| AMERICA'S MOST FOREIGN
CITY: SANTA FE |
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 Santa Fe, New Mexico, perched at 7000 feet at the base of the Rocky Mountains, is the second-oldest city and the most foreign destination in the United States. This little place, now with a population of 62,000, was founded 50 years before anyone stood on Plymouth Rock, and its Hispanic communities can be traced back the great days of Philip II of Spain. Santa Fe has the oldest public building in the United States - the Palace of the Governors, in continuous use since 1609 and the oldest church, the San Miguel Chapel, built in 1610. And some of America's most interesting people. |
All the city's history, culture and art is there in front of you because you're in an unusual spot in America - a walking city. Bring comfortable shoes. There are 300 galleries to explore in the third largest art market in the U.S. after New York and Los Angeles. And 300 restaurants, twice as many per capita as San Francisco. Coffee houses are scattered throughout where you can listen to Vivaldi and watch the procession passing the window: Business persons with brief cases hurrying by (men dressed like "FBI suits" and women coiffured as if for Fifth Avenue) and ,walking more leisurely, Hispanics and Mexicans, cowboys and, er, Native Americans, artists and photographers, hunters and hikers, burned-out, aging hippies and, of course, an aging travel writer. |
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And that's the fun here: getting out amongst its people and finding what they enjoy. If you need a guide there are plenty. Carol Mui, who takes visitors on Historic Walks of Santa Fe (505-986-8388) seems born to lead and another local, Dawn Morris (505-438-8329), who has led tours in Germany for the American Embassy and in the U.K. for the London Tourist Board is the perfect hostess for the mile of Canyon Road with its 100 art galleries. Two are particularly interesting: the Gerald Peters with 8,500 square feet of exhibition space, the largest in Santa Fe, and the smaller Morning Star Gallery, the premier dealer in antique Native American art in the country. A Crow war shirt valued at $225,000, for example, hangs casually on a wall. |
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