A quiet Christmas in Albuquerque

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After spending several nights on Greyhound buses, I finally could sleep properly on the bed on Christmas Eve... On Christmas, I woke up at around 8am. When I woke up, I felt sore and tired. I also felt a bit dizzy and I seemed to have a headache. Suspecting a fever, I took my thermometer and measured my temperature. It was more than 39°C! Nevertheless, I quickly had my breakfast and took some medication, before tidying up the kitchen. (This hostel charged a low accomodation fee, but in return, it requires guests to do simple household chores.)

I checked out from the hostel at 10am, but since my bus would only leave in the afternoon, I decided to leave my luggage in the hostel and went to explore Albuquerque. I walked to the Old Town, where remains of the luminarias were scattered around the place. Since it was Christmas, all sights and shops were closed. Thus I could only walk on the streets and see the exterior of the various buildings. Luckily, there was plenty of things to see outside Albuquerque Museum, as there was a sculpture park outside the museum with a lot of intersting sculptures and monuments. As I walked along the street of Albuquerque, I realised the city was very very quiet. There were hardly any vehicles or people on the street. In fact, I had a feeling that the city was deserted.

After exploring Old Town and the museum district, I wanted to proceed to Downtown Albuquerque. However, I drank too much water in the morning and therefore I had an urgency to pee. Unfortunately, all places were closed on Christmas, and it was impossible to find a public toilet anywhere in Albuquerque. In the end, I went back to Route 66 Hostel... After settling my toilet problems, I suddenly felt very tired, so I took a nap inside the hostel. I woke up around noon. Then I decided to leave with my luggage and have a brief exploration of Downtown Albuquerque before going to the Greyhound depot.

Downtown Albuquerque was also very quiet and empty. Everywhere was closed and I hardly saw any vehicles or people. Since there was nothing much to see, I arrived at the Greyhound depot earlier than expected and decided to wait for the bus to Phoenix in the depot. (I would rather wait in the depot than to explore the empty streets of Albuquerque, because I was carrying my luggage and I was feeling unwell...) Sigh... After spending a wonderful Christmas Eve in Albuquerque, I fell sick on Christmas...

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Photos

Old Town Plaza
The whole place was scattered with leftover luminarias, while San Felipe de Neri Church stood solemnly in the background.

Old Town Plaza
An adobe building at the plaza

Civic Plaza
Built on two downtown blocks in 1972, the plaza is surrounded by important government and commercial buildings.

Civic Plaza 2
Occasionally, the plaza serves as the venue for concerts, various performing arts events, and various sports events.

Central Avenue
This avenue used to be part of the historic Route 66, a former highway linking Chicago and Los Angeles.

KiMo Theater
Built in 1927 and preserved as a historic landmark, the theather now serves as a community arts center.

Comments

[Jan]

Fun!!
Fun again! I have viewed all of your "Trips"..awesome! I would like to hear what life is like in Singapore! That would be fascinating to read! My daughter graduated this year from the travel/ tourism course..she wants to work all over the world..I will tell her about your site!