day in Santa Fe when attractions would still have some opening hours, so we were up bright and early to get started to see some sights, after breakfast burritos to fuel us. At Christmas, Santa Fe is bedecked in farolitos, fauxlitos (electric farolitos), Christmas lights, fresh evergreen garlands and wreaths everywhere (so beautiful), and the snow was quite a nice touch, too. The Santa Fe Plaza was bordered in farolitos and the trees of the park smothered in Christmas lights, promising a glittering and festive night ahead. Most of the buildings in Old Town Santa Fe are Pueblo style and, at that time of year, trimmed with a line of farolitos. For this reason, the St. Francis Cathedral Basilica, the brain child of Santa Fe’s first archbishop in the late 1800’s, really stands out in Old Town. It didn’t have quite the impact of the many gothic cathedrals we saw all over Spain just a year prior, but St. Francis definitely stood out amongt all of the adobe. A beautiful statue of the “Indian of North America” to be promoted to saint, Kateri Tekakwitha, was a highlight for me.
We also spent time at the Loretto Chapel, a little gothic church modeled after Saint-Chapelle in Paris that is no longer a functioning church. It does house the ‘Miraculous Staircase’. The 20-foot staircase contains two complete 360-degree turns while having no center support—it is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, made all of wood and no nails. If that alone weren’t enough to call it “miraculous” the stories of its origin are just as mysterious as it’s construction. The legend is that the nuns of the church prayed for a solution when it became apparent that a staircase the choir loft would not fit in the small chapel. A mysterious carpenter arrived, built the spiral staircase in 3-4 months using only a square, a saw, wood, and water, and then left without receiving payment. It is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.
Another highlight of our day in Santa Fe was a visit to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Ella grabbed a sketch book from their reception area and enjoyed drawing her own version of O’Keeffe’s paintings. As part of our research of New Mexico before traveling there, we learned quite a bit about the life and art of Georgia O’Keeffe so it was great to see many of her pieces in person, although several were on loan to another museum.
We mostly spent our day exploring the nooks and crannies of the streets of Old Town, checking out all of the wonderful shops and art galleries, and enjoying a delicious lunch at Cafe Pasqual’s. While we waited outside for our table (Cafe Pasqual’s is a charming and popular place) light snow began to fall in perfect star-shaped snowflakes. What a lovely way to spend Christmas Eve! One of my favorite experiences of exploring Old Town Santa Fe was the Palace of the Governors off of the Santa Fe Plaza. American Indian (the preferred descriptor of indigenous northern New Mexicans) craftsmen from nearby Pueblos (Indian villages, not to be confused with the architectural style) set up outside the Palace of the Governors to sell their many crafts, ranging from jewerly to pottery to weaving. Per the Vendor Program, craftsmen can only sell at this market what they themselves make. I bought a few pairs of metalwork and oyster shell (from the Rio Grande) earrings and Ella bought beaded bracelets. The best part was talking with the artists about their work and the Pueblos from which they had come. We were even invited to the Christmas Day dances at the Santa Clara pueblo by the artist of my silver cloud earrings.
That evening of Christmas Eve, La Noche Buena, we dressed in our church finest (or our finest that could fit many warm layers under it for the Farolito Walk outside later that evening) and joined the congregation of The Church of the Holy Faith for their family service. Ella and Jack enjoyed participating in an episcopal service at a church other than our own. They had a beautiful Christmas Eve service with music and verses intertwined in the children’s Christmas Pageant. As we excited the church after the service, dusk had descended and the church pathways were lined with lit farolitos, to light the way for the Christ Child. After attending Christmas Eve service we enjoyed an upscale contemporary New Mexican-Spanish fusion dinner at Eloisa. We enjoyed jicama tacos, squash tamales, croquetas, among other tapas. And, even at a fancy restaurant, biscochitos (spicy, anise-flavored cookies) are the dessert for a New Mexico Christmas Eve.
After dinner we followed the crowds to Canyon Road to join Santa Fe’s famous Farolito Walk on Christmas Eve. Lights, luminarias, farolitos aplenty, sculptures and artwork, carolers, and galleries selling hot cocoa and biscochitos. It was a chilly night but with all of the walking, and all of our layers, we warmed up quickly. After exploring Canyon Road, up and down, we wandered the streets of Old Town Santa Fe to see all of the lit farolitos, ending our walk in the Santa Fe Plaza which was bedazzled with Christmas lights. What a memorable Christmas Eve!
{feliz navidad}
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