Well, it's now Monday evening. On Friday night we went to the locally famous El Pinto restaurant, which serves New Mexican cuisine. To say it was busy would be the understatement of the century - we waited in the bar for well over an hour. However, this was made eminently more bearable by the free (tortilla) chips with homemade salsa, and some delicious margaritas!! The names of dishes on the menu have a fair amount in common with the Old El Paso products you see advertised in the UK, but the name is where the similarity ends. The dishes were very spicy (naturally!), but also full of flavour, with the star of the show being the famous New Mexico green chile.
Saturday was the first day of the Balloon Fiesta, as I mentioned in my previous post. It was a very sleepy 5am start, necessary because it all happens early in the day - just after first light - which is when conditions are best for ballooning. It was astonishing to see just how many people are prepared to get up at that time in the morning for it - blocking the highway at 6:30 am...
As we approached we saw a couple of balloons hovering in the semi-darkness, occasionally illuminated by their burners, as the pilots climbed higher. By the time we arrived at the Balloon Fiesta Park, the sun had already risen (we're much closer to the equator here, so there's very little twilight). We left our car and walked down to the turfed launch sites - quite a sight in the middle of a desert - which are there so that rocks and prickly plants don't damage the balloon canopies.
The sight was quite amazing - scores and scores of multicoloured balloons of all shapes and sizes inflating and then rising into the air in turn. This was the so-called mass ascension. As it lifted off, each balloon was greeted with whoops and applause. The atmosphere was great, despite the cold early-morning temperatures.
When most of the balloons had taken off, we went in search of some breakfast. There were stands selling all sorts of weird and wonderful creations - 'funnel cakes' (basically doughnut batter drizzled in a weaving pattern into boiling oil) and 'breakfast burritos' (scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes and green chili sauce (!!) all wrapped up in a flour tortilla). Karen's been building up breakfast burritos for years, so I decided to give one a shot - it didn't disappoint :-)
That afternoon, after a couple of hours to rest from our early start, we went for lunch at a Mexican grill, with live music on a raised terrace. This was a little outside Albuquerque, and our only view was of open fields, trees, and the beautiful Sandia Mountains. Ahhhh....
On Sunday, after church, we went to a delicious breakfast place called 'Flying Star Cafe' (eating out for breakfast is really big over here!). I had a unusual, but delicious, combination of muffins (the English variety) topped with unctuous fried eggs, slices of turkey and green chili sausage and a chili cheese sauce, along with a "Mexican mocha" (with cinnamon) - YUM!
In the afternoon, we drove up to the state capital, Santa Fe, to look around its rock/fossil (my brother's passion) and native jewellery/pottery shops (the ladies' passion!). It was a nice few hours, and the landscape on the way is spectacular.
Today has been a bit less eventful. Karen's brother, John, with who we are currently staying in Virginia, flew in. This evening we had lots of nice chat over drinks at a nice resort hotel. Tomorrow morning, we all depart on a two-day roadtrip to southern Colorado, where we will ride a scenic steam train from Durango to Silverton, through part of the Rocky Mountains. Lots more to report on Thursday then, I suspect!
Mark
Saturday was the first day of the Balloon Fiesta, as I mentioned in my previous post. It was a very sleepy 5am start, necessary because it all happens early in the day - just after first light - which is when conditions are best for ballooning. It was astonishing to see just how many people are prepared to get up at that time in the morning for it - blocking the highway at 6:30 am...
As we approached we saw a couple of balloons hovering in the semi-darkness, occasionally illuminated by their burners, as the pilots climbed higher. By the time we arrived at the Balloon Fiesta Park, the sun had already risen (we're much closer to the equator here, so there's very little twilight). We left our car and walked down to the turfed launch sites - quite a sight in the middle of a desert - which are there so that rocks and prickly plants don't damage the balloon canopies.
The sight was quite amazing - scores and scores of multicoloured balloons of all shapes and sizes inflating and then rising into the air in turn. This was the so-called mass ascension. As it lifted off, each balloon was greeted with whoops and applause. The atmosphere was great, despite the cold early-morning temperatures.
When most of the balloons had taken off, we went in search of some breakfast. There were stands selling all sorts of weird and wonderful creations - 'funnel cakes' (basically doughnut batter drizzled in a weaving pattern into boiling oil) and 'breakfast burritos' (scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes and green chili sauce (!!) all wrapped up in a flour tortilla). Karen's been building up breakfast burritos for years, so I decided to give one a shot - it didn't disappoint :-)
That afternoon, after a couple of hours to rest from our early start, we went for lunch at a Mexican grill, with live music on a raised terrace. This was a little outside Albuquerque, and our only view was of open fields, trees, and the beautiful Sandia Mountains. Ahhhh....
On Sunday, after church, we went to a delicious breakfast place called 'Flying Star Cafe' (eating out for breakfast is really big over here!). I had a unusual, but delicious, combination of muffins (the English variety) topped with unctuous fried eggs, slices of turkey and green chili sausage and a chili cheese sauce, along with a "Mexican mocha" (with cinnamon) - YUM!
In the afternoon, we drove up to the state capital, Santa Fe, to look around its rock/fossil (my brother's passion) and native jewellery/pottery shops (the ladies' passion!). It was a nice few hours, and the landscape on the way is spectacular.
Today has been a bit less eventful. Karen's brother, John, with who we are currently staying in Virginia, flew in. This evening we had lots of nice chat over drinks at a nice resort hotel. Tomorrow morning, we all depart on a two-day roadtrip to southern Colorado, where we will ride a scenic steam train from Durango to Silverton, through part of the Rocky Mountains. Lots more to report on Thursday then, I suspect!
Mark
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