We left Albuquerque after lunch and made the one hour drive to Santa Fe. Our first stop was the very beautiful but very expensive Nedra Matteucci Galleries.
The gallery is housed in a huge historic adobe with a beautiful sculpture garden in the back. The garden was so peaceful.
The galleries and sculpture garden of Nedra Matteucci turned out to be my mom's favorite part of our trip to Santa Fe!
After seeing some art, we took a break at Kakawa Chocolate House. They specialize in drinking chocolate "elixirs" and had eight on the menu this afternoon. I had the chili chocolate elixir which was made of unsweetened chocolate, agave nectar, ancho chili and Mexican vanilla. It was super rich and creamy, and the small size was just the right amount.
Kakawa also sells house-made truffles, caramels and other chocolates. We had to purchase a few pieces to enjoy later.
We spent part of the afternoon at Prairie Dog Glass, learning to work with fire and glass. This is something I have always wanted to do, and I was so happy to learn how to do it with my mom. The session takes place over one hour and you can make as many pieces during that time as you can finish.
The class is very hands-on and it sure gets warm in there! The instructor was so patient, gave great directions and kept a close eye on what we were doing.
We still had about 20 minutes left on the clock, so I made a few flowers. It was hard to tell what our pieces would look like because they were still hot, and we couldn't take them home with us until the next day. I was so curious to see how they turned out!
We checked into the Hotel Santa Fe and had some time to rest. But I decided, instead, to hit the treadmill for a 2.5 mile run before getting washed up for dinner.
We visited Mu Du Noodles that evening. I ordered a Thai iced tea, and we shared the Singapore and Pad Thai noodles. Our server surprised us with a complimentary appetizer of green beans. The green beans and pad thai were both yummy, but the Singapore noodles were super salty.
Mu Du Noodles would not make it on my recommended list. Too pricey for what you get.
The next morning, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast at our hotel before going to explore the Plaza.
The first attraction on our list was Loretto Chapel.
The chapel is known for its "miraculous" staircase. The staircase has no visible supports and was built using only wooden pegs. Also, the identity of the builder was never discovered. I must admit that it is a lovely chapel!
We made our way around some of the Plaza and visited the native jewelry makers, galleries and souvenir shops.
After exploring the Plaza and grabbing some lunch, we headed back to Prairie Dog Glass to pick up our finished glass pieces. These are my works of art: a bowl and three flowers. I couldn't take a photo of my mom's piece because they wrapped it up really nicely for her flight home. But I can tell you that it also turned out very nicely!
We hit the road after that to get back to Albuquerque.
On my mom's last full day in town, we, along with Raisin Bread and the two pups, visited the Tinkertown Museum in Sandia Park.
Tinkertown began as the hobby of Ross Ward, who carved, collected and painted his miniature town over many years. He was a born tinkerer.
Although Ross Ward has now passed, his wonderful collection is open for the public's enjoyment. There was so much to see that it was hard to notice every little detail that was lovingly created.
I hope my mom enjoyed her first visit to New Mexico and will see us again soon!
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