Madrid and Santa Fe

On Wednesday, we drove the first part of the Turquoise Trail, so on Friday afternoon we completed the rest of the drive – to the little town of Madrid, and the state capital, Santa Fe.

We drove north along the base of the Sandia Mountains,

for about 28 miles,

until we reached the little town of Madrid.

It didn’t look like much as we drove into town,

but we came around a corner and saw lots of shops and a few restaurants lining the streets, and there were quite a few people around.

We found a place to park (across from the “portrait park”),

and looked through several shops.  There were mostly art galleries and Indian jewelry shops.  The boys looked at some earrings for my mother’s day/birthday gift, but we couldn’t find any I liked in their budget.

Madrid has always been a popular artist’s town, but it really gained popularity after the movie “Wild Hogs” was filmed there.  We love that movie, and were anxious to see if the town looked anything like it did in the movie.

We found Maggie’s Diner,

which is now a store filled with biker stuff, route 66 items and movie memorabilia.

We were going to get an ice cream cone, but the prices were pretty high – I guess movie fame has gone to their heads!

Leaving Madrid, we continued on NM14, and after another 20 miles or so, we reached Santa Fe.  We drove through the outskirts of town, and to the center of town to the historic plaza.

We walked through some shops, and past the Indian vendors who were selling jewelry on the sidewalk.  One shop that we walked past drew my eye because of all the beautiful colors in the entryway.  I overheard somebody explaining later that it was the “Rainbow Man” Shop, which has been in this spot since 1945.

On one side of the plaza was the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

In the portico, there are various statues – including St. Francis and St. Kateri Tekakwitha.

 

 

 

 

 

The church was open to the public during the day, so we entered through the large bronze doors,

 

and admired the large stained glass window over the doors.

 

 

 

Behind the altar is a large painting of St. Francis surrounded by saints of the New World,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and to the left of the altar is the La Conquistadora Chapel.

 

 

this is part of the original structure from 1693, and the ceiling remains.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost everything about the cathedral is very ornate, including all the painting on the walls and ceiling.

 

 

In contrast, the paintings of the Stations of the Cross are very simple, yet still beautiful.  So are the stained glass windows.

 

After our tour of the Church, we stopped by the Visitor Center Kiosk for a recommendation on a good restaurant for dinner.  The guy working the booth directed us to a local favorite, The Shed.

Tom and Nicolas were adventurous and decided to try “New Mexican” food, but Bryce and I stuck with American.  I was definitely glad with that decision – Nicolas said it was the hottest Mexican food he’s ever had!

Tom enjoyed it, though!