Glorious Santa Fe - Part 1

Hubby and I have just returned from a long-anticipated vacation in Santa Fe. It was our first visit to "The City Different" and it was fabulous! As an artist, to me it was like finding the Holy Grail. Art and culture are the very essence of Santa Fe. It's literally everywhere, from hand-painted window panes on charming adobes to its numerous outstanding art museums to the hundreds of galleries all around its beautiful Plaza and up and down its fabled Canyon Road. Everywhere you look, there's art -- paintings, sculptures, handcrafted jewelry, wearable art, hand tooled leather, museum quality beadwork...I could go on and on. Suffice it to say I was on Total Sensory Overload from the moment we stepped off the New Mexico Rail Runner, the commuter train connecting Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and caught whiffs of fragrant pinon pine scenting the cool night air.

We stayed in a delightful little inn, El Paradero, within walking distance of the Plaza at 220 W. Manhattan St. Having decided to go totally green on this venture and use nothing but our feet and public transportation to get around, the location was ideal. The walk to nearby restaurants, the Plaza and all of the surrounding attractions was easy. The only time we relied on vehicle transportation was to go to and from Canyon Road. We could have walked but because Canyon Road runs uphill and we're not exactly spring chickens, we opted to save our energy by taking the free shuttle.

El Paradero's courtyard gates, flanked by ristras -- strings of red chile peppers. Note New Mexico's famous turquoise sky in the background. It truly is that blue!

Our innkeepers, Paul and Sue, have decorated all their guest rooms with hand painted motifs in keeping with the area's Spanish, Mexican and Native traditions. But my absolute favorite was the room in which we were served breakfast each morning, shown below:

Warm yellow walls, festive tablecloths and colorful pottery add cheer to El Paradero's sunny breakfast room.

A fire burning in a hand painted kiva fireplace warmed the room on chilly mornings

Who says colors don't affect one's moods? There's no way a person could fail to start the day smiling when served breakfast in a room this upbeat!

And why live with plain glass panes when you can decorate a door like this?

Hand painted designs brighten the entry to El Paradero's breakfast room.

I like this door and window treatment so much, I'm planning to paint designs on my French doors here at home. All it takes is a bit of acrylic paint, which is easily removed when you want to make changes to it. The light shining through the colors is beautiful, and if the design used is "open" enough, you can see through the glass to the view outside, while still enjoying some privacy. Painting glass panels will be much more fun than hanging curtains! Later I'll be posting a photo of my efforts, but in my next several posts, we'll be covering many more fascinating aspects of Santa Fe. Have you been there? If so, what was your favorite part of the trip? Leave your comments by clicking on the "Comments" link below.

By the way, here's what we saw when we looked out those same French doors earlier today. Now we've seen everything!!! No idea where it came from, but the little rascal has had a great time chowing down on the hostas. Is anyone missing a pig???

Our unusual visitor.

All text and images ©2013 Lynn Edwards