Sunday, October 24, 2021

Mosaic Monday#152: The Land of Enchantment

Imagine magical, rose-colored deserts, populated only by the creosote bush, mesquite and cacti.  Petroglyphs and the remains of ancient cliff dwellings that barely hint at life as it was in the 1400s.  Enchiladas smothered with an equal portion of red and green sauces.  Modern adobe houses tucked discretely into the landscape.  Layers upon layers of history, like paint on the living room wall.  Somebody decided that new shade was better, but was it?  Our recent trip to New Mexico was a stark reminder of the complexities of "land" in the United States.  Who does it belong to?  In this case - Nature?  Native Americans?  The Mexicans?  The U.S? 

We may not be able to unwind historical events, but we can certainly educate ourselves, respect the cultures that came first, and hopefully learn from the past.  We made a valiant effort to do just that!  It may take a few posts to show you all of our adventures, but I know you will join us for the journey.  In the space of a week, each one of our party left a little corner of our hearts in New Mexico, for different reasons.


They call New Mexico the Land of Enchantment because visitors become enraptured with its culture, architecture, scenery and cuisine.  This is not some recent gimmick, either.  Lilian Whiting first noted the phrase in the title of her book on New Mexico in 1906.  In 1935, New Mexico's tourist bureau described the state as the "Land of Enchantment" in one of its brochures in an effort to attract visitors to the area.  In 1941, the legend was added to license plates and came into common usage soon thereafter.  Some 80 years later, I think the marketing campaign worked!

On our first day in Santa Fe, we visited a few of the popular tourist sites before attending Mass at the Cathedral.  The Loretto Chapel, the first Gothic building west of the Mississippi, was patterned after Sainte Chapelle in Paris, and built between 1873 and 1878 at the request of Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy.  The Chapel is best known for its choir loft staircase, called miraculous due to its two complete spirals without center or side supports (defying engineering logic) and due to the legend of its construction.



We also stopped by San Miguel Church, the oldest church structure in the USA.  The original adobe walls and altar were built by Tlaxcalan Indians from Mexico under the direction of Franciscan Padres, circa 1610.  Then it was back to the rental house to watch the Cleveland Browns versus the Chargers.  Not the desired outcome Browns 42, Chargers 47, but it was a heck of an entertaining game!  





Afterwards, #1 Daughter and I went for a walk - such a precious time!

Watch this space for future posts about the rest of our visit!

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.
Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.
The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Tuesday (U.S. Mountain time).
Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.
Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.
As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.
Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.
Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us. 


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

30 comments:

  1. I love New Mexico, especially the northern part. I was born in Espanola and we lived near Santa Fe and I was baptized at the Lutheran church there. Such a mysterious and beautiful place. One needs to check their preconceived notions at the border and sounds like you have done that.
    I'm joining in again this week. Take care and I'm looking forward to more New Mexico posts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sure, it was wonderful holidays. The chapel looks wonderful. The staircase without railing is a fantastisc one. I looking forward with pleasure for more of your journey in New Mexico, it's very interesting.

    Happy MosaicMonday

    ReplyDelete
  3. New Mexico does indeed sound and look like it is the Land of Enchantment. That is one amazing staircase. I was wondering that ascending those stairs looked a bit precarious, but then I saw the banister; and isn't it grand. I would rather love to be in the choir and sit and sing from those lofty heights. I wouldn't mind going up and down that fabulous staircase, either. =)

    ReplyDelete
  4. ...what a fabulous trip! I look like you had a great time. Thanks for hosting, Angie.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It really is a pretty place and I love that staircase with the railing, very pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  6. It really looks like a fascinating place to visit. I watched Rick Stein in Mexico the other night. Wonderful to couch travel. Thanks for taking us to New Mexico. Stay safe, enjoy your week and thank you again for the link up.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the legend that is associated with those mysterious floating stairs in Loretto Chapel that St Joseph miraculously appeared to build them! We've driven through NM but only stopped at a few places on our drive back from AZ to CO. We saw a beautiful rainbow during our drive that lit up the desert. We hope to plan more detailed trips one day so i will enjoy your posts as a preview Angie.

    ReplyDelete
  8. New Mexico is truly the land of enchantment. It is so beautiful there, and so are the people we came across. I look forward to seeing more of your photos. The staircase is so beautiful. I think I like it both ways, with or without the railing.

    -Soma

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hello,
    Your New Mexico trip looks wonderful. The Cathedral and chapel are lovely, the staircase is amazing. Love the sky capture! Have a great day and a happy new week!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for the memories, Angie! We visited New Mexico quite a few years ago and yes, we were enchanted. So many wonderful sights to see and marvellous, hospitable and friendly people. Lovely photos and text, as usual.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Fall is such a wonderful time to visit NM! I love your photos of the inside of the church. I've been there many times but not inside this church. Enjoy your week. I look forward to more pics! Happy MM!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love everything southwest. I missed traveling there this year. You make it sounds yummy. Awesome spiral staircases too.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Angie, your poetic description clearly sounds as if the country has enchanted you - and makes me curious about the posts that are yet to come! The choir loft staircase actually looks miraculous, especially without railing. It also looks more attractive this way. However, it also looks more dangerous there, so it is probably a good thing that the railing was installed. Spending time with adult children is always very valuable.
    Wishing you a good week!
    Hugs, Traude
    https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2021/10/oktoberfreuden-oktoberfarben.html

    ReplyDelete
  14. That staircase is something. Hooray for the railings. Glad you had an enchanted time in the land of enchantment!

    ReplyDelete
  15. The inside of Loretto Chapel is so beautiful, especially I’m intrigued by the spiral beauty of the staircase. Without railing, it must have been thrilling.

    Yoko

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wonderful post, that staircase is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Dear Angie,
    What an amazing time you had, and I look forward to reading about more of it. The staircase is really something - so elegant as it curves upwards.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'd love to visit New Mexico someday.

    Love the photos.

    And that staircase is BEAUTIFUL!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Beautiful pictures from your trip to New Mexico. Time has past I had experienced trip to foreign country. I always hoping for the trip someday again p;-) I have been thinking to put comment in my picture,haha.
    Thank you SO mu for hosting, Miyako.

    ReplyDelete
  20. This looks like a fun trip! You can't beat the Southwest in terms of scenery and history.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I visited New Mexico as a young adult with my parents, it was a fun trip, One I will never forget. The Cathedral is beautiful, but that staircase is quite amazing before the railing was installed. Walks with our adult children, precious time well spent!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I thought that "The Land of Enchantment" was a missive from rainy UK. Hope it stops raining for you Angie. Don't head west into the Lake District, it's very, very bad. Good luck and enjoy when you can.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I loved my visit to Santa Fe years ago with my boys. We stayed in a really cool little place. The town has so much character and is easily walkable. A friend I met here moved to Las Vegas NM and we've been there a couple of times. Very small but lots of history. I love places that preserve the past and renovate old buildings rather than clearing them for modern monstrosities.

    ReplyDelete
  24. New Mexico is quite beautiful, to see the camera never that died.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Glad you had a good trip. I love the spiral stairs and it's good they put a railing on it. Have a wonderful weekend.

    ReplyDelete