At the expense of a day in Santa Fe, we spent one of our two allotted days skiing at Taos. Although I wouldn’t trade the opportunity to snow ski on a perfect April sunny day in uncrowded conditions (rare), we didn’t get to explore Santa Fe as much as I hoped.

We arrived at the Sante Fe Plaza, the heart of the 400-year-old city around dusk. Not only is it the oldest US capital city it’s also the highest elevation US capital city at 7,000 feet (surpassing Denver by over 1,000 feet). No wonder visitors flock here during the hot summer months.

Although the plaza was quiet, we walked around the historic district taking in the adobe architecture. Soon, we came to a park and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis Assisi.

The Romanesque Revival style cathedral felt more European than American Southwest. Although the site of a church since its founding. Santa Fe’s first bishop, Father Baptist Lamy, replaced the 1714 structure with the new cathedral in the 1870s honoring his French roots.