“Some Gringo got it Wrong”

Today we enjoyed a cold but clear day in Santa Fe with beautiful blue skies. We spent a few hours in the Railyard district looking at galleries (only racked up $26,000 in imaginary purchases today, on one piece) and had a great lunch at Tomasita’s restaurant. Then we headed downtown to wander through the areas we did  not cover yesterday. We did manage to add a couple more pieces to our affordable art collection. Merry Christmas to us. These two are not PG rated, however, so I cannot post pictures.

A friend who has been visiting Santa Fe annually since she was a child kept telling us how blue the sky is there – often appearing almost navy blue. I didn’t believe her until now – the sky is so amazingly clear out here. Maybe it’s also due to the lack of humidity, but whatever the cause, it’s gorgeous. Check out a couple of great “arty” shots JJ took that show off the sky:

Christmas Eve is a big deal in Santa Fe, and everyone we’ve spoken with over the last three days has strongly suggested (read: practically threatened us at gunpoint) that we do the Canyon Road walk to look at the farolitos. In case you didn’t know (we didn’t) a farolito is what most people refer to as a luminaria – a paper bag with sand and a candle inside. According to Penny, our friendly hotel manager, a luminaria is actually a small bonfire. “Some gringo got it wrong,” she told us, and that is why most people mistakenly call the bags luminarias. According to Wikipedia the terms are interchangeable, but I’m not going to argue with Penny.

To review, with handy visual references:

 

these ^^ are farolitos

this ^^ is a luminaria

Now that we’re all on the same page, the big deal is that once a year all the houses, galleries and businesses on Canyon road line the sidewalks, fence rails, and tops of the buildings with farolitos. They close the road to cars and everyone walks around drinking and singing Christmas carols. Occasionally groups will gather around luminarias that are lit in various areas. I think every person in the city must have been out walking the road this evening. It was quite beautiful and unlike any Christmas display I have ever seen.

Also, this happened. Don’t know why that dude’s looking at me funny.

Tomorrow we’re back on the road and headed to Flagstaff.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

-d