Thursday: my last day in Albuquerque.
So naturally, I spent it in Santa Fe!
Dan and Mary suggested we go to Santa Fe for several reasons. First, we could actually ALL go out together with ALL the kids because we could take the bus to the train. (Dan and Mary only have 5 seats in their car, which did limit us a bit earlier in the week.) Second, it is apparently the cultural and artistic hub of New Mexico. They assumed that I would dig Santa Fe because I am so heavily immersed in the arts. I think that's a pretty good assumption--I teach choir, I sing in a choir, I work with kids in the theatre, and I like art museums . . .
(Plus, I secretly suspect that Santa lives in Santa Fe. Isn't it obvious? North Pole, Schmorth Pole--Santa needs a little more arts and culture than the elves can provide year round. He must at least have a summer home here . . .)
The train, it turns out, is a brilliant way to travel with young kids. You can bring snacks for the kids, books and toys, and they don't have to be solely responsible for entertaining themselves. Instead of being stuck in the back seat, they can sit with you. Even better? On a train, they can get up and wiggle about, which, for the kiddos, is really the best part. Lizzy, Emily, and Alex spent most of the train ride to Santa Fe bopping from seat to seat, walking, crawling, toddling, and scooting wherever fancy took them.
Once in Santa Fe, we saw a lot of really interesting things. Santa Fe is a really neat city. It capitalizes on the tourist industry with artisans pedaling their wares up and down every nook and cranny of the city. There are stores upon stores upon stores with jewelry, paintings, sculptures, and pottery and hand-blown glass (admittedly my two favorite artistic weaknesses). I think my pocketbook was spared a thorough cleansing only because we had small children with us. We wisely decided that any store that prominently featured or specialized in too many breakables should be looked at from outside, not from within. Given the children's penchant for shiny objects, I don't think we could have made a better choice.
(Plus, with all honesty, anyone who knows me knows that I am an absolute klutz, and although I'd had a good record so far on this trip, I didn't want to tempt fate by stepping into a store full of breakables. Kudos to the kids for keeping my record in tact!)
We did see two churches--one was the oldest church built, which was impressively old and solid. There was something very solemn about that church--it smelled of ancient incense, had floorboards that creaked underfoot. In the daylight, it was a beautiful place to reflect and meditate for a moment. However, I admit that the thought of being in that very tight, cramped church, wreaking of incense and creaking at the joints at night scares the bejeezus out of me.
The second church we visited (which, chronologically speaking, we actually visited first . . .) was home to the Immaculate Staircase. Being the matter-of-factly sarcastic person I am (who knew nothing of the staircase's history), when we first saw the stairs, Dan said, "Well?"
"It's a staircase," I responded dryly.
Dan shook his head in dismay and made me sit down and listen to the history of the staircase, which the church loops on an audio track over and over throughout the day. I was inclined to ignore the speaker at first--I couldn't help it. They had laid the speaker's voice over early music sung by the Santa Fe Chorale, and I immediately started playing, "Name that Early Choral Music Composer" out of habit. (I'm sure all my grad. school buddies can relate . . .) However, the story truly is quite fascinating, and the staircase is truly beautiful. It almost appears to be made of one solid piece of wood that curves around with the stairs. I didn't actually take any pictures of the staircase--the one I included in this post was a better picture than I could have possibly taken (courtesy of el internet-o). If you ever find yourself in Santa Fe, I think this chapel and staircase are worth the $3 . . .
Santa Fe's plaza is a picturesque little square in the heart of the downtown area. I now wish I had taken more pictures in Santa Fe so I could share some of the scenery with you. I did take quite a few pictures that day, but they were all pictures of the kids. Since they are not my own children, I don't quite feel I should be posting pictures of them, but it should be noted that the kids are impossibly cute. We spent about an hour in the square. Mary and I took the girls through a narrow alley where artisans sold their wares. Emily, at age 1, was already eyeing all the shiny hand-crafted jewelry and hair accessories. (This is going to make it very easy to shop for my goddaughter . . . You know, once she gets past the phase where all items are likely to get shoved in the mouth and/or licked . . . And when she has hair for the hair accessories . . .) The plaza square was also a good place for the kids to run around and have downtime out of their carriers (the two baby backpacks and a stroller with some serious wheels). We did have to watch that they didn't eat things they found (twigs, rocks, tree bark, leaves), but they were pretty good. Lizzy, the oldest, likes to collect rocks--not eat them--and Emily and Alex seemed more intent on pushing the stroller that towered above them than on eating things from the ground. (Unless it was a stray cheerio. They recognized those cheerios . . . ) Lizzy also had fun dancing to the unicycle-riding guitarists music (but she seemed to agree with Mary, Dan, and I that his singing detracted from his performance, and that wearing a koala ear headband just made him look silly, not artistic) and chasing pigeons.
Now, should I ever go back to Santa Fe (which, given that I only had one day in a town with lots to see, I may), I think I will definitely have to investigate a fantastic little venture known as Llama Trekking. Alistaire seems to agree, and I know a certain theatre-directing friend of mine would think it fitting . . . Really, what more do you need to know? It's all there in the name--LLAMA TREKKING!
(If the name of the blog doesn't give it away, I do find llamas entertaining.)
Alas, I did not see Santa in Santa Fe. I think this means that I simply must go back to Santa Fe again and look. It was one short day, and there are lots of little burrows in which Santa could be hiding with a stash of New Mexican cookies and milk. Or maybe a sopapilla? And a llama. It's not quite the right climate for a reindeer after all . . .
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