10/17/07 A Tour of Santa Fe

We love New Mexico!

Today we toured Santa Fe. We drove the truck into town even though we are right on a bus line. We found few parking places downtown, narrow streets, lots of foot traffic. We should have taken the bus. We did finally find a parking lot and stopped into the Visitor Center for a walking tour map.

First stop, Loretto Chapel, home of the Miracle Staircase.

The Miraculous Staircase, which legend says was constructed or inspired by St. Joseph the Carpenter, was built sometime between 1877 and 1881. It took at least six months to build, and has two 360 degree turns with no visible means of support. No one has ever been able to identify the builder who mysteriously showed up and then disappeared when the project was completed without pay or thanks. After searching for the man and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself.

This church is now privately owned and is a museum but it is rented for weddings. This site is rented frequently so that the happy couples can have their picture taken on the Miraculous Staircase. Many engineers have studied this staircase and cannot give a reason for how it stands without support.

The alter.

A beautiful stained glass window.

This is another little church, very, very old that was next door. Again, we just love the architecture.

The alter and take notice of the ceiling.

This painting was done on a deer hide several hundred years ago.

We made our way to the plaza area and passed this metal sculpture on the way. Have you taken notice of that blue sky?

Once again, the locals are selling their jewelry.

This is a statue of Kateri Tekakwitha, she lived from 1656 to 1680, only 24 years and was the first North American Indian to be promoted to a saint. Promoted was the word used on the plaque under the statue. I never of thought of saints as being promoted.

We walked down this little alley way .....

....and found this.

Don't you just love the colors?

I didn't pay much attention to this little motorbike until Bob pointed it out. Even then I didn't see what the big deal was but then he said, "Look closer, what do you see"? Then I did, how many out of place things can you see?

Nevermind, now that I posted the picture, I was looking at it in full screen, you can't see all that many things different in this size. For instance, do you see the electrical boxes and the fire extinguisher hose? Not many of the parts are what they should be.

More pictures from the streets.

So this was our day in Santa Fe. We found our way back to the truck and made our way home for dinner and an evening of TV.