"A different kind of town" Santa Fe by johnfrompalatineil

Just think of the number of Americans who have not had the privilege of visiting this beautiful town? It is like none other in the United States. My daughter and I were landing in Torino, Italy this past June 2006 when I struck up a conversation with a professional Italian businessman on the flight who lives in Torino. He had been to Chicago, St. Louis and some other cities. He commented that what makes Italy special is that each city is different- Venice, Torino, Rome, Florence, etc. He said that the U.S. cities are the same. I pondered this and had to agree with him somewhat, thinking of the skylines of some of the cities I've been. But not Santa Fe!

We (the lovely wife and then 13 month old daughter) moved to Santa Fe from Milwaukee in February 1991. Our second child was born here and we lived here until March 1994. We made some of our best friends here and Santa Fe is very near to our heart.

Santa Fe is so unique and special that even the Californians cannot quite Californicate it. (just teasing California friends, when I lived in Santa Fe in the early 90's this was the general feeling as many folks from California were moving here or retiring here and jacking up the home prices.) Can't really blame them, I would love to return to live here!

There are no tall buildings, adobe abounds and even the State Capitol building retains southwestern charm. The vendors along the plaza selling their authentic homemade wares and commingling with such a diverse group of people yet always very kind.

I love Santa Fe!

You would think that Santa Fe would be miserable in the Summer. Quite the opposite. It never got over 100 and it was almost always a dry 90. Loved going swimming in our apartment pool, Los Pinones apartments.

Thank the high altitude for the temperate climate but beware of altitude sickness. My youngest daughter feinted at St. Francis Cathedral when we went to Mass there in July 2004. She was born there but the change in altitude from Chicago to Santa Fe along with the burning incense caused her to feint and gave us quite a scare. She was not the only one, my wife and I had a headache the first few days returning there.

Sleeping in our good friends balcony (Montoya's, we love you!) in the open air was a tremendous experience and the best sleep ever. You are right up there with the heavens! No street lights or tall buildings to block your view.

I love Santa Fe!

The best place in the world to go eat a casual meal. Santa Fe brags about having the most restaurants per capita. I think they should also brag about the quality and affordability of some of these restaurants.

We loved going to Diego's Cafe in the DeVargas mall outside the plaza. My personal favorite was Guadalupe Cafe which changed its' name since we lived there. Bobcat Bite has some of the best burgers in the world. I love their Green Chile Cheeseburgers. Tomasitas was also a good one to go to. I would love to open up one of these restaurants in Chicago area. Any Santa Fe chefs wanting to relocate? Wow, is that a dumb question. The Blue Corn tortillas, anything with green chile, sopaipillas, posole...

I love Santa Fe!

• Pros:folks, food, fun
• Cons:expensive to live here, too many nearby Indian casinos, California weirdo's
• In a nutshell:A Different Kind of Town