My husband K woke up at 7:30 and managed to stay quiet for a half hour. Then, he woke me. We got ready and headed for breakfast at 8:35. On our way, I couldn't help admiring the beautiful potted flowering plants. There were common hollyhocks in a few colors, lilies, and pansies.
On our way into the breakfast room, we passed the very colorful patio.
Inside, we found an equally colorful room. There was just so much to look at! It really screamed Hispanic Southwest. The first photo has a bit of the kitchen through the open window.
We chose a table with colorful placemats near the door. Very quickly, a lady came with the simple menu cards. K and I both chose yogurt with granola and peaches to start. We were surprised to see each in its own little third of the bowl. It was quite delicious. K chose French toast and coffee, while I decided to try the house special, the baked egg dish with green chili and tortilla and orange juice. We both really enjoyed our meals.
Since it was still early, no one was at the front desk, when we finished breakfast. We went back to our room (the Acoma) the way we'd come over, which gave us a chance to get a good look at the colorful patio.
Before crossing Dragoon Lane, the street between the two parts of the hotel, we noticed a nice statue of St. Francis. When we crossed, I got photos of the outside of our first floor room.
We also turned around to et a good look at how the inn spread across the street.
When we left at 10:19 (with the odometer at 25511), it was already 79°. We noticed that there were no sidewalks in our neighborhood.
Our first destination was on the south end of town, San Francisco de Asis. Wikipedia has this:
San Francisco de Asís Mission Church is a historic and architecturally significant building on the main plaza of Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico. Originally the center of a small Mexican and Indian 18th Century agricultural community. Built between 1772 and 1816 replacing an earlier church in that location. New Mexico was then part of the Vice-Royalty of New Spain. It is a fine example of a New Mexico Spanish Colonial Church, and is a popular subject for artists.
We reached the dirt parking lot at 10:32 (25515). The entrance to the churchyard looked like what we've seen in movies.
When you walk through the arch, this is what you see:
It's not until you look beyond that statue of St. Francis, that you start to get an idea of how massive the walls of this place are. I've been to missions in San Antonio, San Diego, etc., and never have I noticed walls like those. It did make me think that they'd be pretty good insulation to keep the church cooler in summer and, possibly, warmer in winter.
Inside, it was a rather simple church. The altarpiece on the main altar and side altar were made of wood. I saw no marble and few plaster statues. But, I bet it is a place its congregation feels quite at home in.
In the back of the church, we found this message, as well as this painting above the door.
We said our prayers and made our wishes, which I understand to be an Irish custom upon entering a church you've never been before. Then, we headed back outside to look at the structure more.
This is the imposing north side of the church. The second photo is the rather friendlier-looking with its Holy Family statue grouping farther along the side. After that is the nice welcoming sign, as well as a hollyhock.
We then went across the street on the north side to the gift shop, as the sign inside the church had suggested. I looked for something to give my grandbaby on her upcoming baptism. I did see an outfit, but it was an appalling price. I found an angel for her and a couple of postcards and such for myself.
We headed off at 11:04. Our next stop was just two minutes north- the Post Office. I've decided to send our granddaughter a postcard from every National Park, although, admittedly, it will be a while before she can read them. This stop was to buy stamps and mail the one I got her from Black Canyon of the Gunnison. I liked how the Postal Service had decided to make this building fit in with the southwestern architecture of the area.
When we left at 11:12, I was impressed how flat the Paseo Del Pueblo Sur was. The view looking north to De Cristo Mountains was really neat.
At 11:29 (25522), we were parked at Taos Pueblo on the north end of town. It was sunny and hot and we put on sunscreen before leaving the car. K went to the admission building and paid the senior rate of $22 each for us.
Wikipedia has this about Taos Pueblo:
Ancient Tiwa pueblo in Taos County, New Mexico, United States
Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos-speaking Native American tribe of Puebloan people. It lies about 1 mile north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico. The pueblos are one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States. This has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Taos Pueblo is a member of the Eight Northern Pueblos. A tribal land of 95,000 acres is attached to the pueblo, and about 4,500 people live in this area.
And the National Park Service said:
Taos is the best preserved of the pueblos north of the borders defined by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). A sovereign tribal government governs the Pueblo. It is the only World Heritage Site in the United States cited for the significance of its traditional Native American living culture.
This, by the way, is the second of the three UNESCO sites we've visited in New Mexico. The other was Carlsbad Caverns.
We were greeted by some members of the tribe as we went through the entrance area. They told us about the tour that was to start at noon at the church. So, we roamed a little, taking photos.
This is the back of the church, which is named for St. Jerome. You will notice how reminiscent it is of the other one at the other end of town. The front is lovely.
By the nicely carved front door of the church is an explanatory card.
There seemed to be two sides to the pueblo, with the one on the left being the taller of the two.
The tour started with us being led into the church. Unfortunately, they did not allow photos. The guide, who wore a breechcloth over his jeans, told us that religion here was a combination of Catholic and their tribal beliefs. Mary was decorated as the Corn Mother. He said more than once that Catholicism had been forced on them. [Of course, Catholic school did not put it that way, when I was growing up, but I have since learned that he is right.}
He told us about the Spanish colonizers and the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. The revolt was led by a medicine man called Popé, who moved to Taos Pueblo after his release in1675, when the governor rounded up medicine men from the 46 pueblo towns to put down unrest. He spent those 5 years gaining support for revolt from all but the 4 southern Tiwa towns and the Piro Pueblos to the south, probably because they were more integrated with the Spanish. He even got Zuni and Hopi support.The Pueblo spoke 6 different languages and were spread over 400 miles. Wikipedia has the story he told of the coordination Popé arranged:
Popé's plan was that the inhabitants of each Pueblo would rise up and kill the Spanish in their area and then all would advance on Santa Fe to kill or expel all the remaining Spanish. The date set for the uprising was August 11, 1680. Popé dispatched runners to all the Pueblos carrying knotted cords. Pedro Omtua and Nicolas Catua were the two young men. On August 8, 1680, two young men from Tesuque set out for Tanogeh (Tano villages) early in the morning. Their first contact occurred in Pecos. Unfortunately, Fray Fernandao De Velasco was informed right away by Christian Indians that two Tewa young men had visited the war chief's house. After leaving Pecos, the two Tesuque runners continued on to Galisteo, San Cristobal, and San Marcos.
Each morning the Pueblo leadership was to untie one knot from the cord, and when the last knot was untied, that would be the signal for them to rise against the Spaniards in unison. On August 9, however, the Spaniards were warned of the impending revolt by southern Tiwa leaders and they captured two Tesuque Pueblo youths entrusted with carrying the message to the pueblos. They were tortured to make them reveal the significance of the knotted cord.
Popé ordered the revolt to begin a day early, when he found out the Spanish knew the plan. They were successful, but continued to have trouble with raids by the Apache and Navajo. Food became scarce and there was a drought. By 1692, the Pueblo had invited the Spaniards to return.
He led us to the ruins of a church in the middle of a cemetery. San Geronimo de Taos (St Jerome) church was destroyed in 1846 during the resistance to the American takeover of the territory.
Leading us back to the square, he told us that the Spaniards had brought ovens here. They are called "horno" and are still used.
He took us over the little Red Willow Creek, the source of drinking water for the village, via a small wooden bridge. On this, the right side, people have homes and they asked us to respect their privacy and not take photos of the folks. Oh, and they call themselves the Red Willow People.
He led us up to the wall at the end of the compound and told us it was for defense and would have been 10 feet high and 6 bricks thick back in the day.
Pointing to the pueblo on the left, he noted that the innermost room of the building was 40° year round and used for storing food. He said that this building was 1000 years old.
I found elsewhere that about 150 people live within the Pueblo full-time. Other families owning homes in the North or South buildings live in summer homes near their fields and others are in modern homes still within the 99,000 acres of land of the pueblo. By tradition, the buildings inside the walls have no electricity or running water. So,most folks occupy their homes inside the walls only for ceremonies. The two structures called Hlauuma (north house) and Hlaukwima (south house).
taospueblo.com gave this information on how the buildings were built:
The Pueblo is made entirely of adobe — earth mixed with water and straw,
then either poured into forms or made into sun-dried bricks. The walls
are frequently several feet thick. The roofs of each of the five stories
are supported by large timbers — vigas — hauled down from the mountain
forests. Smaller pieces of wood — pine or aspen latillas — are placed
side-by-side on top of the vigas; the whole roof is covered with packed
dirt. The outside surfaces of the Pueblo are continuously maintained by
replastering with think layers of mud. Interior walls are carefully
coated with thin washes of white earth to keep them clean and bright.
The Pueblo is actually many individual homes, built side-by-side and in
layers, with common walls but no connecting doorways. In earlier days
there were no doors or windows and entry was gained only from the top.
As for those farms outside the walls, the guide told us about the Three Sisters- corn, squash, and red beans- which are planted together to nourish each other. They also grow asparagus, onions, etc., and gather wild strawberries from the mountains.
As for the mountains, the guide told us about Blue Lake, but taospueblo.com does a better job than my notes:
The single most dramatic event in the recent history of Taos Pueblo land is the 1970 return of 48,000 acres of mountain land including the sacred Blue Lake. It was taken by the U.S. Government in 1906 to become part of the National Forest lands. Among the ritual sites where Taos people go for ceremonial reasons, Blue Lake is perhaps the most important. Its return is a tribute to the tenacity of Pueblo leaders and to the community’s commitment to guarding its lands for the spiritual, cultural and economic health of the Pueblo. The return of this land capped a long history of struggle. Blue Lake and mountains are off-limits to all but members of our Pueblo.
The tour finished up at benches under a tree with questions. At 12:35, it was done and we tipped him $2.
I took photos across the creek of the south building. It looked almost cool with the shade of the tree, but I suspected it was not.
We were closer now to the north building and I noticed stalls with folks selling their wares.
We went to the front of the village to look for something to eat. One place seemed to just have jarred and bagged items. We wound up going in one warm building that had a table and a lady with a cooler and a hot plate. We ordered 2 Fry Bread Burger Meals for $10 each, because they included a bag of chips and a soda. The burgers were frozen patties that she put in the fry bread, when done. We both got tomato and lettuce, and I also had onion. It took a while to get done. We tipped her a dollar and took our meal out to the benches under the tree, where the tour ended.
The meal was pleasant enough and we were grateful for the breeze in the 88°. We did have to fend off a dog at one point.
When we finished at 1:23, we crossed the bridge to the south building. We found a lady outside under a canopy selling jewelry she made. I chose a barrette for my older daughter after a nice chat. We found another lady in another part of the building and went inside to see her clayware. I got a miniature storyteller and a pot for my miniatures collection and had another nice chat. Her shop was warm, but not too bad. We checked out a couple of other shops that were tucked in various openings of the overall building.
We walked to the end of the south building at the far wall of the complex. We saw a couple of flowers in the dusty ground- field bindweed and lupin, both near the creek.
When we reached the wall, there was a wooden bridge over the creek. But, we also saw this sign. I was surprised to see that German was the second language on it.
We went to the north building and entered a couple of shops. Some were harder for me, due to the steps. There was a lot of jewelry both inside and out at the kiosks. Again, folks were happy to talk.
Passing the church again, we saw this lovely stained glass window that we had not noticed earlier.
Looking across the cemetery to the Carson National Forest, the contrast in landscape couldn't have been more stark. The adobe of the Pueblo just seemed one with the dirt of the ground and so very dry.
When we exited, we headed across the street to the public restrooms, as there had been none inside the Pueblo.
Leaving at 2:11, we traveled along Veterans Highway. I was surprised to see that even though we seemed to be out from town, we were still in Taos Pueblo territory as we saw this farm in the distance.
Our next destination, the Rio Grande Gorge State Park, which is part of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, was just 21 minutes away. We parked in a large visitors lot at 2:32 (25535), arriving just as craftspeople were packing up their tables. That was a disappointment. We parked as close to the bridge as we could, which wasn't very. We made our way down to it trying to figure out exactly what were the official paths and what were the ones that people just made themselves. I do not know who wrote the sign below, but they need major grammar work.
I looked down the hill to the support at our end of the road and saw "Last Kiss" on it. I've seen that described as graffiti, but it seemed to neat for graffiti. I have not been able to find out when it appeared, but it is suggested to refer to two young lovers who jumped off the bridge. If so, that's rather ghastly to leave there.
We got a good view of the Rio Grande about 600 feet below us. The area was rather arid, in spite of the river.
The side of the gorge looked absolutely brittle and as if it could collapse at any moment.
In spite of my great fear of heights (and corresponding depths), we walked out to about the middle of the bridge, with cars whizzing by. Out there, on both sides of the bridge was an emergency call box. I read that there are a great number of suicides from this bridge and area each year. They've had a lot of discussions about what to do, but it would cost a lot of money and there isn't the will. This in spite of the danger, both physically and mentally, to the first responders who have to retrieve the bodies. It's really a long way down here.
K discouraged me from going all the way to the other end of the bridge. We crossed to the other side to look downstream, and, unlike a lot of other rivers, there wasn't a lot of difference.
We found the gap in the concrete barriers actually led to a better path up to the car. We were back on the road at 3:01.
We decided to stop at the Taos Visitor Center at 3:26 (25550), because there were supposed to be artisans and crafts, but we didn't find much and were out at 3:36. We were back at the inn by 4.
We went to the desk to report the heat was worse in our room and to ask for a dinner recommendation. She said the handyman was gone for the day, but she'd talk to him. She then sent us off to a restaurant that we could walk to.
So, we left at 4:25. Seeing that the historic district was near the restaurant, we walked that way first. We found a shop, where I bought postcards for $2.17. I was disappointed that the Benedictine shop was closed and really not much was open.
We doubled back to go to La Cueva Café at the corner of Quesnel Lane. We saw that it was good that we didn't drive, because there wasn't much in the way of parking. There were gorgeous flowers, though, like these hollyhocks. The building looked like a converted gas station. We chose to eat on the patio, because there was no air conditioning inside.
The salsa that came with the chips was very hot. I regretted not waiting until the beverage arrived before I ate it. This cost $8.95.
K ordered a Santa Fe IPA, which was $5.50, and I ordered an Agave Wine Traditional Margarita for $7.50.
K ordered the Chicken Enchiladas New Mexico with green chili for $10.95. I chose Chicken Mole Enchiladas for $13.95. Although, it did not matter, because we traded plates half way though.
The meal was really quite good. We couldn't tarry, though, because there were people waiting for tables. So, we paid the bill and left at 5:55.
The road back led through a residential area. We like looking at houses, so it was cool.
When we got back to the room at 6:10, the air conditioner was at full blast, but the thermostat was a bit higher than the 81° that it was at 4 pm. I called and she said he didn't find anything wrong. By 8:08, it was 83°. We found that the baseboard heaters were on and we couldn't turn them off. It was going to be a hot night.
My phone said I walked 9,850 steps for 3.2 miles today.
No comments:
Post a Comment