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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dear Friends and Family,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It's only two months from today that the Land
of Enchantment arm of the Teaching Mission will gather at the
Canossian Retreat Center in the South Valley of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
for </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>this long-awaited
event. </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>This is not a "conference" in
the sense that an Agenda will structure our time together. Rather, we will
immerse ourselves in the essentials of living: eating, sleeping, resting,
praying and playing, lovingly and intimately together. The
atmosphere will be oriented toward making life more meaningful
for each another. In the meanwhile, we came across
this </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>Public Relations post from the New York
Times, touting our fair city. Those of you who stay the extra day might
want to review this article, after the hubbub of the holidays
subsides, in anticipation of coming. </FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> </DIV>
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<H5>December 17, 2004</H5><NYT_KICKER><FONT color=#666666
size=-1><STRONG>36 HOURS</STRONG></FONT> </NYT_KICKER><NYT_HEADLINE
version="1.0" type=" ">
<H2>Albuquerque</H2></NYT_HEADLINE><NYT_BYLINE version="1.0"
type=" "><FONT size=-1><STRONG>By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
</STRONG></FONT><BR></NYT_BYLINE>
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<P><ALT-CODE idsrc="nyt-geo" value="Albuquerque (NM)" /><IMG height=33
alt=A
src="mhtml:mid://00000002/!http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/dropcap/a.gif"
width=33 align=left border=0>LBUQUERQUE is <ALT-CODE idsrc="nyt-geo"
value="New Mexico" />New Mexico's biggest city, but tends to get short
shrift from tourists. Outsiders on the hunt for the usual Southwestern
signatures — turquoise, adobe, intermingled cultures, blue skies, chiles —
often fly into the Albuquerque International Sunport, then drive right
away to <ALT-CODE idsrc="nyt-geo" value="Santa Fe (NM)" />Santa Fe or Taos
and miss an opportunity. Albuquerque has the requisite turquoise and
chiles, too, and charges less for them. But more, it has a lived-in,
bustling, modernized kind of charm, with no forced quaintness. Unfreighted
by tourists' ideas of how it should look and what it should offer, it
often surprises. There's a buoyancy to the Southwest style here, and, in a
not-unrelated development, probably more resident balloonists per capita
than in any other city on earth. </P>
<P><STRONG>Friday</STRONG></P>
<P>4 p.m.<BR>1) The Air Up There</P>
<P>Albuquerque sits in a wide valley, chiseled eons ago by the Rio Grande.
Look west and there's a stately openness to the land, like the high plains
of <ALT-CODE idsrc="nyt-geo" value="Kansas" />Kansas or <ALT-CODE
idsrc="nyt-geo" value="Nevada" />Nevada. Turn around, though, and urban
Albuquerque breaks abruptly against the sheer, rocky sides of the Sandia
Mountains. This is indelibly New Mexico and the perfect spot to introduce
yourself to the city. Buy a late- afternoon roundtrip ticket on the Sandia
Peak Tramway (10 Tramway Loop NE, 505-856-7325; $15). The world's longest
aerial tram, it climbs sharply to Sandia Peak, 10,378 feet. The ride, in a
swaying, glass-lined gondola, above, is vertiginous, but the rewards are
considerable. Fanglike rocks pass far below. Golden eagles often wheel and
soar. At the top, an observation deck lets you see hundreds of miles, past
the sequined lights of the city to where the land loses itself in a
smudge-dark horizon. Afterward, watch the shamelessly gaudy sunset from
the windowed confines of the High Finance Restaurant and Tavern
(505-243-9742). Stick to the margaritas; the cuisine is much less inspired
than the view. </P>
<P>8 p.m.<BR>2) Fire!</P>
<P>Catch a return gondola for dinner in town. December evenings can be
chilly, so aim for a warm meal. Better still, think hot. Sadie's of New
Mexico, an Albuquerque <ALT-CODE idsrc="nyt-geo" value="Mexico"
/>Mexican-food staple for 50 years, makes arguably the hottest chile sauce
in the West. It will cauterize your palate and stir irresistible thoughts
of water and second helpings. The carne adovada enchilada ($9.95) is
particularly fiery and wonderful (6230 Fourth Street, 505-345-5339). </P>
<P><STRONG>Saturday</STRONG></P>
<P>9 a.m.<BR>3) Sweets and Smarts</P>
<P>Sleep in, then ease yourself out for a lazy breakfast. Languor serves
you well at the Frontier Restaurant (2400 Central Avenue SE,
505-266-0550), across the street from the University of New Mexico
bookstore. Students crowd this barnlike place, decorated with portraits of
John Wayne. It's noisy at night, but in the mornings, patrons quietly
nurse coffee, hangovers and recalcitrant theses. Try the sweet roll
($1.39) or the more substantial huevos rancheros ($5.49).</P>
<P>10 a.m.<BR>4) Shopping Groovy</P>
<P>Afterward, wander the 'hood. Albuquerque isn't famously
fashion-forward, but the Nob Hill area between Girard Boulevard and
Washington Street has become, in the last several years, gratifyingly
trippy. Just up the block from the Frontier, Hey Jhonny (3418-B Central
Avenue SE, 505-256-9244), a self-described lifestyle store, sells a wildly
eclectic mix of home décor items (such as exotic beetles preserved in
shadow boxes) and cool retro handbags. Farther along, Absolutely Neon
(3903 Central Ave NE, 505-265-6366) is high-art Vegas and glows with
colors usually reserved for cockatiels and Caribbean fish. Ogle the objets
de neon or order your own, if you want to see your name in really, really
bright lights. The sheen is more subtle at PaperGami (114 Tulane Drive SE,
505-255-2228), behind Starbucks, which stocks beautifully opaque, handmade
papers from <ALT-CODE idsrc="nyt-geo" value="Japan" />Japan, many of them
in patterns unique to the store.</P>
<P>12:30 p.m.<BR>5) Food Flight</P>
<P>For lunch, remain in Nob Hill. The Flying Star Café (3416 Central
Avenue SE, 505-255-6633) is cheerful, cheap, and innovative, a favorite of
university students and their more demanding professors. Replenish the
energies lost to shopping with a gouda and artichoke heart sandwich
($7.99), Thai beef salad ($9.99) and — since shopping does sap a person —
a giant éclair ($4.29). </P>
<P>2 p.m.<BR>6) Old Adobe, Sobering Science</P>
<P>Albuquerque will celebrate its tricentennial in 2006. It's a city with
a grand and stirring history, visible still in Old Town. The Old Town
Plaza is ringed with low-slung, rickety adobes, some dating to the 18th
century. Too many of the buildings house souvenir shops now, but there's
also Saints & Martyrs (404A San Felipe Street NW, 505-224-9323),
specializing in religious iconography and milagros (healing charms). Old
Town teems with museums. The New Mexico Museum of Natural History &
Science (1801 Mountain Road NW, 505-841-2800) has dinosaur bones and
models. Next door, the Explora Science Center (1701 Mountain Road NW,
505-224-8300) lets you study the expenditure of energy as youngsters dash
from display to display. The Albuquerque Museum (2000 Mountain Road NW,
505-243-7255) opened a new wing to exhibit painting in November. The most
moving institution is the National Atomic Museum (1905 Mountain Road NW,
505-245-2137), with extra casings, above, that were made for the bombs
that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, newsreels of weapons tests at
nearby Los Alamos and elsewhere, debates, a collection of atomic-themed
comics and notebooks where visitors can weigh in on irradiated foods and
such. Fascinating and sad.</P>
<P>6:30 p.m.<BR>7) Seasonal Dining</P>
<P>Darkness comes early in December, but as compensation, you get
farolitos (brown paper bags filled with sand and a candle and placed atop
almost every building and wall in Old Town). They're a Christmas
tradition, burning with fairy-dust incandescence. Watch the glow from
Seasons Rotisserie and Grill (2031 Mountain Road NW, 505-766-5100),
perhaps the most ambitious restaurant in Albuquerque. Try the butternut
squash cannelloni ($16) and the blue cheese crusted beef filet ($28).</P>
<P>8 p.m.<BR>8) The Music of Disney</P>
<P>Roy E. Disney, nephew of Walt, recently donated millions of dollars to
the National Hispanic Cultural Center (1701 Fourth Street SW;
505-246-2261). The fruit of his largess is an acoustically impeccable
performing arts complex, where the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra sometimes
performs. Catch ballet, salsa or mariachi music. The schedule can be found
at <A href="http://www.nhccnm.org/" target=_0><FONT
color=#000066>www.nhccnm.org</FONT></A>.</P>
<P><STRONG>Sunday</STRONG></P>
<P>6:30 a.m.<BR>9) Daybreak Aloft</P>
<P>Get up early and then just get up. Ballooning is integral to
Albuquerque. The annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, which
will be held next year from Sept. 30 to Oct. 9, is said to be among the
most photographed events in the world. But ballooning can be done year
round with one of the city's many balloon-ride companies. Most expeditions
begin with a sunrise pickup at your hotel, followed by a loud, whooshing
launch near Balloon Fiesta Park, then absolute silence. In the brisk,
clear air, the outlines of mountains 200 miles away stand out as sharply
as woodcuts. Pilots sometimes dip the basket briefly in the waters of the
Rio Grande, then let it rise again. If winds cooperate, you also return to
the launch site. Otherwise, chase cars will find you where you land. Most
trips last about three hours and cost $135 to $200 a person. Skyspan
Adventures (877-759-7726) and Rainbow Ryders (800-725-2477) are among the
most established operators.</P>
<P>11 a.m.<BR>10) Hot Dogging</P>
<P>Lastly, relive (and exaggerate) your flight over brunch at Ambrozia
Café and Wine Bar (108 Rio Grande Boulevard NW; 505-242-6560), a cozy
restaurant with tin candlesticks and lobster corn dogs. Don't skimp on the
chipotle ketchup.</P>
<P><STRONG>Visiting Albuquerque</STRONG></P>
<P>The <ALT-CODE idsrc="nyt-geo" value="Albuquerque (NM)" />Albuquerque
International Sunport is located at the south end of the city, just off
Interstate 25; it is about a 10-minute drive to downtown.</P>
<P>Many of the best hotels are downtown, on or near Central Avenue (once
part of Route 66). The 114-room La Posada de Albuquerque (125 Second
Street; 800-777-5732) is where Conrad Hilton took his bride Zsa Zsa Gabor
on their honeymoon in 1942. Bill Gates stayed not long ago. The small but
nicely appointed standard rooms are $129. </P>
<P>Nearby, Hotel Blue (717 Central Avenue NW; 877-878-4868) has a slightly
canned Art Deco chic. A bargain at $79 to $89, its 134 rooms are large,
bright and overly art directed.</P>
<P>More stylish is the Sheraton Old Town (800 Rio Grande Boulevard NW;
505-843-6300), a modern, clean-lined take on adobe design, complete with a
courtyard and a chapel. Its 187 rooms start at
$99.</P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>