Burque - Blogabond

I left Tucson Thursday morning and headed to Holbrook, AZ where I spent the night amongst half-dead crickets in a cheap motel. I watched tv and spent some downtime by myself, something I take for granted when I am home. It was only about 5 hours to Holbrook, but I saw some beautiful sights in the two native american reservations which US-77 cuts through.

The next day I drove about 5 more hours to Albuquerque, part of the way through some bad thunderstorms. All along I-40 through the Eastern side of Arizona and Western New Mexico are stores "run" by Navajo people, though most of them are by now corporatized or have multiple locations. I stopped at one that was not a chain and appeared to be more authentic. I bought some fry bread with cinnamon and sugar and looked at the hand crafted pottery, beaded belts, jewelry, mocassins and dream catchers.

When I got into Albuquerque, or 'Burque as its known by many locals, for the old Spanish spelling AlbuRquerque, my couchsurfing (CS) host's previous couch surfer was still there. We chatted a bit and I gave her a ride to the airport and we made plans to meet up in New Orleans when we were both there.

tropical treat

Miriam, my CS host. and I chatted about Burque, then went out with her gf Matie and Matie's friend Dawn who was in town visiting. We went to the Albuquerque social club, which is a gay club you pay fifteen dollars a year to have a membership to, can smoke inside of and which is hilariously cheesy.

The rest of the weekend, I explored cafe's and local shops on my own, went out more with Miriam, Matie and Dawn and soaked up the town. Miriam told me about 'The Flea Mart' which is a large indoor flea market with several vendors displaying their wares. They have already cheap prices and crazy discounts. I got vintage postcards for less than a dollar each, a set of coasters with my grandmother's initials on them and some vintage ties from an estate sale to give to a friend.

I even got to go to the gym with Matie and her friend Naomi, who I later met out for dinner and jazz in Old Albuquerque, which is not that old looking anymore....

written by

hannahrose on July 21, 2008 from Albuquerque, United States

from the travel blog: Summer Road Journey 2008

tagged Albuquerque and Burque

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