Taos Pueblo

What a magic place! It has been inhabited since … well, at least since the Spanish arrived … but the Natives say that this place has been theirs since the beginning of time. I love this idea :-)

White Sands National Monument

I had seen pictures of the White Sands Monument on Instagram and ever since, I wanted to see for myself. While planning my upcoming trip to the Southwest, I realized that the place was just not "on the way" of all the other sites I wanted to visit. But then, I thought, what the heck, who knew when I'd be back to New Mexico?
So, I picked up my rental car at the Santa Fe's airport and drove 4 hours south to the White Sands Monument. Visited for a couple of hours (the park is open until 9 pm!) and the next day I drove back north again, all the way to Taos.
A lot of road to deal with but it was so totally worth the effort. A magical place. What do you think?
The sky may look cloudy and it was cloudy (it rained the next day and everybody here was so happy about the rain because they had some wildfires all around New Mexico and Colorado and the rain helped put them out!) but wandering around the dunes felt like being in an oven hahahaha
Nevertheless, the clouds were the perfect background for my pictures … for the time being I'll stick just to a few of them. You'll see more once I'm back in Europe!

Santa Fe: Some Pictures

Santa Fe is a cute little town :-)

Albuquerque - Santa Fe ... By Train

While planning my trip to the Southwest of the US, I wanted to do at least one part of my route by train because I love train rides! Luckily, I found the "New Mexico Rail Runner Express" that runs from Albuquerque to Santa Fe (and back, obviously).
I was looking forward to sit on a train, to enjoy the New Mexico landscape and to just let my thoughts wander.
Oh well, let's just say that I indeed sat in a train, that I indeed enjoyed the New Mexico landscape but as for the "letting my thoughts wander"?
Not so much.
How could I have known that this particular train ride is quite the thing to do for the elderly people of Albuquerque? They are doing day trips to Santa Fe and as people that are older as 62 don't have to pay for their tickets … oh my, let's say that the coach felt like being on a field trip! The guy sitting next to me, and I swear that this is the truth, didn't stop talking for a minute. Not one minute. He told us about his jobs, his life, his feelings, etc. etc. etc.
So, you know, the thing about letting my thoughts wander??
I had to hear them first, my thoughts, I mean (SMILE)
(Visualize the scene: me and a coach full of chatty and excited senior citizens! Really, you can't make that stuff up. Real life is always better!)

I didn't mind the noise and their excitement! Just imagine. Some of them had NEVER EVER ridden on a train. So, I understood their excitement and was happy to be part of it!

Albuquerque: Some Pictures

I had an easy day in Albuquerque. It's so hot and the air is so dry (only 30% humidity!!) but I love the blue sky and the colors of the houses. I love how, with the green of the trees and the cactuses, it feels like being in a painting. Gotta love it, right? What do you think? Am I wrong?

Made It To Albuquerque, New Mexico

Welcome to New Mexico! I will tell  you more about Albuquerque but today I wanted to share something else actually. Something I was thinking about today, while sitting in the plane to Albuquerque.

While I tell you my impressions of the places I visit, the highs and lows, the cool stuff and the not so cool stuff, I rarely mention what I call the in between times.
The boring times.
The not so sexy times.
The time spent … going from the airport to the hotel. The time spent packing and unpacking. The time spent waiting. Oh my. The time spent waiting! Never ending! Waiting in line to check in. Waiting in line to airport security checks. Waiting for the plane to take off. Waiting for your bags. Etc. Etc.
Not sexy at all.
But so very much and such a very big part of traveling.
Luckily these not so sexy times are always followed by very exciting times … like when you arrive in a new place and you got to discover everything :-) Makes me forget the in between times immediately.

Welcome to Denver, Colorado

I've made it to Denver, Colorado. Our flight was 2 hours late due to a heavy thunderstorm just when we were about to take off. So, we had to wait in the airplane … for the rain to stop :-) On the other hand, nobody was sitting besides me (so I had two seats for myself … yeah!), immigration was super easy and I made it to the hotel before midnight!

Rain, I found out already, is not a word often used here during summer time. Believe me. It's hot in Denver. Like hot hot. 36 °C plus a really nice hot wind. Oh my, I love hot weather but it was too much even for me. Therefore, I stuck to the museums (you know, air conditioning SMILE) (and luckily Denver has some really amazing museums!) and when I was outside, I walked from shade to shade. hahaha Luckily, Denver downtown has lots of trees :-)
I love it here. It's easy going and not overcrowded.

The biggest surprise though were … the snowy mountain tops in the distance. Amazing and it reminded me of the fact that people come here to ski!

I loved the cute details all around downtown

Almost On The Road Again

I had never thought of traveling this way ... but Pavese is right!

BON VOYAGE!