Sunday, May 25, 2008

The High road to Santa Fe

Posted by Thane

We decided since we took the low road along the Colorado river in to Taos that we should take the high road out.

Taos is at 7000' and the high road out winds through the mountains at close to 10,000' with beautiful forests and vistas of the snowpeaks. This road goes through many 300 year old Spanish colonial towns with original adobe houses,churches and shops.

The Sugar Nymph cafe in Penasco, the chapel in Las Trampas and the little town of Chimayo were our favorites.

In the sanctuary in Chimayo there was a hole in the floor called "el posito" where there was a trowel that you could use to dig up the healing dirt.

Apparently it works, families were filling their zip-lock baggies full. Melissa and I just got enough to take in our hands.




The high road leads you back in to Santa Fe where we stayed 2 nights. We checked out the town square when we got there and started planning our visit.

Melissa went into the Palace of the Governors, the original seat of government. It is a 400 year old adobe, that is adjacent to the square. I hung out at the square listening to live music and a "free Tibet" campaign.

We both visited the Cathedral. We also visited a chapel with a "miraculous staircase"(no visible support), and quite a few art galleries.The staircase is in a chapel that was built for a girls school. Apparently the workers didn't realize that girls would be using the choir loft and they included only a ladder to reach the choir loft which was about 24' above the chapel floor.

The nuns, out of money, prayed for an answer. An anonymous carpenter showed up and offered to build the staircase. He used only a saw and a hammer (no nails). The carpenter left, leaving no bill for his work.

Santa Fe has the 3rd most art galleries of any city in the world. Yep, with a population of just under 70,000 Santa Fe is a small city but has some of the best art galleries in the world. It has always been a Mecca of The Arts and is the third largest market in the United States for fine art.

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