[tmtranscripts] Only Two Months Away

[Gerdean]

Dear Friends and Family,

It's only two months from today that the Land of Enchantment arm of the Teaching Mission will gather at the Canossian Retreat Center in the South Valley of Albuquerque, New Mexico, for this long-awaited event.  This is not a "conference" in the sense that an Agenda will structure our time together.  Rather, we will immerse ourselves in the essentials of living: eating, sleeping, resting, praying and playing, lovingly and intimately together. The atmosphere will be oriented toward making life more meaningful for each another.  In the meanwhile, we came across this Public Relations post from the New York Times, touting our fair city.  Those of you who stay the extra day might want to review this article, after the hubbub of the holidays subsides, in anticipation of coming.  

       

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      December 17, 2004
      36 HOURS 
      Albuquerque
      By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS 
           
      LBUQUERQUE is New Mexico's biggest city, but tends to get short shrift from tourists. Outsiders on the hunt for the usual Southwestern signatures - turquoise, adobe, intermingled cultures, blue skies, chiles - often fly into the Albuquerque International Sunport, then drive right away to Santa Fe or Taos and miss an opportunity. Albuquerque has the requisite turquoise and chiles, too, and charges less for them. But more, it has a lived-in, bustling, modernized kind of charm, with no forced quaintness. Unfreighted by tourists' ideas of how it should look and what it should offer, it often surprises. There's a buoyancy to the Southwest style here, and, in a not-unrelated development, probably more resident balloonists per capita than in any other city on earth. 

      Friday

      4 p.m.
      1) The Air Up There

      Albuquerque sits in a wide valley, chiseled eons ago by the Rio Grande. Look west and there's a stately openness to the land, like the high plains of Kansas or Nevada. Turn around, though, and urban Albuquerque breaks abruptly against the sheer, rocky sides of the Sandia Mountains. This is indelibly New Mexico and the perfect spot to introduce yourself to the city. Buy a late- afternoon roundtrip ticket on the Sandia Peak Tramway (10 Tramway Loop NE, 505-856-7325; $15). The world's longest aerial tram, it climbs sharply to Sandia Peak, 10,378 feet. The ride, in a swaying, glass-lined gondola, above, is vertiginous, but the rewards are considerable. Fanglike rocks pass far below. Golden eagles often wheel and soar. At the top, an observation deck lets you see hundreds of miles, past the sequined lights of the city to where the land loses itself in a smudge-dark horizon. Afterward, watch the shamelessly gaudy sunset from the windowed confines of the High Finance Restaurant and Tavern (505-243-9742). Stick to the margaritas; the cuisine is much less inspired than the view. 

      8 p.m.
      2) Fire!

      Catch a return gondola for dinner in town. December evenings can be chilly, so aim for a warm meal. Better still, think hot. Sadie's of New Mexico, an Albuquerque Mexican-food staple for 50 years, makes arguably the hottest chile sauce in the West. It will cauterize your palate and stir irresistible thoughts of water and second helpings. The carne adovada enchilada ($9.95) is particularly fiery and wonderful (6230 Fourth Street, 505-345-5339). 

      Saturday

      9 a.m.
      3) Sweets and Smarts

      Sleep in, then ease yourself out for a lazy breakfast. Languor serves you well at the Frontier Restaurant (2400 Central Avenue SE, 505-266-0550), across the street from the University of New Mexico bookstore. Students crowd this barnlike place, decorated with portraits of John Wayne. It's noisy at night, but in the mornings, patrons quietly nurse coffee, hangovers and recalcitrant theses. Try the sweet roll ($1.39) or the more substantial huevos rancheros ($5.49).

      10 a.m.
      4) Shopping Groovy

      Afterward, wander the 'hood. Albuquerque isn't famously fashion-forward, but the Nob Hill area between Girard Boulevard and Washington Street has become, in the last several years, gratifyingly trippy. Just up the block from the Frontier, Hey Jhonny (3418-B Central Avenue SE, 505-256-9244), a self-described lifestyle store, sells a wildly eclectic mix of home décor items (such as exotic beetles preserved in shadow boxes) and cool retro handbags. Farther along, Absolutely Neon (3903 Central Ave NE, 505-265-6366) is high-art Vegas and glows with colors usually reserved for cockatiels and Caribbean fish. Ogle the objets de neon or order your own, if you want to see your name in really, really bright lights. The sheen is more subtle at PaperGami (114 Tulane Drive SE, 505-255-2228), behind Starbucks, which stocks beautifully opaque, handmade papers from Japan, many of them in patterns unique to the store.

      12:30 p.m.
      5) Food Flight

      For lunch, remain in Nob Hill. The Flying Star Café (3416 Central Avenue SE, 505-255-6633) is cheerful, cheap, and innovative, a favorite of university students and their more demanding professors. Replenish the energies lost to shopping with a gouda and artichoke heart sandwich ($7.99), Thai beef salad ($9.99) and - since shopping does sap a person - a giant éclair ($4.29). 

      2 p.m.
      6) Old Adobe, Sobering Science

      Albuquerque will celebrate its tricentennial in 2006. It's a city with a grand and stirring history, visible still in Old Town. The Old Town Plaza is ringed with low-slung, rickety adobes, some dating to the 18th century. Too many of the buildings house souvenir shops now, but there's also Saints & Martyrs (404A San Felipe Street NW, 505-224-9323), specializing in religious iconography and milagros (healing charms). Old Town teems with museums. The New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (1801 Mountain Road NW, 505-841-2800) has dinosaur bones and models. Next door, the Explora Science Center (1701 Mountain Road NW, 505-224-8300) lets you study the expenditure of energy as youngsters dash from display to display. The Albuquerque Museum (2000 Mountain Road NW, 505-243-7255) opened a new wing to exhibit painting in November. The most moving institution is the National Atomic Museum (1905 Mountain Road NW, 505-245-2137), with extra casings, above, that were made for the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, newsreels of weapons tests at nearby Los Alamos and elsewhere, debates, a collection of atomic-themed comics and notebooks where visitors can weigh in on irradiated foods and such. Fascinating and sad.

      6:30 p.m.
      7) Seasonal Dining

      Darkness comes early in December, but as compensation, you get farolitos (brown paper bags filled with sand and a candle and placed atop almost every building and wall in Old Town). They're a Christmas tradition, burning with fairy-dust incandescence. Watch the glow from Seasons Rotisserie and Grill (2031 Mountain Road NW, 505-766-5100), perhaps the most ambitious restaurant in Albuquerque. Try the butternut squash cannelloni ($16) and the blue cheese crusted beef filet ($28).

      8 p.m.
      8) The Music of Disney

      Roy E. Disney, nephew of Walt, recently donated millions of dollars to the National Hispanic Cultural Center (1701 Fourth Street SW; 505-246-2261). The fruit of his largess is an acoustically impeccable performing arts complex, where the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra sometimes performs. Catch ballet, salsa or mariachi music. The schedule can be found at www.nhccnm.org.

      Sunday

      6:30 a.m.
      9) Daybreak Aloft

      Get up early and then just get up. Ballooning is integral to Albuquerque. The annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, which will be held next year from Sept. 30 to Oct. 9, is said to be among the most photographed events in the world. But ballooning can be done year round with one of the city's many balloon-ride companies. Most expeditions begin with a sunrise pickup at your hotel, followed by a loud, whooshing launch near Balloon Fiesta Park, then absolute silence. In the brisk, clear air, the outlines of mountains 200 miles away stand out as sharply as woodcuts. Pilots sometimes dip the basket briefly in the waters of the Rio Grande, then let it rise again. If winds cooperate, you also return to the launch site. Otherwise, chase cars will find you where you land. Most trips last about three hours and cost $135 to $200 a person. Skyspan Adventures (877-759-7726) and Rainbow Ryders (800-725-2477) are among the most established operators.

      11 a.m.
      10) Hot Dogging

      Lastly, relive (and exaggerate) your flight over brunch at Ambrozia Café and Wine Bar (108 Rio Grande Boulevard NW; 505-242-6560), a cozy restaurant with tin candlesticks and lobster corn dogs. Don't skimp on the chipotle ketchup.

      Visiting Albuquerque

      The Albuquerque International Sunport is located at the south end of the city, just off Interstate 25; it is about a 10-minute drive to downtown.

      Many of the best hotels are downtown, on or near Central Avenue (once part of Route 66). The 114-room La Posada de Albuquerque (125 Second Street; 800-777-5732) is where Conrad Hilton took his bride Zsa Zsa Gabor on their honeymoon in 1942. Bill Gates stayed not long ago. The small but nicely appointed standard rooms are $129. 

      Nearby, Hotel Blue (717 Central Avenue NW; 877-878-4868) has a slightly canned Art Deco chic. A bargain at $79 to $89, its 134 rooms are large, bright and overly art directed.

      More stylish is the Sheraton Old Town (800 Rio Grande Boulevard NW; 505-843-6300), a modern, clean-lined take on adobe design, complete with a courtyard and a chapel. Its 187 rooms start at $99.
     
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