I love to travel! New Mexico

I have been fortunate (especially in these hard economic times) to be able to travel to some places I really love. This is the first of several blogs on my travels this year. As I wrote a while ago, I was given the opportunity to work with the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau on a project for Grad School. While I was an intern for ACVB I got to go to Santa Fe and represent ACVB at a New Mexico Tourism Department at a grant writing workshop. While in Santa Fe, I took in some of the sights of the Plaza.

St Francis Cathedral Basilica

Yummy Restaurant, upstairs, on the Plaza

Delicious Navajo Taco from the Blue Corn Cafe
(only downside of this restaurant, no daiquiris, only margaritas!)

Loretto Chapel

Miraculous Stair Case, there are no nails or screws holding this stair case together

Local Artisans, selling their goods on the Plaza

Santuario de Guadalupe

Santa Fe Train Station

 At the end of my time in Albuquerque, Marshall came to visit, and we took a road trip South, so he could experience more of the land of Enchantment.

Marshall and I in front of the World's Largest Pistachio, Alamogordo, NM

White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo, NM

Looking out over Alamogordo from the Lodge at Cloudcroft,
Cloudcroft, NM

The Lodge at Cloudcroft

The Natural Entrance to Carlsbad Caverns, Carlsbad, NM

New Job!

I have recently been hired by an independent travel agent as her assistant. It's a part-time job, which is absolutely great! Working 6 hours a week fits into my school schedule perfectly. Only problem now is that it opens up yet another door, but that is a great thing.

While pursuing my Master's degree I've had the opportunity to work for the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau, completing analyises of Albuquerque as a cultural destination and a new event. I learned so much about the city I hope to work for/in once I graduate, but I also learned even more about myself.

The new job is with a high end/luxury agency, and I am very excited because I was able to visit many high end hotels in Cancun and Jamaica. While working as a travel agent, most of the hotels I visited were out of the price range of most of my clients. It will be very nice to be able to recommend some of these beautiful resorts.

I have to say that I have loved being a travel agent. I enjoy helping people plan vacations, and even more, I love helping create a trip of a lifetime. My Master's degree in tourism is something different. Instead of working with the travelers, I am learning to work with the destinations, which sounds great. However, I like helping people. I consider my bachelor's degree a degree in customer service, and I hold service people to a higher standard. I have worked as a restaurant server, and as a front desk agent/manager of a hotel. I know how difficult the job can be, but I also know the bare minimums to expect. For this reason, I feel like even with the Master's degree I want to remain on the service side.

Does this mean I should work for a tour conductor? I don't know. I do have a long term goal, and I have said before that my mom thought I should open my own B&B. Maybe that will happen some day.

All I know right now is that I am happy to have another door. I just hope I can decide which one to open when the time comes.

Mickey Mouse, Food and Friends!

I just got back from an amazing weekend in Orlando. (I know, I know, what happened in New Mexico?!?!?! Don't worry, I will get to that.) I just wanted to take a moment to post about the great time we had, and the food we enjoyed.

Thursday night we had reservations at Tony's Town Square, the Lady and the Tramp themed Italian Restaurant at the Magic Kingdom. The food was good, but not phenomenal, in my opinion. However the atmosphere, and being there with my husband and friends made the dinner what it was, a great night!

Friday we experienced the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks. That was an experience within itself, and the food was good. The frozen Butterbeer was extremely interesting, and hit the spot on a very hot afternoon. It was a little too sweet to be the main drink with a meal, but worked well to curb my hankering for dessert. (Monique ordered a scoop of the Strawberry Peanut Butter ice cream, and all I can say is it delivered on its name. Definitely unique.)

Where my culinary experience really excelled was Saturday at Epcot. We had reservations at Teppan Edo in the Japanese Pavilion. Teppan is a type of cuisine where chefs cook on a table-top grill in front of the diners. Marshall ordered the shrimp, Monique the scallops, and I ordered the chicken, along with a California Roll, which I love. Unfortunately, the food was so filling, but so delicious, at the same time, it was hard to stop eating. The chef put on a great show, making an onion volcano, errupting in a cloud of smoke, and dazzling the table with his knife skills.

My favorite moment of the meal, however, was when I offered to share my leftover California Roll with the table. There were three parties at our table, us, a group of Japanese travelers, and a single gentleman. This gentleman told us that he was facinated by Japan, and was hoping to visit there someday, although he had never tried California Rolls. Watching him take a piece and try it for the first time made me remember why I love food and traveling. He closed his eyes and I could see he was savoring each flavor and texture, and how they married together to make a cohesive bite. I love how food can evoke emotions, and take you back to a particular place and time. Traveling around the world (or around the World Showcase at Epcot) allows you experience many cultures and heritages, and to try something new, or reacquaint yourself with something familiar, and see it in a new light.

Albuquerque is best know for...

Hot Air Balloons! Much to the chagrin of the rest of the state, the Albuquerque Internation Balloon Fiesta is a HUGE event, and what a lot of people think of when they think of New Mexico. This event is not the only event in the state, and not the only event in Albuquerque. But it will be the subject of this particular post.

The Balloon Fiesta is held for approximately 10 days at the beginning on October, being an October baby (although at the end of the month) I always felt that it was for me! One of my favorite balloon memories was when my mom got me a ride (tethered) in the purple and white balloon for my 5th or 6th birthday. Another favorite was going up in the New Mexico Air National Guard balloon (not tethered) during the St Patrick's day rally in Los Lunas, circa 1992.

Sharing the Balloon Fiesta with Marshall in 2003 and 2004 was really awesome. The following pictures are from those two years. I hope you find the following pictures as beautiful and mesmerizing as I do!

Ballons over Albuquerque

An early morning at Balloon Fiesta Park

This is a combination of the Special Shapes Rodeo and Balloon Glow

Welcome to the Special Shapes Glowdeo!

A Little South of Albuquerque...

About 10-15 miles south of Albuquerque (depending on from where you leave) is the reservation of the Isleta Pueblo. I was fortunate to visit their Catholic Church during the same New Mexico History class I mentioned earlier.. The Spanish Mission of San Agustín de la Isleta is a beautiful church, with walls that are 4 foot thick, and 4 foot high windows.

This is also a beautiful church, and can be visitied when religious ceremonies are not being held.

Isleta is also home to New Mexico's first Hard Rock Hotel, but there will be more on that later.

Albuquerque from the Sky

Again, I am featuring Albuquerque, this time from the sky. And where is the best place to view Albuquerque from above? Sandia Peak! The Sandia Peak Tramway travels from a mile-high altitude 2.7 miles to an altitude of 10,378 feet. Sandia Peaks website says that you can see 11,000 square-mile panoramic views of the Rio Grande River Valley (otherwise knows as my home! :)).

Here are some other pictures taken from above, but not from Sandia Peak.

More pictures of Old Town

Last post I featured the San Felipe de Neri Catholic Church, in Old Town Albuquerque. Today I want to post more pictures of one of my favorite places. These are taken at different times of the year (mostly summer and Christmas), but I love the way Old Town looks decorated for Christmas!

One of my favorite places!

In anticipation of my internship with the Albuquerque Convention and Visitor's Bureau I will be writing about the cultural areas of one of my favorite places, New Mexico, starting with Albuquerque, moving through the metro area, and then throughout the state.

There are many well-known destinations in Albuquerque, I hope to shed light on why you should spend some time in the Duke City, and then head out from there, and experience what the Land of Enchantment has to offer.

On every trip home to Los Chavez, I make sure that I go visit Old Town. I love the shops, full of Southwestern and Native American items, but I really love the energy I feel walking around the plaza. I am not Catholic, but I studied about Catholic churches in my New Mexico History class I took one summer at UNM. I find the San Felipe de Neri Catholic church, located on the north side of the Old Town Plaza, to be one of the most beautiful.

San Felipe de Neri Catholic Church