You'll be charmed from the moment of your arrival by the ambience of this lovely hotel. It is one block from the historic downtown plaza

Santa Fe is a cultural melting pot, and it's quite amazing how these many cultural groups have managed to coexist and blend some of their traditions while maintaining many very individualized ways of celebrating the holidays.

The class will help you understand how different peoples celebrate the season, and you'll have a greater appreciation for all that goes on in and around Santa Fe during the week that you'll be with us.

From 2:30-4:00 PM, you'll have some free time to spend downtown or at the hotel.

At a time designated by your group leader, walk to Lensic Theater for an early Christmas concert provided by the Santa Fe Concert Association.

This year's concert features Emily Bear, the 11-year-old virtuoso pianist and composer who has appeared everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the White House. Join Conductor Joe Illick and the Santa Fe Concert Association Orchestra for an incredible evening of classics, jazz, and original compositions with Emily Bear.

Feel free to sleep late, walk around the beautiful downtown area, attend church services at St. Francis Cathedral or another church of your choice if you wish.......the morning is yours to enjoy!

The hotel lobby is beautifully decorated for the holidays and just sitting in one of their comfortable lounge chairs and reading a special book is a great way to relax and celebrate.

Almost all of the local pueblos have holiday dances, but Tesuque Pueblo is close to Santa Fe and their December 25 celebration offers various dances, including deer and buffalo dances.

Tesuque Pueblo is situated along the banks of the Tesuque River. The two and three story adobe room blocks surround a small plaza and Catholic church.

The traditional character of this pueblo is so well maintained that Tesuque is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Tesuque Valley has long been a favored locale for human habitation. Archeological sites in the valley date back to at least A.D. 850, and may have been settled by immigrants from Chaco Canyon.

By A.D. 1200, as many as a dozen small pueblos and hundreds of individual homes dotted the valley. When the Spanish arrived in 1541, they found the population had consolidated into six villages, including the ancestral Tesuque, located about three miles east of the present village.

Tesuque residents played an important role in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Diseases introduced by the Spanish, loss of water rights and choice farmland, and other factors eroded the pueblo over the next few centuries, and by 1910 only seventy-seven inhabitants remained in Tesuque.

Since then, the pueblo's population has grown to about four hundred, and the residents have strengthened their culture and social customs.

The tribal government owns a popular flea market close to Santa Fe and a casino. Income is being used to build a new health facility and community center, to operate the tribe's Head Start and day-school programs, and for restoration of homes surrounding the village plaza.

Tesuque maintains an organic commercial farm enterprise. Most tribal residents work off the reservation in Santa Fe and elsewhere.

Well-known throughout the travel industry and by the local population of Santa Fe, the Cooking School will show you how various chile peppers are utilized in preparation of Southwestern cuisine; you'll learn how to prepare a very traditional northern New Mexican meal with an excellent chef who is also a great instructor.

The Cooking School has a fabulous gift shop, where they stock the spices and chiles used in their food preparation, as well as wonderful kitchen equipment, cookbooks, lots of New Mexican items, and much more. They'll ship your purchases home for you if you desire.

Santo Domingo is one of the most populous yet least open of all NM pueblos. It is home to many talented artists who rely on contact with outside markets for their livelihood and are happy to see visitors.

The pueblo has an especially lovely Catholic church and some fine arts and crafts shops.

It is a Keres-speaking pueblo established in the 15th century by immigrants from villages atop the nearby Pajarito Plateau. Santo Domingo was the site in 1598 of the first gathering of thirty-eight pueblo governors when Don Juan de Onate called on the Pueblo peoples to pledge allegiance to the Spanish Crown.

Today, the All-Indian Pueblo Council assembles here for its first meeting of the year, continuing this oldest of America's political gatherings.

Currently, the tribe has a population of more than 4,500 people, two-thirds of whom live on the reservation, which encompasses 81,000 acres, including upland mesas, grasslands, a portion of the Galisteo Creek drainage, and a stretch of the Rio Grande.

Santo Domingo artisans are known for beadwork and other jewelry and pottery.

These two museums are part of the New Mexico State Museums in Santa Fe.

The MIAC features an incredible collection of pottery, rugs, basketry, jewelry, artifacts, and more from Native American tribes - they also have a lovely gift shop.

The Museum of International Folk Art offers the enormous folk art collections of Alexander Girard, beautifully displayed and most accessible for viewing.

The museum also features the Neutrogena Collection, an incredible exhibit of fiber arts from around the world. You'll want to spend lots of time at these two extraordinary facilities!

Bus returns to hotel at 5:00 PM.

Bus departs at 9:30 AM for a trip to Santa Clara Pueblo, one of the most popular pueblos for visitors.

Its tribal members are among the most artistically active of all the pueblos. Santa Claran ancestors most likely migrated south from the Four Corners region to the Chama River Valley between A.D. 1100 and 1300.

These Tewa-speaking people established several pueblos, including Puye. By 1400, as many as 1500 people occupied up to one thousand rooms.

A major drought forced them to abandon Puye in the 16th century and move down the canyon near the Rio Grande.

In 1598, Spanish colonists brought missionaries to Santa Clara, and a Catholic church was erected circa 1622. The pueblo residents participated in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

The Spanish returned in 1692, and the pueblo was temporarily abandoned until the 18th century.

Today, Santa Clara is home to about 2,600 people. Many work in Los Alamos, Espanola or Santa Fe, but many are artists or craftspeople.

The tribe's 47,000 acres supports some farming along the valley floor.

The pueblo is best know for its magnificent pottery; one in four residents is a potter. It's best known for lustrous blackware with deep carving.

You'll visit the shop of Paul and Rosalda Speckled Rock, who come from families of famous Santa Clara potters. Mr. Speckled Rock will talk to you about the special production methods for making pottery at his pueblo.

At 11:30, bus will depart for the Hispanic village of Chimayo.

Rancho de Chimayó has been owned and operated for many years by a family from Chimayó, and is one of the best-known restaurants in the northern New Mexico area.

The food is traditional northern New Mexican style, but there are menu items that are not spicy and all chile can be ordered "on the side."

You can also be brave and order "Christmas style" chile - which simply means you'd like to have both red and green varieties on your food.

Vegetarian cuisine is also offered as a menu choice. You'll especially enjoy the traditional holiday decor in this charming old family home turned "famous restaurant!"

If the church is open to visitors, we'll make a brief stop there so you can see the stations of the cross, the retablo, bultos, and the room at the back that has what many consider "healing earth" and simple testimonies of many people to the healing properties they feel are here at the church.

Return to Santa Fe no later than 3:00 PM.

Relax for a little while at the hotel.

At 4:00 PM, enjoy a presentation exploring and listening to Native American music with musician Ron Roybal.

Mr. Roybal has won many awards for his original and traditional renditions of Native American music. He's dedicated to maintaining the integrity of this musical heritage, and is a fine singer, guitarist and player of the Native American flute.

He's one of our Road Scholar teaching treasures, and we know you'll enjoy your time with him.

There will also be a video shown, to be selected by your group leader.