Santa Fe’s spirit

My unmuffed ears and mittenless hands felt the icy sting of December in Santa Fe’s historic Guadalupe District. No matter how much I imagined Nat King Cole crooning about chestnuts roasting on an open fire, all I felt was Jack Frost nipping at my nose. The 18th century Santuario de Guadalupe, the country’s oldest shrine to a symbolic protector of the poor, was my sanctuary from the cold. I stepped inside and, between 3-foot-thick adobe walls, children’s voices rang warm and clear:

“See the star of Bethlehem, where it leads we follow.

Now is born the king of men, where he leads we follow.”

It was the winter concert of the Fayette Street Academy, a bunch of squirming boys in neckties and better-behaved girls standing tall with hands clasped. Yuletide carols being sung by a choir, tiny tots with their eyes all aglow and parents dressed up like Eskimos -- the roasting chestnuts song had come alive.

Sweet music and other serendipity make winter Santa Fe’s unsung season. Hotel occupancy drops from an August peak of 83% to 49% in December, but those who brave winter’s chill can feel a remarkably strong cultural heartbeat.

Downtown glows with farolitos, paper bags filled with sand and flickering votive candles, and carolers huddle around bonfires, called luminarias. (The terminology is just the reverse in other parts of the country.) The scent of spiced cider lingers at holiday craft markets, and throughout this 393-year-old city -- the first in the U.S. founded west of the Mississippi -- historic landmarks like the Santuario become a crossroads of cultures.

The Western, Latino and Native American traditions that make Santa Fe so intriguing fully come alive. From seasonal dances at the Indian pueblos to ancient cantata sung in the storied Loretto Chapel to poetry readings in the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, season’s greetings await discovery at nearly every turn. All lead to the marquee event: Las Posadas, the reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for a room on Christmas Eve, when hundreds of visitors join a candlelight procession downtown.

When I arrived in mid-December last year, it didn’t take long to fall into a morning routine. I would throw on my wool overcoat and scurry over to the Plaza, where Spanish settlers, led by Gov. Don Pedro de Peralta, built the Palace of the Governors in 1610. At the Plaza Bakery, I would stop for an indulgent breakfast of rich hot chocolate and crisp anise-seed bizcochito Christmas cookies, sweetly diet-defying.

Then I would walk around the Plaza, admiring its Christmas tree and sculpted iron menorah. Native American craftspeople spread blankets on the ground to display seasonal handmade ornaments as well as turquoise earrings, silver bracelets and fired clay pots. When my timing was right, I’d catch a vendor hawking $3 bags of roasted pinyon nuts, Santa Fe’s version of the holiday chestnut.

From the Plaza, San Francisco Street leads to the main retail corridor, bustling in summer but strikingly quiet and peaceful come year’s end. At the Collected Works Bookstore I bought “Christmas Celebration,” by Richard Clawson and Jann Arrington Wolcott, which delves into quintessential Santa Fe traditions such as spicy pozole, chile wreaths and star of Bethlehem pinatas.

Down the street at Arius Tile Co., the gallery was lined with images of peace doves, mistletoe and the three kings. The Italian clay tiles are hand-painted by Arius’ three queens -- venerated employees who, on staggered shifts in a studio across town, have worked the last 22 years turning out Arius’ intricate designs. Most impressive is the studio’s Judaica collection, which ranges from 4-inch Stars of David to wall-sized murals custom-made for synagogues around the country.

Some of the oldest traditions can be found at New Mexico’s Indian pueblos. Animal dances paying homage to the eagle, deer and turtle and other creatures are scheduled into January, and the annual Matachina (masked) dances are held on Christmas Day each year at the Taos and Picuris pueblos, among others.

During my stay, the Pojoaque Pueblo 14 miles north of Santa Fe held its Feast of Guadalupe celebration, when visitors are welcomed into the homes of the tribal governor and his staff. By tradition, no one is turned away from the feast, which often includes elk stew and other dishes prepared for only this occasion.

I drove up early to see the animal dances before the feast. The performance changes annually, and I was lucky enough to see the buffalo dance. After morning Mass, a dozen drummers and 60 or so dancers filed into a dirt plaza surrounded by onlookers. Men with faces painted red and boys in shaggy costumes were a slowly shuffling herd, the massive horned headdresses almost as imposing as the animal they honored.

That afternoon I drove north to Taos Pueblo, the state’s best known, but it was closed because of tribal religious ceremonies. The drive along frozen creeks and red sandstone bluffs with snow hiding in the shadows made the trip worthwhile anyway.

Back in Santa Fe, more signs of the season awaited at the San Miguel Church, said to be the oldest continuously used house of worship in the United States. It was built by Tlaxcalan Indians from Mexico who settled here and worked under Franciscans after Santa Fe incorporated. Though the original walls lie largely hidden under layers of stucco, old ceiling beams and hand-carved corbels -- installed after the Indians rebelled in 1680 and torched the roof -- can still be admired.

The building became the church of an adjacent boys’ school in 1859 and in 1967, a privately operated historic site open to the public. When preservationists stripped six coats of white house paint on the 1798 altar screen, it revealed the images of Christ and five saints, which glowed in the soft light of Advent candles.

Staying with a theme

Across town in the Guadalupe District, where shops and restaurants have sprung up in a former rail yard and warehouse district, I found another vestige of the past in the form of the Santuario de Guadalupe. Franciscans built the Santuario from 1776 to 1796; it was expanded in the 1880s as railroads brought commerce and people to the region. The hand-plastered walls and pitched beamed ceiling yield remarkably good acoustics, which explains why the renowned Santa Fe Desert Chorale has performed its Christmas concerts here for more than 20 years.

I spent half an hour listening to the Fayette Street Academy with moms and dads, a festive sea of scarves and sweaters and wide grins. Our Lady of Guadalupe, a 220-year-old painting, smiled down from the altar.

The Hotel Santa Fe, just a few blocks away, was full of its own holiday splendor. Its best selling pointsare a comfortable room and tasteful Southwest decor. The lobby is warmed by a kiva, white lights, red ribbon and sprays of juniper berry. Elevators opened to halls decked with fragrant pine boughs.

My junior suite, booked at an off-season rate of $119 a night, was quiet and relaxing, decorated in natural woods and Native American prints. The balcony, dusted with snow, looked out on a rooftop lined with farolitos.

If I had paid for an upgrade, I could have treated myself to the hotel’s Hacienda, a wing of 35 luxury rooms and suites that opened in January 2002. Each comes with butler service, a fireplace and furnishings that were just as appealing as Santa Fe’s best-known luxury lodgings.

After two nights I moved to the Inn and Spa at Loretto, which rises like a five-story nest of adobe cubes near the Plaza on Old Santa Fe Trail. It was a festive place, its terraced exterior lined with farolitos and its lounge sporting a Christmas tree draped in dried columbine and cinnamon sprigs.

Though the rest of the decor was a little garish for my taste -- faux adobe walls in the guestrooms and trompe l’oeil in the corridors -- the accommodations were comfortable. In the evenings I could walk onto an expansive shared balcony and watch Christmas lights click on or sit with a book by the lounge fire.

One of the hotel’s best attributes is its location next to the Gothic revival Loretto Chapel, built in the 1870s and now one of Santa Fe’s most storied landmarks. After the compact church was built, the Sisters of Loretto discovered that a design flaw prevented a conventional staircase from reaching the choir loft. So, the story goes, the sisters prayed for a miracle -- and got one.

A traveling carpenter -- no one seems to know from where -- constructed a 23 1/2-foot, 33-step spiral staircase that winds around twice on its way to the loft. With no pillars or other visible means of support, the stairs seem to float in the back of the chapel. To this day it’s a mystery who built the “miraculous staircase” then left town without accepting a penny for his work.

It’s an atmospheric backdrop for the annual Christmas concerts of the Santa Fe Women’s Ensemble. The 13-member a cappella group is a surprisingly tough ticket. Only by calling for a reservation on my first day in town was I able to nab a seat for a Sunday night show.

The ensemble focuses on seldom heard works, and this concert opened with “Canticle of the Creatures,” set to an 800-year-old prayer by St. Francis of Assisi. But one did not need to be an expert in Ukrainian carols to appreciate “A Fskliknuli Yangholi.” The 90-minute performance reminded me how angelic and pure human voices can be.

The good mood seemed pervasive all over town, including the restaurants. In the Guadalupe District, a Western-themed spot named Cowgirl dished out good cheer along with a Santa Fe Filly Cheese -- sliced rib-eye, grilled onions, chiles and jack cheese between tortillas. And during an afternoon break from Canyon Road’s mile-long stretch of art galleries, the Canyon Restaurant provided a welcoming place to rest the feet. The restaurant had been open only six months, but the kitchen was in fine form, turning out a delicious take on a simple sandwich: smoked turkey with berry compote served on split orange-corn muffins.

The wait for a table was 45 minutes at popular Cafe Pasqual’s downtown. But once dinner arrived, there were no regrets. An Iroquois corn tamal appetizer with roasted poblano, zucchini and asadero cheese was followed by excellent organic chicken enchiladas, topped with a mole sauce that balanced sweet, spicy and slightly bitter flavors.

My best meal, though, was in an elegant 15-table gem called Tulips, where chefs and owners Steven and Kirstin Jarrett have been building a loyal clientele since opening in fall 2000. Roasted butternut squash soup was remarkably light and aromatic, and dry-aged Black Angus rib-eye, glazed with caramelized onions, was tender and flavorful.

The evening could have ended there, but Santa Fe saves the best for night.

One Friday I joined the crowd gathering for Christmas at the Palace. Inside the Palace of the Governors, the a cappella Sweet Adelines performed “Jingle Bells” in the round, and volunteers doled out hot apple cider and Mexican wedding cookies that looked like little snowballs. The smoky scent of bonfires and a children’s choir singing “Joy to the World” filled the courtyard air. Santa Claus danced to a brass band, and schoolchildren cranked note cards off an 1899 foot-pedaled Chandler & Price Platen Press. “Peace,” the cards said. “It’s elementary.”

Kitsch amid the culture

Next door at the Museum of Fine Arts, the Santa Fe Community Orchestra rehearsed for its holiday concert in an auditorium designed to look like an old mission church. I joined an audience of 30 in the pews, then continued west a couple of blocks to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, open late for a free holiday concert.

It was my first visit to the 6-year-old museum, so I watched an introductory film on the life and work of O’Keeffe, the painter most synonymous with this city. “The meaning of a word to me is not as exact as the meaning of a color,” O’Keeffe says in the film. “Colors and shapes make a more definitive statement than words.”

The statement rang true. While a soprano sang with lute, flute and harpsichord accompaniment, the crowd’s colorful attire spoke volumes of its mood: a red velvet beret here, a red silk scarf there, reds of every hue -- bright holly berry, pinkish candy cane, deep poinsettia red.

A couple of nights later I returned for Las Posadas at the Plaza, where volunteers handed out white tapered candles in anticipation of the arrival of Mary and Joseph. While they waited, the citizens of Bethlehem (hundreds of residents and tourists) sang traditional carols and anything else that distracted them from the cold.

Soon enough Mary and Joseph arrived, and onlookers joined the procession around the Plaza. Time after time, Mary and Joseph knocked on doors only to be turned away by the Devil (a hammy actor in a red satin suit). As is tradition, the crowds booed and hissed with every rejection, until finally a kind soul let them into the inn (the Palace of the Governors courtyard).

After the solemnity of the Pojoaque dances and the sincerity of the Loretto Chapel concert, the kitsch of Las Posadas surprised me. I filed into the courtyard, elbow to elbow with hundreds of strangers, and soon bonfires were roaring, people were laughing, and a trio playing guitar, violin and harmonica broke into song, prompting a few onlookers to join them in song:

“Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad, prospero ano y felicidad.”

Other revelers joined in. Some held hands. Some danced around the fires. The merrymaking continued for some time, and as I walked back toward my hotel, I could still hear the voice rising into the night:

“I want to wish you a Merry Christmas, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas,

I want to wish you a Merry Christmas, from the bottom of my heart.”

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All about Santa Fe

GETTING THERE:

From LAX, nonstop service to Albuquerque, an hour’s drive from Santa Fe, is available on Southwest, and connecting service (change of planes) is available on America West, American, Continental, Delta, Frontier and United. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $196.

WHERE TO STAY:

Hotel Santa Fe, 1501 Paseo de Peralta, 87501; (800) 825-9876 or (505) 982-1200, fax (505) 984-2211, www.hotelsantafe.com. A quiet, comfortable, unassuming hotel in the historic Guadalupe District. Near shops and restaurants. New Hacienda wing features more luxurious accommodations and amenities such as butler service. Double rooms in the hotel from $99, in the Hacienda from $189.

Inn and Spa at Loretto: 211 Old Santa Fe Trail, 87501; (800) 727-5531 or (505) 988-5531, fax (505) 984-7988, www.hotelloretto.com. A 135-room hotel with an almost-too-colorful Southwestern decor. A few blocks from major downtown museums. Heated outdoor pool, spa with five treatment rooms. Doubles from $129.

La Posada de Santa Fe, 330 E. Palace Ave., 87501; (800) 727-5276 or (505) 986-0000, fax (505) 986-9646, laposada.rockresorts.com. A pleasant complex of 157 rooms and suites with contemporary Southwestern furnishings. Near downtown. Doubles from $149.

WHERE TO EAT:

Tulips, 222 N. Guadalupe St., (505) 989-7340, www.tulips-santafe.com. An elegant little spot with a menu showing Southwestern, Mexican and Native American influences. During my visit, choices included achiote-marinated organic chicken and elk tenderloin in a chile-raspberry glaze. Entrees $18-$30.

Cafe Pasqual’s, 121 Don Gaspar St., (505) 983-9340, www.pasquals.com. A popular, lively restaurant serving Southwestern fare such as grilled chipotle shrimp tostadas, pan-seared salmon rubbed with Chimayo chile and grilled rack of lamb with pomegranate glaze. Entrees about $15-$35.

The Canyon Restaurant, 731 Canyon Road, (505) 984-3270, www.thecanyonrestaurant.com. A nice spot to stop for lunch during a day of gallery hopping along Canyon Road. During my visit the choices included lobster-and-brie poblano chile relleno and a roasted pepper and goat cheese pizza. Lunch entrees about $9-$14.

TO LEARN MORE:

Santa Fe Convention & Visitors Bureau, P.O. Box 909, Santa Fe, NM 87504; (800) 777-2489 or (505) 955-6200, www.santafe.org.

-- Craig Nakano