Voir Visits Old Town Albuquerque

Voir woke up early with the morning sun.

She stretched, and was eager to learn more about this place

she had found herself in.
So, I took her to the beginning.

The city of Albuquerque was founded by the Spaniards

for Spain in 1703.

Old Town was established as a center for the agricultural community.
It included a plaza with a Catholic church and a government building.
San Felipe de Neri is still the center of Old Town,
although the rest of the plaza now hosts shops and restaurants. 

 Voir specifically asked to go inside of the church.

It was a quiet and respectful place with images of priests,

the Virgin Mary, and Jesus.

It is an active parish in our community.

Voir's favorite part of visiting the inside of the church

was the morning sunshine through the windows.

After visiting San Felipe de Neri,

we went across the street.

Ah...a fountain!!!!
A small fountain, but a fountain!

I pointed out my favorite shop next to the fountain.

Voir was more than willing to see what kinds of tourist

items are for sale in New Mexico.

An old loom was used to demonstrate the quality

of their woven rugs and blankets.

Well, that was interesting!
How many shops without active weavers in them
also have looms on display?

Umm...this shop got weirder!

What is with the skeletons?

Looking at the flowers outside started to look a little

less adventurous.

Do you see the bee?

But then, there were bees around the hollyhocks!!!
There were so many that the photo above captured
a bee in flight!

Voir was willing to pose with the hollyhocks

when the bees were no longer near the individual flowers

she ended up posing with.

She looked around the corner.

How about the ones in the shade?

ADAD Nature

Look! This hollyhock has three flowers

in three stages of blooming!

Voir asked if we could cross the street in the other direction.
We entered a little side plaza with a well shaped fountain
and lots of flowers!

Voir commented on how the adobe style architecture is really

different than the buildings in Minnesota.

Yep, that is why her first stop was in Old Town.

The flowers were really pretty!

But what are the long, red things hanging from the posts?

 Yeah...no trip to New Mexico has flavor

until you have discovered the chile!

We circled back around to a shop with a cowboy theme.
Voir happily posed on the wagon wheel.

See! I am in the west!!!!
Yes, the Southwest, which is both chile flavored
and the Wild West.

As a bonus, our morning visit to avoid the heat

extended into an early lunch.

I didn't know that Mexican food looked like that!
Not Mexican food. New Mexican food!