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One thing that I didn't appreciate the first time I was here is how convenient the city is. From the UNM campus, I can get to 95% of the places I'd like to go in under 20 minutes, often a lot less. No question the city takes getting used to coming from the east.
Old Town: For as much attention that it gets, there's NOTHING there. I was there Friday night while the Fiesta was going on. All the stores were inexplicably shuttered, not to mention the whole place was so run down. Anywhere else, and the place would be bustling with shoppers.
Back to this: it is not inexplicable, shops are closed because this is a religious fiesta, the feast of San Felipe de Neri. It is meant for the parishioners of the church, includes religious processions, and is not a municipal/secular holiday. Old Town is not merely a tourist destination but it is a community of locals that has kept their traditions alive for hundreds of years. The fiesta is not a shopping event.
Back to this: it is not inexplicable, shops are closed because this is a religious fiesta, the feast of San Felipe de Neri. It is meant for the parishioners of the church, includes religious processions, and is not a municipal/secular holiday. Old Town is not merely a tourist destination but it is a community of locals that has kept their traditions alive for hundreds of years. The fiesta is not a shopping event.
Old Town on the whole does close down pretty early in the evening. I've heard this was the result of a City Council decision long ago to keep the neighborhood from developing a late-night party/drinking scene a la historical/tourist districts elsewhere in the US.
Old Town on the whole does close down pretty early in the evening. I've heard this was the result of a City Council decision long ago to keep the neighborhood from developing a late-night party/drinking scene a la historical/tourist districts elsewhere in the US.
That makes sense, and underscores for me that Old Town aside from its tourist shops is still fundamentally a historic neighborhood and not strictly an outdoor mall. Residents still meet and celebrate baptisms and weddings on the Plaza as they did hundreds of years ago. I appreciate the continuity of tradition there that you can't find in a lot of other places where history has been completely swallowed up by commercialism.
isn't the sawmill district considered old town and coming later this year with the market and restaurants, etc?
It's right next door, but obviously a very different feel and vibe. Most of the big "old town" hotels are actually in Sawmill. The market won't open till fall, but there are already a few good restaurants and nightclubs associated with Hotel Chaco and Hotel Old Town, as well as a local pop-up market, a brewery, and some art galleries.
Women: New Mexico women are, how can I put it, "wholesome." They are big and rough and don't seem to care in the least what the current fashion is. They are the type you'd want to be with on a cross country road trip. And what's up with the tattoos? I have seen more tattooed women in two days than I see in two years. Maybe it's part of the wholesomeness.
Agreed! Never seen so many women with ink in the whole country, especially in professional positions (teachers, finance, medical, etc)
I served two one year tours in South Korea. Time permiting, I would get a massage almost weekly after my haircut...
Get over your dreams about "creepy"....
Thank you but I like to keep my job.
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