Silver and turquoise

Sunday, March 6, 2011

SANTA FE, NM — Since today was Sunday, I did an internet search to find an Episcopal church and came up with St. Bede’s on South St. Francis Drive. We were warmly welcomed at the front door and pinned with a blue ribbon so people would know we were visitors. We enjoyed chatting with various people at coffee hour afterward, and even found one person who had been to Ottawa a couple of times.

It had warmed up a little by the time we got outside again, but as some of our new friends were saying, you have to expect cool weather in early March when you’re at 7,000 feet of elevation!

We decided to go back to the Plaza where we had been yesterday and have a closer look at the wares being sold by native artisans. They were all lined up along the wall of the Palace of the Governors, facing the square, with colourful blankets spread in front of them on which they displayed the fruits of their labours. They greeted us as we strolled along, looking at the beautiful pieces of silver and turquoise jewelry, beadwork, clay pots and figurines.

By this time we were ready for lunch, so we stopped in again at Pasqual’s, the restaurant we had visited yesterday. It was much busier this time, so we left our names and promised to come back in 25 minutes, when a table would be ready for us. This gave us a chance to walk around the block and do some window shopping. What a feast for the eyes! Belts and hats, serapes and embroidered jackets, sculptures and paintings, sparkling jewelry, dried red pepper ristras (the bunches we saw decorating many homes yesterday), furs, snakeskin boots... there was no end to the wonderful handiwork.

Back at Pasqual’s, we were seated again at the communal table, this time next to Grant and Liz and family. The couple were from New Orleans and had escaped to New Mexico, since they said their home town is overrun by people during Mardi Gras week! We also chatted with Julian and Antonia, from Bristol, England, on our other side, and heard their take about the upcoming wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Our meal was another feast for eye and tongue; a ranchero omelette for me, smothered in tomatillo sauce, and for Val, poached eggs on top of black beans and green peas, with tomatillo sauce, a tortilla and a fried banana. Both dishes were scrumptious!

After lunch we went back to the Plaza vendors so I could pick out a souvenir of Santa Fe; it’s a lovely turquoise pendant, veined with brown and set in sterling silver on a silver chain. It was made by Sheila Vandever, a Navajo native, who was seated with her auntie, who sat wrapped in a patterned blanket against the cold.

We went back to the truck and headed up Canyon Road, the strip where all the various galleries are clustered. Outside the front of these adobe buildings are sculptures, banners, paintings and more sculptures of every style and description. It would be easy to spend several hours strolling up and down the street to visit each gallery.

However, we had to find a grocery store for supplies before our last 500 miles to Arizona, so we queried the GPS for a store nearby and picked a likely one. Wouldn’t you know, after several streets and avenues, stoplights and turns, the GPS proudly announced our arrival at a store that was no more! I saw the sign, but it was painted over and no groceries were in sight. Never mind; we got to see more of Santa Fe and eventually did find what we needed.