Tag: Madrid

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Quick Hits: Santa Fe, NM

I traveled to Taos, New Mexico way back in high school and I’ve always been looking for a reason to return. 18 years later, it still hasn’t happened. However, a good friend of mine did journey to New Mexico recently and shared some quick tidbits that he was willing to share for those of you headed to the “land of enchantment”.  He spent his weekend in Santa Fe (but I’m secretly hoping he was actually in Albuquerque chowing down on some Los Pollos Hermanos…).

breakingbad

Here’s a breakdown of his Santa Fe suggestions.

What to do

  • Puye Cliff Dwellings
    • So the best thing I did was go tour the Puye Cliff Dwellings.  It’s 30-40 minutes from Santa Fe and is just awesome. The Mesa Top tour ($20/person) offers a super knowledgeable guide, really cool history, and amazing panoramic views of the area. Be warned, if the guide asks you to hike back down the side with him, it’s more of a climb than a hike. Worth doing though.
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Puye Cliff Dwellings
  • The Georgia O’Keefe Museum
    • Located downtown, this little is also worth a visit in my opinion. Not a ton of her most famous paintings are there, but there’s some great stuff including some neat photography of her time in the area.
  • Obviously all the art galleries and shops off the main plaza are a must-do. There’s also a good indie bookstore called Collected Works that’s worth checking out.
  • Loretto Chapel
    • A must-see is the Miraculous Staircase at the Loretto Chapel.  Apparently they made it into a movie starring the guy from CSI!  (Editors note: He’s referring to the 1998 TV film “The Staircase” starring Barbara Hershey and William Petersen)
The Miraculous Staircase at Loretto Chapel
The Miraculous Staircase at Loretto Chapel
  • Madrid
    • If you’re flying in and out of ABQ, I suggest driving up or back one of the ways through the turquoise trail. There’s this little town called Madrid that is a reclaimed ghost town that has become a cool art enclave. Almost had a guy there talk me into buying meteorite fragments.

Where to eat

  • For Belgian style beer drinkers, I would recommend Duel Brewing.
Belgian beers at Duel
Belgian beers at Duel
  • Cowgirl Grill
    • Really friendly clientele; some nice strangers bought me beers.  Get the green chili cheeseburger.
  • The Pantry
    • A nice, greasy spoon type place to get a solid breakfast.

Thanks very much Dwain Smith!  More info about Dwain can be found here.

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Conde Duque Hotel

Since we were on the topic of losing luggage, I wanted to talk about this hotel we stayed at in Madrid.  Like I said, losing your luggage is always a pain, especially when you have to deal with calling the airport and the one person in your party who speaks any Spanish has the proficiency of a 10 year old.

But if you happen to stay at a place like Conde Duque Hotel, your ordeal can be a whole lot less stressful.  If you want a good place to stay if you’re visiting Madrid, Conde Duque Hotel is a great choice.  The price is right, it’s right near the Madrid subway (or T, Metro, Underground, whatever you want to call it), and there’s a big supermarket conveniently down the street.  It’s not in the central part of Madrid, but if you want to stay at a hotel without all of the noise at night, this location is for you.  The subway, like I said, is only 100 meters away anyways.  And the breakfast that they provide each morning is pretty decent.  But the service is what made the experience memorable.

The bellman’s name was Victor and when we first walked in, he was so quiet that we weren’t sure if he was in a bad mood, or if he was just a dour person.  Not exactly uplifting to my luggage-less party.  But once we told him our situation, the curtain rose and he was tremendously helpful in getting our bags back. He gave us some great tips about food (I wish to god I could remember the paella place he sent us too – phenomenal) and getting around.  To this day, my sister still emails with Victor (every time I hear that name, I have an urge to growl/yell it out like Hugh Jackman) and although he’s probably still not working there, the hotel is one that I’d recommend to anyone.

UPDATE: Speak of the devil.  So my sister emailed Victor and he replied with the name of that great paella restaurant I mentioned above.  If you don’t know what paella is, click here.

The place is called La Paella de la Reina.  The restaurant is on a little side street, and yes, it looks a little shady from the outside, but trust me it’s fine.  When we asked the folks at Conde Duque for a quintessential place in Madrid to get paella, they didn’t hesitate to recommend this place.  You have to order the paella in advance, so be sure to plan ahead and call in the morning.  Since Madrid is known for their seafood (yes, I thought it was weird too since Madrid is right smack in the middle of Spain) I ordered the seafood paella.  Let’s just say I’ll never be able to eat any seafood dish (seriously, any seafood dish) again without comparing it to the paella I ate at this restaurant.