A Spanish flavored enclave of art and artists

Santa Fe and Taos are especially unique from the rest of New Mexico. They stand apart both in their overwhelming abundance of arts and their architectural style. Both towns feel like a village found deep in Spain full of adobe buildings in shades of white and terra cotta with turquoise accents. In addition, both towns are centered around a traditional plaza surrounded by shops that once were full of artisans and the staples of town commerce. Now they consist mostly of quaint shops directed at tourists, but still full of an abundance of local art and a unique southwestern fusion of Native American, Country Western, and Spanish flavors. Numerous artists of all types retreat to this part of the country. Santa Fe has been named a ‘UNESCO Creative City.” The city has an entire road dedicated to galleries, which consists of over 100. We spent an entire morning wandering through galleries and barely dented the length of the road. There are also numerous museums showcasing art old and new, local and international, throughout Santa Fe. Taos became an artist colony back in the late 1800s by a few people from New York that lured all their friends from Europe to come join them. We spent a day in each town exploring as much as we could, which was really not enough. This place deserves much more time and one of the few areas on this trip I definitely hope to return.