Next stop - Santa Fe

Today, hiking in the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument was originally planned on our itinerary. Located on our way from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, it protects a desert valley with bizarre erosion formations in volcanic rock. Actually something for us. But unfortunately, the monument is “closed due to Covid 19”, according to the official information from visitors who wanted to hike there a few days ago. Somehow strange. There is no place in the world that is outdoors and closed due to Covid ... there must be other reasons that we are not aware of.

Well then, we drive through without stopping and leave the "supposed Covid-19 hotspot" behind.

We reach Santa Fe around noon. A small town, although with about 90,000 inhabitants, the fourth largest city in New Mexico and the capital of the state. What immediately catches our attention is the architectural style in the city. Very Mexican with Native American influences. The houses are all in an earth color and have "somehow no corners". The houses have rounded edges, which makes them very attractive and special.

While strolling through the small streets in the town center, we notice the many art galleries and jewelry stores that have various Native American/Mexican influences. Mainly turquoise jewelry is offered in the stores. It is also quickly apparent that these are higher quality items than in other cities. The audience also seems well-off and there are no beggars or homeless people at least in the town center.

We visit various buildings and take a look in the shops here and there. However, nothing really catches our eye. The Native American jewelry or the colorful Mexican folklore "stuff" doesn't really suit our taste. We actually had some trouble finding the magnets that are important to us. But in a small shop off the main streets, we finally managed to get them.

In the middle of the old town of Santa Fe is the beautiful Santa Fe Plaza, which invites you to linger on its picturesque benches. Here we treat ourselves to a delicious ice cream and immerse ourselves in the hustle and bustle there. A First Nation combo performs a traditional dance there in traditional outfits, which we would have liked to watch in peace if this performance had not been in competition with a really annoying violinist and an equally annoying and crazy guitar player who competed with each other in loudness for the favor of the audience. You could clearly see the frustration in both of them that the complete attention of the audience belonged to the 3 First Nations. We watched the spectacle from a distance, shaking our heads, and then focused on our Häagen Dazs ice cream ...

Santa Fe is situated at the foot of a mountain range that is a ski resort for many months of the year. The highest mountain there is about 3,600 meters high. You could still see snow on the peaks. Since our hike had to be canceled "due to Covid-19", we had some time left and drove up the mountain to see how close we could get to the snow. On the way to the lift station, we passed many "gated communities" that were very nicely embedded in the landscape. We really liked the houses/villas, all built in the same style.

In the end, we made it up to the ski lift at 3,150 meters and even had the opportunity to take some photos with some snow on the edge of the forest. With 14 degrees Celsius, that was quite a difference compared to the 35 degrees Celsius we were used to. And you could quickly notice how thin the air is at this altitude. Breathing was noticeably difficult for us flatlanders ... and our heads started to ache ... So after a beautiful panoramic view down to Sandia Crest, about 60 miles away in Albuquerque, it was well-deserved to go to the hotel ...