The Palace of the Governors - the oldest building in the United States

The adobe architecture of Santa Fe
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I was perusing the exhibits in the Palace of the Spanish Governors this afternoon when a photo on the wall knocked me back.

A mushroom cloud over the New Mexican desert.

And the plaza in the 1870s had native americans sitting on its fringes just as it does today.

Of course not far from here is Los Alamos. This was where the atomic bomb was created. I'd completely forgotten about that. And not too far away too. Los Alamos is one of the turnings near Bandalier NM where I was a few days ago. Smack in the middle of the Indian pueblos is where they developed the "Manhattan Project". Say what you want about this part of the world but it certainly is fascinating. Perhaps the most interesting bit of America?

Residential Santa Fe
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It was good to be back in Santa Fe. I felt I hadn't done it justice the first time I was here. But Larry and his van were heading off for southern New Mexico this morning and I elected to stay on here as I still felt I had more to see. Sue, who is also taking a leisurely tour of the Southwest is also staying on before catching her bus up to Colorado. I also need abit of space to run a few chores (camera, tickets etc) and poke my nose into the corners of Santa Fe.

So Sue and I walked up the Cerillos Road to the town plaza this morning. Santa Fe certainly is distinctive. Restrictions mean that every building is adobe, even the gas stations, which really gives it atmosphere. If Santa Fe sticks in my mind forever it will be in this dusky light orange colour. Sue wanted to do some jewelry shopping so I said I would see her back on the plaza for lunch. In fact I did some jewelry shopping myself and succumbed to a $20 turquoise Indian necklace from one of the vendors in the arcade under the Spanish Governors Palace.

The Plaza in Santa Fe
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And palace it was - certainly compared with the rest of New Mexico when it was built in 1610. This was the ultimate in forgotten postings. Protecting the Santa Fe trail coming down from the Great Plains and looking after the rag-tag assortment of characters that inhabited 18th Century Santa Fe - it cant have been the most sought out of positions. Its a white shuttered building covering the northern part of the Plaza.

Inside is a museum with a superb history of the Santa Fe area. Inside was a timeline so I could work out how old this area was in conjunction with the rest of the world. I was wrong. the Taos pueblo has been dated to 1070! Ten seventy! That means it was being assembled when England was succumbing to the Norman invasion. Impressive!

The was some wonderful sepia photos of Old Santa Fe. The old wagon trains assembled here to head east and there was a photo of covered wagons getting ready in 'Burro Alley' not far from here. And the plaza in the 1870s had native americans sitting on its fringes just as it does today.

I met Sue for a lunch of burritos and beer and for the rest of the day we ambled around Santa Fe taking a look at St Francis Cathedral and the new age shops. Sue was a sucker for this kind of thing and picked up a couple of 'Self help' paperbacks. But me? I prefer solid history to non-anecdotal theories. So this evening we stayed in the hostel and chatted to others (its cold outside and there is no TV).

Someone recommended Hotel Dubeau in Flagstaff. They said it was a good jumping off point - not literally - for the Grand Canyon.