Out & About in Santa Fe

 On day 2 of our stay in Santa Fe we met up with Pat and Ken Bonner who are Australians now living and working in Santa Fe.  Pat is a teacher and Ken is an artist and to see some of his works have a look at  www.kenbonner.com   We met for breakfast at La Fonda and we had a great time.  Pat and Ken had let us know about the Santa Fe Christmas show so later that day we meet again at the Linsic Theater to enjoy the show.

The Santa Fe symphony orchestra's Christmas Concert featured Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 in E minor as well as some contemporary melodies such as Fly Me to the Moon.  It was a great concert and thank you Pat and Ken for making us aware of this.

 Here you can see this amazing young lady by the name of Emily Bear who is 13 years of age and at 5 years made her concert debut at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago playing a 40 minute solo program of classical pieces.  This day she played two of her compositions called Northern Lights and Les Voyages.  She is the up and coming Taylor Swift of classical music.

This is the State fish - rainbow trout.  The State bird is the Roadrunner.  This was not on the menu.

Boxing Day evening we dinned at the Luminarias Restaurant at the Loretto Hotel which was a short walk from the La Fonda where we were staying.  The restaurant had a pleasant feel to it and the food was interesting.  Ross's starter was foie gras and it was very rich and possibly the only time he will ever eat this.  But what the heck , life is too short not to try different foods.

Beverley's starter of beets and mushroom was a surprise as she did not order it but it was served by mistake.  It was very tasty.

Followed by organic roasted chicken served most attractively and was delicious.

The desert was a combination of flavours and accompanied by a couple of glasses of 12 year old Port. It was a fitting end to a delicious evening. 

More to follow on the many interesting places we visited over our stay in Santa Fe.

Cheers,

Beverley and Ross

Christmas Day

 Christmas day started with attending Mass at The Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assisi.  The Mass was conducted in both Spanish and English and was a beautiful service.

"The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, commonly known as Saint Francis Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.
The cathedral was built by Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy between 1869 and 1886 on the site of an older adobe church, La Parroquia (built in 1714–1717). An older church on the same site, built in 1626, was destroyed in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. The new cathedral was built around La Parroquia, which was dismantled once the new construction was complete. A small chapel on the north side of the cathedral was kept from the old church.
Influenced by the French-born Archbishop Lamy and in dramatic contrast to the surrounding adobe structures, Saint Francis Cathedral was designed in the Romanesque Revival style. As such, the cathedral features characteristic round arches separated by Corinthian columns and truncated square towers. The large rose window in front and those of the Twelve Apostles in the lateral nave windows were imported from Clermont-Ferrand in France. The towers were originally planned to be topped with dramatic 160-foot (49 m) steeples, but due to lack of funds, these were never built. The left tower is a single row of bricks taller than the right tower. The cathedral was built from yellow limestone blocks quarried near the present site of Lamy. A 2005 addition to the upper facade of the cathedral is a small, round window featuring a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit. It is a stained glass replica of the translucent alabaster window designed in the 17th-century by the Italian artist Bernini for St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.
The Cathedral of Saint Francis of Assisi was officially elevated to a basilica by Pope Benedict XVI on October 4, 2005, when it was named the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi."

The doors to the Cathedral are very majestic.

The Christmas manger is carved of wood that comes from Bethlehem.

After the service the Bishop caught up with some conversation with his Priests before traveling south for an Italian  Christmas dinner in Albuquerque  with the Nuns and Priest's there.

This statue in the grounds of the Basilica is of the the only native American woman to become a Saint.

Then it was back to La Fonda for Christmas lunch.  It was a grand affair. 

The deserts were very tasty.

So from us to you.  Cheers and hope that you all have had a blessed, happy and Holy Christmas.

Christmas Road Trip 2014 - Continued

After leaving Amarillo we overnight in Albuquerque  and dined that evening a very nice Asian Restaurant.  The assistant manager who looked after us this evening had a very familiar face and when we asked had we met before he mentioned that he had done a lot of work on the Food Network channel and had been one of the assistant chef's to the likes of Bobby Flay et al.  He even organized a deep fried banana dessert for us which was on the house.

When we walked out of the restaurant we were saw this magnificent tree.

 

 We arrived Santa Fe around lunch time and the weather was crisp and clear however by night fall we were delighted to see some snow.

 The Plaza was a flood of lights and this was enhanced by the dusting of snow.  Our Canadian and Northern States friends will say "this is not snow", but for us it was a real thrill as we have not seen snow for 12 months and for 2 kids from Australia snow always makes us feel happy.

 We are staying at the La Fonda Hotel which is a very historic place.  It also has a huge gingerbread house which children cannot resist wanting to touch.

 Located in the hotel is a the French Crepe House.  We have become a real fan of this little French looking place who serve the most delicious crepes.

Apart from their amazing array of pastries they also offer animal breads over the Christmas period.

Another example of their delicious foods is this attractive chocolate log.

 Santa Fe is alive with lots of art, culture, food and offers so much to see and do.  So, much more to follow.

Cheers, Beverley and Ross

Christmas Trip 2014

This year we decided to spend Christmas in Santa Fe and while we will not be enjoying a white Christmas with our Canadian friends we are hoping that it will be a fun time in this part of the country.  On our journey to Santa Fe we traveled to the city of Sweetwater on the first night.  Here we dinned at Buck's Lounge.  This is view of inside the restaurant and the young waitress who served us was a the dead ringer for Taylor Swift.

By the time we arrived this was the only place open where one could get a good feed.

On leaving Sweetwater we had to go through Roscoe on our way to Lubbock.  Hundreds of windmill farms are to be seen over many acres as you drive north from Sweetwater.

Lubbock is the home of the legendary Buddy Holly.

There are statues of Buddy everywhere you look.

There is Hall of Fame behind Buddy's statue which features many notables such as Ray Orbison and many others.

The memorabilia is housed in this building.

From Lubbock we traveled through Amarillo which has some interesting buildings.

As it was Sunday the streets were deserted.

More to follow as we get to Santa Fe for Christmas.

Cheers Beverley and Ross

Leading up to Christmas/ Work Dinner/Sunday Brunch and Football

We all know that the  festive season provides the opportunity to enjoy good times with family and friends.  On Friday evening we enjoyed a fun time with the great folks we work with.  Here Soojin, Wayne and Susan and ourselves had a good time at the La Tequileia Mexican restaurant and enjoyed a great dinner. More about this restaurant can be seen at www.latequileradelpatron.com/

Today it was back for brunch at 18 Oak at the JW Marriott.

On entry to the dining room you are greeted by an array of delightful looking desserts.

There is something there for everyone from an amazing array of seafood.

To whatever your heart desires.

Here is just a small sample of the sweets available.  For those of you who have never heard of a Woppie Pie, well here is one.  It is made of red velvet cake and stuffed with cream.

There is even music to enhance the experience.

Then home for the Cleveland Browns Vs Cincinnati Bengals football match.  Johnny Manziel is a  young player who is being paid lots of money to play for the Cleveland team (formerly quarterback for Texas A&M). Ross and Albert who are Manziel supporters have even purchased jerseys. (So much for our hero they lost 30 zip)

We would like to wish all our friends around the world and very happy Christmas and a great New Year.

We are driving north to Santa Fe for the week and hope to have some snow for Christmas Day.

Cheers,
Beverley and Ross