Dunda wrote:The link doesn't work for me.
Its not that she mentioned any of her co stars, but still - here it is
Thank You Santa Fe!
Being in the film business is sort of like being an insurance salesman, a circus monkey, or a CIA agent, in that you must be ready to pack a bag and move anywhere for months at a time, and assimilate as much as possible. Some destinations (such as Santa Fe) make this easier than others (such as Shreveport) but I always find the elements of a great lifystyle, even if it takes some digging. I always see it as a challenge, an anthropological experiment aimed at finding my home wherever I land. This means hitting the ground running, armed with nothing but Google, and an open mind.
For the last three months, while shooting my new film, Cowboys & Aliens, I have resided in an adorable adobe cottage steps away from the always hopping Plaza in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. Within a few weeks I had become a local, the kind that says things like “You know you’re right, Betty, the weather does feel a little dryer than usual. We’ll have to hope for rain this week or my tomatoes will never ripen!”
It doesn’t take long to reach this level of familiarity in a place as cozy and welcoming as Santa Fe. This might be due to the fact that everyone here seems to have come from somewhere else, desperate for a reprieve from the big city and eager to discover their inner cowgirl/gallery owner/wheel potter/yoga master/chocolatier.
I usually begin the process of assimilation with my most important priority: coffee.
I take my coffee very seriously. I like the espresso strong enough to kick my brain awake with a steel toed boot, and the ambiance conducive to hours of uninterrupted reading. To my supreme delight, I discovered Downtown Subscription, a place that not only meets these two requirements, but goes above and beyond, offering me a packed newsstand of reading material, quiet indoor and outdoor seating, and a perfect soy macchiato (an almost impossible feat due to soy milk’s trouble frothing like it’s cow juice alternative.) The coffee chemists behind the counter are friendly enough, but sternly focused, which I find comforting, as I like to think they are taking my beverage request as seriously as I am.
I may be naive, but it does seem to be a local mainstay, and not packed with the hundreds of tourists (I don’t count. I’m conducting an experiment here!) found in most places in Santa Fe. I am convinced I can tell the difference by judging them on their shoes and level of skin damage. Birkenstocks and an unusually high melanoma level? It’s a good bet you settled here years ago and can therefore be categorized as a local! Congratulations. I will now judge all establishments based on your presence or lack thereof.
The Tea House, on the famous art gallery strip of Santa Fe, Canyon Road, is another place I’d like to unplug and relocate to my neighborhood in LA. But of course this gorgeous and tranquil spot belongs here, where patrons allow themselves more than 10 minutes for a meal, without balking at the polite request to buss your own table in exchange for your hassle free, peaceful, lazy afternoon on their warm cushions (not to mention their free wifi.) I was sent here by a blogger who recommended their homemade veggie burger, and was delighted to find much more than that on the menu to entice me, and bring me back on days off to sample the extensive tea list, and soak up the sun in their garden.
I have really enjoyed my experience in Santa Fe, and there is so much more I could write about (maybe I will) but for now, consider this a love letter to the above mentioned ingredients to my happy summer in my latest home away from home.
