Taos Pueblo Photos - the old part of town

Just north of Taos plaza is the original Taos - Taos Pueblo.  With a history dating back as much as 1000 years, this is old country.  The area is an interesting mix of new and old.  The Pueblo Indians that call the Unesco heritage site home live in old school Pueblo housing, but possess many modern comforts.  They have television and drive brand new cars.  It is interesting to see the past and present meet in a utilitarian compromise.  Anyways, I hope you enjoy my pictures of Taos Pueblo.

The entry to a church courtyard casts a shadow 

Taos Pueblo housing with camouflaged dog

A vote approaches 

The mountains behind Taos Pueblo

A residence in the Taos Pueblo complex 

Another home.  Most of the occupants had nice new modern cars, but live in traditional dwellings.

A church built by missionaries

Framing the church in its entry arch

A tall wooden pole 

A shop that we visited 

Never figured out what it was, anyone have a clue?

Skull 

The highest building in Taos Pueblo

Racks for drying things 

Smiling Pueblo dog 

The Pueblo architecture incorporates brightly colored doors.  I think its great.

A shop between 2 residences 

The outskirts 

A stream running through the center of Taos Pueblo 

A very old cemetery

The entrance to the cemetery 

Parking for the governor and his cronies.  The governor is elected by a council of 50 elders.

Oddities - Mo's Bacon Bar

I have seen you at World Market with your $6 price tag.  Why do you exist? Why are you so expensive relative to other chocolate bars?  How has World Market been able to stock you for the last few years?  Someone must be buying this strange bar.  As of today, that someone is me.

Surely, the entirety of purchases were not curiosity buys from unemployed vagabonds who have spent the last couple years pondering the existence of such a thing as a bacon bar.  Every time I walk into World Market, I have strolled down the narrow chocolate aisle with a head full of whys, glancing over, as if an unsolved crime that no one ever bothered to investigate lies there dead on the shelf.

I like fundamentally terrible ideas that manage to succeed in the marketplace.  If I polled all of my friends and told them, "I have a fantastic idea.  I am going to make a chocolate bar filled with bacon. What do you think?"  Eyes would roll.  Yet, this thing exists. 

My affection for dark horse entities draws me to strange places like Sulawesi and to chocolate bars filled with bacon.  I like things that, taken at face value, do not have a whole hell of a lot in common with the greyscale grip of reality.  This bar definitely falls outside of convention's category.  It is like a manatee in a suit, cereal on a fine dining menu, or a submarine with wings.         

I have sampled the bar, and shared samples with others.  Most instances, it was necessary to go out of my way just to incite participation in this odd sampling.  Most needed convincing and reassurances.  All asked, "Bacon?"

So is it any good?  This is where opinions have diverged greatly.  I maintain that it is a strange but delectable creature confection.  Kristin, my fiance, looks upon the bar as though it is an old gym sock covered in Poodle slobber.  In fact, most just couldn't get over the general weirdness of the bar.  Most of those who sampled did so under the pretense that I break off a very very small piece for them.  With such an approach, it is difficult to work out the full and complex body of the slab of bacon stuffed chocolate.  You really have to get into this bar to appreciate it.  I did.  I think it is great.  The sweet and salty come together like angry southerners and a Palin book signing.  It is an explosive lot, half the time you are confused, but you leave the experience knowing that something substantial, for better or worse, just happened. 

I would say that as a curiosity buy, it is a damn fine purchase.  At $6, it is a little steep, and no one will be giving these out at Halloween any time soon.  They sell them at confection shops, and of course, World Market.

 Unboxing 

 It is broken into 8 squares.  Some of the squares have a "Vosges" inscription. others have ladies hanging out. 

        Bacon and Chocolate.

Taos - where mountains meet sky and rellenos meet mouth

  The rubber met the road in beautiful fashion en route to Taos.  I am sure of that much.  But how was actual Taos?  Quaint, quiet and tasty.  The air had a crisp snap to it, and I could sense the snow just waiting to dump down on this village 7000 ft up in the New Mexican highlands.  With the ski season still several weeks away, we had the place to ourselves.  We visited with expat Brazilian painters and local entrepreneurs.  We tasted chile rellenos and checked out some local residences.  Taos is a small town, but with an over-sized personality that stays with you long after you have departed.

A herd eats

 

 Upon arrival, we ate some of the best food of our lives at Relleno's, which I describe in greater detail here.

 The architecture retains the pueblo southwestern flair that lends the general area so much character.

 Has we ascended higher and higher, the surroundings began to look the part

 A furry friend gazes into the lens

 Taos was pretty quiet during our visit.  Towards the end of November, once ski season begins, it will be packed.

 A bench in Taos plaza 

 Peppers hang everywhere 

 Taos plaza is crammed full of shops

 Like this toy store 

 Really good use of colors 

 We decided to take a walk along the back-roads of Taos.

 A quaint home 

 We saw lots of skeletons, and we figured it was a nod to Dia de Los Muertos.

 A spot in the shade 

 Kristin petting a horse 

 A cool looking Inn.  I really like the use of the term "inn" around these parts.

 Ice Cream 

An open door 

 We were given a tip to check out a nearby bridge called The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  It was a short drive outside of Taos, passing meadows of foraging cattle set to a backdrop of snow capped mountains.  It was the sort of drive that makes me fond of road-trips.  Here some locals sell their wares next to the bridge.

 The gorge carves deep into the earth, and we noticed several big horn sheep frolicking on the cliffs.

 The bridge was very lengthy, swaying back and forth with each passing truck.

 Big Horn Sheep 

 More sheep 

 The road back to Taos

 Back in Taos, we bummed around the eerily quiet plaza

 Bike and Toy Store 

 With the sun setting, we began our trip back to Santa Fe 

 New Mexico does a damn fine sunset 

 A Taos Pub 

  Sometimes you have to pull over and just get the damn shot. The long road home, Taos to Santa Fe.

Dining at Relleno's Cafe - Taos ( Best Chile Rellenos Ever )

The Chile Relleno is an ubiquitous culinary offering in the Southwest.  The true barometer for assessing the quality of a local eatery is by sampling such a regional specialty.  I can just barely count on my fingers how many rellenos that I stuffed in my face during our brief stay in Santa Fe, but only one was by far the best.  The organic and locally sourced food at Rellenos Cafe serves up the best Rellenos I have ever met.

It is only open for breakfast and lunch. The interior is very small and intimate, though they also have an outdoor patio.  The spot totally has the vibe of a dive, which contributes to the glory of the food.  We ordered a plate of rellenos and an order of tacos.  Both were superfluous archetypes of New Mexican perfection, but the rellenos were muse worthy.  Operas could be written about the fresh green chile sauce.  Perhaps a sonnet about the texture of the baked relleno shell would have been published by Shakespeare had he bothered with a time traveling visit.  The service was kind and impeccable,  even going so far as planning our next excursion outside of Taos.  If you find yourself in Taos for lunch, you have to eat here.

 The unassuming entry to Relleno's

 The extremely small (but strangely not cramped) dining room

 The fireplace next to our table 

 Chicken Tacos ready for their closeup, each doubled shelled for structural support 

The best Chile Relleno I We have ever eaten.  Gaze upon it and know the truth.