Santa Fe – The City Different

November 29, 2020By 24

The first time I heard and read about Santa Fe was at the age of 6 years. The reason I knew Santa Fe was because of my model train Märklin. I always wanted to have that train, the Santa Fe train, and now we live here 🙂

santa fe maerklin
There is so much to write about Santa Fe; therefore, I put some bullet points together as a start.

  • If you think the state of New Mexico is part of Texas, you are not alone. If you think it is a foreign country, you have plenty of company. And if you think it does not exist at all, welcome to the club. In other words, a lot of Americans (and foreigners) don’t know that New Mexico is one of the 50 States in the USA.
  • Santa Fe has the oldest public building in the United States and is the oldest capital (1610). It is the second oldest city in the USA. The oldest city is St. Augustine in Florida.
  • Santa Fe is at an altitude of 7000ft (2150müM)
  • In Santa Fe, the sun shines 320+ days per year.
  • Because we live in a high desert, the temperatures are cold in winter and warm/hot in the summertime. In the summertime, only a few days are warmer than 90F (32C), and at night the temperature drops to 72F (22C) and below. Even in hot weather, it is not unpleasant because the humidity is very low (20-25%).
  • When you are too warm, you can escape into the mountains around Santa Fe, and the temperature will drop by 20F (7C).
  • Santa Fe is at the foot and end of the Rocky Mountains. Our mountains in the East are called Sangre de Cristo, and the highest peak is Baldy with 12,632ft (3,850müM) and in the West the Jemez mountain with the highest peak Redondo with 11,258ft (3,431müM).
  • When we hike, we are constantly between 7000ft (2150müM) and 11,000ft (3,350müM). Like in so many parts of the world, at those altitudes, you still have trees. It is so unusual compared to the Alps where you have a tree line of approx. 5,900ft (1800müM) to 6,560ft (2000müM).
  • Some additional numbers: (those comparisons are more for my friends in Switzerland)
    • Area New Mexico: 121,590 sq mi (314,917km2); Switzerland 41,285km2. NM is 7.7x larger than Switzerland
    • Elevation: New Mexico min. 5,701ft (1,741müM), max. is the Wheeler Peak 13,168ft (4,013müM); Switzerland min. 193müM (633ft) and max. 4634müM (15,203ft) Dufourspitze
    • Population: New Mexico 2.1 Million; Switzerland 8.6 Million
    • Density: New Mexico 17.2/sq mi (6.7/km2); Switzerland 207/km2 (536 sq mi). Switzerland has 31 times higher density.

  • “We” are in the minority in Santa Fe. Hispanic /Latino 54.7%; White alone 40%; American Indian 2.1%, Black or African American alone 0.9%; two or more races 2.3%.
  • Santa Fe is known as the City Different, and within one visit, you will understand why. Santa Fe embodies a rich history, melding Hispanic, Anglo, and Native American cultures whose influences are apparent in everything from the architecture, the food, the art, and more.

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I read an interesting book about New Mexico. It is called “New Mexico, An Interpretive History” written by Marc Simmons.

Here is an extract out of it. I loved how the Spanish saw Santa Fe.
 

In mid-1750, Spaniards would write about New Mexico: “The land’s heady mixture of winglike air, sparkling sunlight, and bare-earth colors dazzles the senses and stimulates the imagination so that the separation of fantasy from fact becomes a difficult, sometimes impossible, chore. Here, where space stretches far and often resembles the moonscape, golden mirages and luxurious yarns of lost treasure have found a compatible breeding ground.”.

The Spaniards were not impressed by Santa Fe but then would write: “unless one found pleasure in contemplating the backdrop of sandy hills studded with piñon pine, and, in the distance, the soaring heights of the Sangre de Cristo Range. Unless the visitor could appreciate a sky more luminescent than the richest turquoise, or the puffy banks of dark summer clouds that boiled out of the Sierra to bathe the brown houses and fields, leaving the air redolent of new-swashed earth. Unless some stranger warmed to unbounded hospitality unless he discovered comfort in simple houses whose walls afforded coolness in summer and warmth in winter unless he admired lighthearted people, hard-working and stoical. Unless he did – then, like Father Dominguez in the early spring of 1776, he saw Santa Fe as a drifting place.

 

 

We were always asked why did we choose Santa Fe? We have several answers to that question. We love the outdoors. When you leave your home, you are outdoors. We will have four seasons. Skiing is 30 minutes away. We have more than 300 miles (480 km) of hiking trails in and around Santa Fe. The sun shines 320 + days per year. There  is a lot of culture, like the famous Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe Symphony, concerts, festivals, museums, and Santa Fe is more affordable than New York. We have since discovered this is a truly friendly place. And Cindy has many adorable dogs she can stop to hug whether it is on the street or on the trail. 

Those are all great reasons why we love it here.
 

Once we have Covid19 more under control, please come and visit us. We are delighted to show you a part of the US you might not know and might not have known before you read this blog.
 

See you soon.
 

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