Santa Fe's Sharp Soft-Lines

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A travel journal to Santa Fe by SeenThat

Quote: Lego constructions of differently sized blocks, with soft edges and windows distributed unevenly, give shape to the pueblo architecture. The attractive low buildings in a variety of browns, held together with much wood, create a unique effect: a modern city built under a different set of aesthetic rules.

38 Photos

Thai Café

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Restaurant

Thai Café Photo - Thai Café, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Quote:

For me, the Thai Café was an inevitable stop. The obvious excuse was comparing their menu to a real Thai meal; the truth was I missed Thailand.LocationA couple of minutes away from the central plaza by foot, and near the Santa Fe Hilton Hotel, the Thai Café enjoys a central spot in downtown. As most structures in downtown, it is located within a one-story, heavy, down to earth, adobe-mud structure, instead than in an airy tradi...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on June 17, 2008

Thai Café
329 W. San Francisco Street
Santa Fe
(505) 982-3886

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Loretto Chapel

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Attraction

Loretto Chapel Photo - Loretto Chapel, Santa Fe, New Mexico

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AccessThe chapel is open daily between 9am and 4:30pm and on Sundays between 10:30am and 5pm;the entrance fee is $2.5. A shop is attached to it as well as the Baleen restaurant and the Loretto Inn. Santa Fe’s central plaza is nearby, thus the best way of reaching the chapel is by foot from there.Moving WestwardsIn the fall of 1852, the Sisters of Loretto left Kentucky and reached Santa Fe through St Louis. They built a convent under the guidance of Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy between 1873 and 1878; it was patterned after the Sainte Chapelle in Paris.Loretto Academy of Our Lady of Light In 1873 they began the constructio...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on June 20, 2008

Loretto Chapel
207 Old Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
(505) 982-0092

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The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

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Attraction

Cathedral Basilica Entrance Detail Photo - Santa Fe, New Mexico

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NameOriginally, Santa Fe was founded as Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis (Royal City of the Holy Faith of St Francis of Assisi) in 1610; accordingly, its main Catholic temple is named the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.LocationThe basilica is located on the Cathedral Place, near to Santa Fe's central plaza and to the Loretto Chapel. Visiting both during a single day is possible and recommended. The imposing stone structure is the exception in adobe-oriented Santa Fe and thus truly stands out in its surroundings.VisitsMasses are held on:Sundays: 8am in Spanish, 10am, noon and 5:15pm....Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on June 20, 2008

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State Capitol

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Attraction

The Round House Photo - State Capitol, Santa Fe, New Mexico

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LocationLocated at the Paseo de Peralta corner Old Pecos Trail, the capitol can be reached by foot from Santa Fe’s central plaza; several restaurants and shopping areas (like Sanbusco) are nearby. If arriving by car, free parking (a rare luxury in Santa Fe) is available.Round and RoundFormally the known as the State Capitol, the New Mexico State legislature and government building is widely and unimaginatively known as the "Round House" due to its circular shape.The SealThe main feature on the building’s façade is the Great Seal of the state. The American bald eagle shielding the smaller Mexican eagle within its wings sym...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on June 28, 2008

State Capitol
Old Santa Fe Trail and Paseo de Peralta
Santa Fe
(505) 986-4589

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Guadalupe District: Shops, Railways and Sanctity

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Attraction

Quote:

Beyond the nearby central plaza, the Guadalupe area in Santa Fe provides the highest concentration of attractions in downtown. Being the arrival point of the railway, it created the perfect background for a shopping district. The Santuario de Guadalupe completes the picture.Santa Fe Southern RailwayBy the end of the nineteenth century a dramatic event shaped the future of Santa Fe; Amtrak decided to skip the city in favor of Albuquerque. Consequently, the last is the biggest city in the state, while Santa Fe kept its status as the state’s capital. Early in the twentieth century it was decided to create a tourism industry by building Santa Fe mainly of adobe in the Pueblo...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on July 7, 2008

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Santa Fe Buses

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Attraction | "Big Brother Buses"

Festival of Giving Photo - Santa Fe, New Mexico

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Santa Fe is a small town; it compares in population to Oruro in Bolivia, or Chiang Rai in Thailand. Yet, it was built in a very dilapidated fashion. All the buildings are low and placed at long distances from each other. Thus, the distances w...Read More

Member Rating 2 out of 5 on September 6, 2008

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Earth Day in Santa Fe

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Story/Tip

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Inexplicably, the same people preaching against pollution, were unable to understand the polluting effect of noise; by the end of the day, the drums’ vibrations were strong enough to destabilize my camera even 50m away from the main stage. However, everything began 6 hours before that.Once a year, on the April 22, Santa Fe celebrates the Earth Day next to the Ecoversity site, at 2639 Agua Fria Street. An hour before noon, the events began a couple of hundred meters from there, with a gathering and a big parade.A colorful pagan rite was performed at a dusty esplanade; its circular dance around smoking ashes defined the mood for the rest of the day. Tall birds danced to the beat of a local band; the art of walking on sticks was graciously performed by a talented group bearing disguises. A speech by the new mayor declared the date to be the All Species Day.Around two hundred people, most of them carrying representations of animals constructed with organic materials, watched the event and walked through Aguas Frias Street to the Ecoversity site to the obvious delight of the surrounding cars.The stalls were arranged in three plazas connected through a pressed dirt path and were mainly advertising services connected to the themes of pollution and preservation. Natural dye for fabric and yarn, concerned citizens for nuclear safety, adobe building, community composting, sun power, killer bee honey, wildlife organizations, massage stops, face painting and the Green Party were all there. A Children Village kept them busy.Under the flag of consuming organic products, the food was extremely overpriced; the sellers failed to explain why food grown saving the costs of nutrient chemicals and pesticides should be more expensive. The tired brewed coffee waited for hours in thermoses and was sold lukewarm at three times the price of the same bad coffee at the nearby convenience store. The same ice-cream given away as a free sampling in any supermarket, was sold here at 5.5 dollars. Pseudo-Asian food got a similar treatment.In the late afternoon the stalls were dissembled and the main stage became more active. An African band gave place to belly dancing, and a French singer was a prelude to the drums. The last began with a grandiose plan to create a drumming circle around 6pm, but even its humble beginnings caused the troubled earth to shake with uncontrollable vibrations and me to get an epiphany regarding the best way to celebrate Earth. Read Less

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Misspelled Golden Dreams in El Dorado

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Story/Tip

Open air concert Photo - New Mexico, United States

Quote:

The name El Dorado immediately suggests dreams of vast, hidden fortunes and has mobilized people for centuries all over the Americas. Those quests created treasures of traveling experiences and very little else.However, the name became a synonym of an unaccomplished, unattainable dream. Soon after my arrival at Santa Fe, I was invited to Eldorado, a tiny settlement twenty miles south of the city. Was the name misspelling a casual error, or did it indicate an attempt to change history’s course?Before I could properly tour the place, we entered a vast, low house and I found myself with a steaming cup of coffee in my hands."What was the dream behind this Eldorado?" I a...Read More