5/15/12- We're on the Same Page

Our second day in Albuquerque was well worth it. We started off in Old Town which was walking distance from our motel. Just as we reached the old plaza, a voice from behind asked, "would you ladies like a tour of old town?" We turned around and it was a guy on a bike rickshaw. We said sure and hopped on. Our guide, Mike showed us all around the old town and gave us some history of the buildings and area in general. 

The town well was fortified against
hostiles

The city was established by the Spaniards which is why the original town was built in the Spanish plaza layout. The town was technically governed by a Spanish Viceroy who had never actually been to the continent. He sent Francisco Cuervo to rule directly; he named the town Villa de San Francisco, after himself. The Viceroy was not happy and made him change it to Albuquerque the name of a town in Spain. (In Spain it's spelled Alburquerque and both words come from the Arabic word for apricot tree). Even though the town is named for the Viceroy, they only have a statue of Don Francisco Cuervo.


On our tour we also saw the Catholic church that was built in the late 1700's and is one of the oldest buildings in the city. Almost all of the other buildings have been converted into shops but they were mostly family homes along with a bank, a hotel/saloon, two brothels and a home for unwed mothers. The shops that used to be family homes all have courtyards and several generations of a family would live in the different rooms of the house. Many of the buildings are  made of adobe while some are wood but plastered over for the same aesthetic (you can tell the adobe from the wood by looking at the doorways and window wells because the adobe walls are much thicker)


Mike also had us get out and look at an old tree that had the Virgen de Guadalupe (the Virgin Mary) carved into it. It's something you wouldn't notice unless it was pointed out. Very cool. After our tour we took some time to peruse the numerous shops in the area and found some great souvenirs. Our favorite shops included tinTERO and Gabby's Soap Shop. 
We stopped for lunch at Casa de Ruiz Church St Cafe, apparently the best restaurant in town because our motel owner, Mike and a random woman on the street (overheard talking to someone else) all recommended it. We had a nice lunch out on the patio of the converted home. It was, as you may have guessed by the name, once the home to many generations of the Ruiz family. Now it is a popular restaurant for locals and tourists alike and for humans and animals alike. While sitting outside a group of people came up with two dogs for one of whom the woman asked for a "real chair" because her little Pomeranian wouldn't sit on the little bench that was there, let alone the ground!


After a tasty lunch we headed back to the motel to load some New Mexico geocaches onto the GPS. Mike had told us that there were a couple in Old Town that he knew of so we wanted to find at least one. We drove back to Old Town and found the TINIEST geocache we'd ever seen by the statue of Don Francisco. We then did a little more shopping and in one store the owner was excited to learn I spoke Spanish and we had a pretty long conversation about Spanish linguistics, and I'm sure mom was bored out of her mind. Sorry! 


Then we wandered around new downtown, took some pictures and had a drink outside at Maloney's Tavern where mom got carded. She was pretty excited. We went back to the hotel, took advantage of their very nice pool then headed for the Sandia Peak Tramway which didn't open until 5pm (because it was a Tuesday- I don't get it). It actually turned out well that we went up later in the day because the view was beautiful as the sun was setting. The tramway opened in 1966 and takes you to the peak at 10,300 ft. From end to end the trip is 2.7 miles. It was a wonderful view of the city and we're told on a clear day, ours was not, you can see over 90 miles.


Back in town we stopped for dinner at Artichoke Cafe, which we had seen the night before and wanted to go in but didn't have the chance. It was a little more upscale than we predicted- I was wearing my hiking shoes after being on the mountain- but we had a lovely dinner nonetheless. Our server Diane was awesome for holding the last fish special which is what I really wanted. I was very grateful because it was delicious! It was a butter poached black cod with potatoes au gratin, green beans and pesto- all my favorites! Mom had the prosciutto-wrapped scallops- also delicious!


It was a great day in Albuquerque! I would highly recommend visiting if you get the chance, it's been one of my favorite cities so far and we didn't get even to see THAT much.


Until we meet again, C