Santa Fe (New Mexico) travel guide

Santa Fe, New Mexico has a mystique all its own. From its standing as the oldest capital city in North America, to its insistence on maintaining Native and Hispanic cultures in its architecture, art, food and perennial celebrations, to the god-like Sangre de Christo mountains that stand up into the turquoise sky, it is a city that inspires and magnetically draws people to itself. Due to the city-wide mandate that all architecture be built in the traditional adobe style, and not over three stories so the mountains can always be seen, it appears as a sea of low slung brown structures, contrasting with a sky that somehow seems larger and bluer than other skies. In the summer, folks from all over come to buy ornate, hand-made Native crafts of the Zuni, Pueblo, and Navajo tribes, and in early September to experience the exuberance of the Santa Fe Fiesta, which commemorates the conquering of the land by the Spanish. In autumn, the air is saturated with the piquant aroma of roasting chile peppers, and when the snow starts coming down, is replaced by the smell of cedar wood smoke from fireplaces and woodstoves. During the winter, skiers flock to take a run on the slopes at the famous Santa Fe ski Basin, perhaps stopping by for a soak at the Japanese spa on the way back into town, and then diving into a plate of enchiladas or chile rellenos at a local restaurant. Santa Fe has earned its reputation as being exotic, though it is becoming more gentrified all the time. Now is the time to visit this mountain hamlet that has mesmerized generation after generation of artist, spiritual seeker and, nature lover.