Santa Fe

We are in Santa Fe, the capitol of New Mexico. This town was never on any of my must-see lists but now I wonder why. This is a beautiful city with most of the buildings built to resemble adobe haciendas. The colors are soft pinks and peaches or faded terra cottas. Even McDonald's is an adobe icon. I can handle the Post Office and IHOP looking like that but a Sushi Rancho is too much.
One of the dozens of art galleries. I love the soft edges and exposed wood.

I doubt the stage lines used Belgian draft horses but, hey, they look good.

The shops here must have 95% of the Indian silver jewelry in the world. Some of the jewelry here is fabulous quality, and priced as such.

Yippie-yi-oh-ky-ya!

This is it, the end of the Santa Fe Trail.

This city was established in 1610, 400 years ago!

The Palace of the Governors still stands on the north side of the Plaza and is the oldest continuously occupied public building in America. It has been held by 5 different nations, one of them the Confederate States of America for a brief time.

On your right a very expensive art gallery and on your left an open air market filled with Mexican imports.

This is Loretto Chapel, one of many many churches in Old Santa Fe -but it is unique. The French architect who designed it died before it was completed. Legend says there was no access to the choir loft and a ladder had to be used. The Sisters made a novena to St Joseph, patron saint of carpenters, and on the ninth day a worker arrived.

This is what he built.

The staircase has two 360 degree turns, no center support and no nails were used in it's construction. It's 22 ft tall and has 33 steps, the age Jesus was at his death. The builder supposedly disappeared immediately upon construction taking no pay for his work. (When the stairs were built there was no banister and the Nuns waited two years to get one.)

Many people believe the worker was St. Joseph himself and the staircase is a miracle. I might not totally buy that theory but I have to admit it's a fantastic piece of construction.

The chapel is now privately owned and operated as a for profit attraction. It's rented out for weddings and attached to a restaurant, galleries, clothing store and souvenir shop. You can purchase rosaries, crosses and shot glasses; but the staircase isn't printed on the shot glass.