Santa Fe, New Mexico, prides itself on being "The City Different" I certainly found this to be true when my husband Wayne and I spent last weekend in the New Mexico state capital. Santa Fe has much to be proud of. It is the oldest state capital in the United States. Its architecture, art, music, food, and festivals reveal influences from several cultures. It is lively, colorful, and, at an elevation of 7000 feet, cool in the summertime.
Santa Fe also has the reputation of being artsy, expensive, and, well, a little snooty. Where better for Wayne and I to add a little culture to our West Texas lives? Ignoring joking remarks from friends and relatives, we bought tickets to a performance of the opera "Carmen" being presented at the Santa Fe Opera House. What we discovered is that Santa Fe can be enjoyed on several different cultural levels.
Let's start at the highest cultural level - the opera. The Santa Fe Opera House is located a few miles out of the city, surrounded by wide open spaces and breathtaking mountains.
 |
| View from Santa Fe Opera House |
The opera house is an open air (but covered seating) structure with a modern architectural design.
 |
| Santa Fe Opera House |
We arrived early to hear an excellent talk about the opera and then returned to the parking lot to tailgate. Yes, tailgate at the opera! Our dinner was not as fancy as the champagne, fruit and cheese of other diners, but we had stopped by Whole Foods Market earlier for some healthy snacks. The opera performance was enjoyable, although as the hour was nearing 11:00 pm, both of us later confessed we secretly wished Don José would get on with stabbing his gypsy love, Carmen, so we could get to bed!
On the next level of cultural experience, two typical tourist activities stand out. One was having breakfast at La Plazuela, the distinctively decorated dining area at La Fonda on the Plaza hotel.
 |
| La Plazuela |
Another was attending a flamenco dinner show performance at El Farol, the oldest restaurant in Santa Fe.
 |
| El Farol on Canyon Road |
It was a whole evening's entertainment, making our way through various tapas and watching the very energetic flamenco show presented on stage.
 |
| Fellow diners at El Farol |
An example of the third level of cultural entertainment was sitting in the central plaza, just a few steps out of the La Fonda hotel, eating tamales from a stand, listening to accordion music, and, best of all, people watching.
 |
| La Plaza on a Sunday afternoon |
 |
| Flowers in La Plaza |
 |
| Musician in La Plaza |
So, which level of culture did we enjoy most? It is difficult to choose, because each type of entertainment had its own charm. But my mind keeps drifting back to La Plaza, with the happy buzz of people of all ages and all walks of life enjoying life in Santa Fe with friends and family.
No comments:
Post a Comment