Santa Fe

On Monday we visited Santa Fe. Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico, which became the 47th State in 1912, after Oklahoma and before Arizona. It has the disitinction (all capitals have to be distinctive in some way) of being the highest capital and also having the only round Capitol building.
It is a fascinating mix of Administration, Pueblan culture and Art.
To get a good feel for the city we had a cup of coffee/tea in a pavement cafe then took a trolley ride, this took us round the Plaza, with its Indian street sellers, also passing the little office at 109 East Palace Avenue, which was used, literally, as the gateway to Los Alamos. New Los Alamos residents arriving would go in through the front door and out through the back door, where they were whisked away to the secret town of Los Alamos. Then round the unique circular Capitol and Admin buildings, including the Bata'an Memorial, which was very moving. Then up Canyon Drive past the 240 Art Galleries!, many of which displayed some pieces in an outdoor setting, mostly sculptures, as a non-artist I found that really interesting. Then out past the museum section to the famous sculpture of a wagon arriving at the end of the Santa Fe Trail, from Missouri.
Following this we had a lovely lunch in the famous La Fonda Hotel, where we were able to have a Mexican Buffet; this allowed us to explore Mexican food a bit more.
After lunch we strolled round the Plaza, looking at the Indian crafts for sale, some nice jewellery and pottery (no did not succumb to it). We enjoyed visiting the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi and tried to see another couple of churches, but they had limited access, so that was not so good.
All in all we really enjoyed Santa Fe, it has a lovely feel of being a cultural and artistic center, which I suppose neatly balances Los Alamos 20 miles away which is definitely science oriented. We have decided to return here on Thursday, so we shall add more then, maybe.