Tharmas
Veteran Member
MS Tharmas had an opportunity to participate in a workshop/master class in one of her favorite craft hobbies – rug hooking – set in a wonderful old hotel in the heart of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The hotel, La Fonda on the Plaza, turned out to be elegant and expensive, but there was a deep discount given to participants in the workshop, so all was well.
We planned to stop in Amarillo on the drive up, which turned out to be the right decision as we had rain, fog, and a stiff cross wind for the entire drive from Dallas, except for a driving snowstorm the last seventy-five miles. Luckily the snow didn’t stick to the highway.
The next morning was bright and clear and we had no problem finishing the trip.
I’d never been to Santa Fe, or actually I’d never been to New Mexico except to drive through. I loved it. I will say that, being under treatment for a relatively mild case of COPD and having recently recovered from a bout of bronchitis, I remained aware of the 7,100 foot altitude (2165 meters).
MS Tharmas attended her workshop in the mornings while I wrote and read in the hotel room. Then in the afternoon we played tourist. Most of Santa Fe, at least the central part that we saw, is of adobe construction. The Plaza is a bit touristy, but we found a restaurant that had been open in the same location for over a century, and MS Tharmas found the shopping attractive.
After the first European contact in the early seventeenth century wiped out a third of the indigenous population (smallpox, mostly), the populations stabilized and managed to retain much of its culture and identity, so the indigenous culture is a large part of the New Mexican zeitgeist. The other part is Roman Catholicism, which is married to the indigenous culture like in old Mexico, adding a layer of ritual and superstition that coexists with the original rituals, with mutual modifications.
We visited the International Museum of Folk Art one afternoon, since both the MS and I are attracted to so-called outsider art. It was overwhelming and requires another day’s visit on our next trip. We drove about forty miles north to visit the shrine of the sacred dirt in Chimayo. I couldn’t go in because of steps (I’m in a motorized wheelchair) but the wife reported the walls hung with the crutches of miraculously “cured” individuals. There was an indigenous master carver at work carving statuettes of saints who I watched. We found a great restaurant for lunch.
We visited the unusual state capitol building, which is round. The four floors of circular galleries contain artworks of New Mexican artists, so it is a real museum. Even the governor’s office contained an exhibit, favorites from the folk art museum chosen by the curators, which all were welcomed to visit.
Following Santa Fe we drove to Albuquerque for a day and a half, at only 5,100 feet high (1555 meters) so I could breathe easier).
We visited many of MS Tharmas’ haunts from when she lived there for three or four years in her youth. We found the old town to be much less touristy than Santa Fe, and more authentic, with real people not all carrying cameras. We followed a particularly elegant low rider around the square while we looked for a parking space. At a store that had been there for decades (MS Tharmas remembered it from her youth) she bought me a hand embroidered western style shirt.
We ate lunch in a restaurant that was located in a building which had been constructed, originally as a brothel, in 1785. We ate breakfast the following morning in a dive across the street from the University of New Mexico (beautiful) campus where MS Tharmas used to eat when she was a student.
I ate the New Mexico specialties that MS Tharmas recommended to me, including stacked enchiladas with green chili, double chili relleno with Christmas salsa (red and green), and, at her insistence, a green chili cheeseburger.
So, a good time was had by all. We’ll go back next year.
Photos: 1. our headboard in the La Fonda hotel. 2. Buffalo Head from the state capitol gallery (mixed media, Holly Hughes) 3. Storefront in old Albuquerque aquare.
We planned to stop in Amarillo on the drive up, which turned out to be the right decision as we had rain, fog, and a stiff cross wind for the entire drive from Dallas, except for a driving snowstorm the last seventy-five miles. Luckily the snow didn’t stick to the highway.
The next morning was bright and clear and we had no problem finishing the trip.
I’d never been to Santa Fe, or actually I’d never been to New Mexico except to drive through. I loved it. I will say that, being under treatment for a relatively mild case of COPD and having recently recovered from a bout of bronchitis, I remained aware of the 7,100 foot altitude (2165 meters).
MS Tharmas attended her workshop in the mornings while I wrote and read in the hotel room. Then in the afternoon we played tourist. Most of Santa Fe, at least the central part that we saw, is of adobe construction. The Plaza is a bit touristy, but we found a restaurant that had been open in the same location for over a century, and MS Tharmas found the shopping attractive.
After the first European contact in the early seventeenth century wiped out a third of the indigenous population (smallpox, mostly), the populations stabilized and managed to retain much of its culture and identity, so the indigenous culture is a large part of the New Mexican zeitgeist. The other part is Roman Catholicism, which is married to the indigenous culture like in old Mexico, adding a layer of ritual and superstition that coexists with the original rituals, with mutual modifications.
We visited the International Museum of Folk Art one afternoon, since both the MS and I are attracted to so-called outsider art. It was overwhelming and requires another day’s visit on our next trip. We drove about forty miles north to visit the shrine of the sacred dirt in Chimayo. I couldn’t go in because of steps (I’m in a motorized wheelchair) but the wife reported the walls hung with the crutches of miraculously “cured” individuals. There was an indigenous master carver at work carving statuettes of saints who I watched. We found a great restaurant for lunch.
We visited the unusual state capitol building, which is round. The four floors of circular galleries contain artworks of New Mexican artists, so it is a real museum. Even the governor’s office contained an exhibit, favorites from the folk art museum chosen by the curators, which all were welcomed to visit.
Following Santa Fe we drove to Albuquerque for a day and a half, at only 5,100 feet high (1555 meters) so I could breathe easier).
We visited many of MS Tharmas’ haunts from when she lived there for three or four years in her youth. We found the old town to be much less touristy than Santa Fe, and more authentic, with real people not all carrying cameras. We followed a particularly elegant low rider around the square while we looked for a parking space. At a store that had been there for decades (MS Tharmas remembered it from her youth) she bought me a hand embroidered western style shirt.
We ate lunch in a restaurant that was located in a building which had been constructed, originally as a brothel, in 1785. We ate breakfast the following morning in a dive across the street from the University of New Mexico (beautiful) campus where MS Tharmas used to eat when she was a student.
I ate the New Mexico specialties that MS Tharmas recommended to me, including stacked enchiladas with green chili, double chili relleno with Christmas salsa (red and green), and, at her insistence, a green chili cheeseburger.
So, a good time was had by all. We’ll go back next year.
Photos: 1. our headboard in the La Fonda hotel. 2. Buffalo Head from the state capitol gallery (mixed media, Holly Hughes) 3. Storefront in old Albuquerque aquare.
