San Miguel Chapel in Historic Santa Fe, New Mexico

On March 1, 2021March 1, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn New MexicoLeave a comment

The San Miguel Chapel is the oldest church in the continental United States and is over 400 years old. The area of Santa Fe in New Mexico has been populated for thousands of years, first as an ancient Pueblo settlement, then by the Spanish as part of their imperial conquests, next by the people of Mexico, and finally by the United States. There are many things that make the chapel unique, first from its history as a Franciscan missionary to a Catholic church as well as its architecture being built in the traditional adobe style of the region. The church is dedicated to the Archangel Michael and today it is privately owned and is open to the public to tour.

Construction of the chapel began in 1610 and the walls of the adobe building are the original walls, which requires constant upkeep to ensure they endure in the future. The ceiling of the church is held up by wooden beams, one of which is dated back to 1710. The San Miguel Chapel is located in the El Barrio de Analco National Register Historic District in Santa Fe, which also has the oldest house in the United States. There is a large oil painting of the Archangel Michael inside of the church as well as the nine panel wooden artwork that sits behind the altar. In addition to the artwork, there is the mission bell which was brought from Spain in the 17th century.

Nine Panel Artwork Behind the Altar with Archangel Michael Top Center

Although visiting the San Miguel Chapel will only take about thirty minutes, it is certainly worthwhile to do when visiting Santa Fe in New Mexico. The history of the chapel that was built by the Tlaxcalan Indians under direction of the Franciscan Padres is certainly quite fascinating. It is source of pride for the people of Santa Fe to this very day.

The Breckenridge Troll – Whimsical Artwork

On February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado, Photo Challenge5 Comments

We have seen many different pieces of artwork made from wood throughout our travels, but the Breckenridge Troll was certainly one of the most interesting. Although it is a troll, it is not a scary troll, but rather a more whimsical character. One could almost imagine him getting up and walking away when no one was looking. Instead of a typical carving where the artist creates the image by carving into a large piece of wood, it is actually made up of many small planks of wood that are put together to create the statue. The hair is made up of twigs, which almost gives the quality of motion to the statue. It is quite common to find wooden statues in Colorado and if you drive through the mountain towns you will likely see many different stores selling wooden bears carved from tree stumps and logs. Breckenridge in Colorado seems to really like whimsical or mythical creatures as there is a large sasquatch or big foot statue in the center of town that has also been carved from wood.

Fascinating Sights Near the City of Aswan in Southern Egypt

On February 25, 2021February 25, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Egypt3 Comments

We visited the city of Aswan on the final day of our trip down the Nile River, which started in Luxor. For the majority of cruises, you can either start or end in Aswan. You can continue going south after visiting Aswan, but we didn’t have the opportunity to do that during our trip to Egypt. It was extremely hot during our time in Aswan, so we took it nice and slow and spent as much time in the shade as we could. These were the highlights of the places and things that we visited before heading to the airport to catch a flight back to Cairo.

People in the Background Provide Scale to the Obelisk in the Quarry

The Ancient Granite Quarry – One of the first things we visited when we arrived in Aswan was the northern quarry, which contains an unfinished obelisk. Most of the granite that was used in ancient Egypt was mined from the quarries of Aswan and carried up the Nile on boats. It must have been extremely hard work to mine granite by chipping away at it with other stones. The day that we arrived in Aswan it was 114 degrees Fahrenheit (about 44.5 degrees Celsius), so we can only imagine how difficult it was for the workers in ancient time to carve out the large rocks in order to create the obelisks and other temple pieces.

Philae and the Temple of Isis – We took a boat out to Philae, which is an island with a variety of temples including the Temple of Isis. It was a very interesting site with plenty of things to see and definitely worth a half day to visit. The temples were moved to higher ground after the High Dam was built in order to save them and it was well worth the effort. Clearly the Temple of Isis is the highlight of visiting the island, but there is also the Temple of Hathor and the Kiosk of Trajan. The columns, hieroglyphs, and entrance were extremely impressive.

The Aswan High Dam – We grew up hearing about the construction of the Aswan dam, but there are really two dams, an older dam and the newer one, which is referred to as the High Dam. It was built to end the flooding that used to occur on a regular basis along the Nile River and has truly helped the agriculture business in Egypt. In addition to controlling the water, it is also a source of a lot of the power needed in the regions, so power lines are abundant across the surrounding desert landscape. One interesting side effect of the dam was that it has trapped all of the crocodiles for which the Nile is famous south of the dam, so you won’t see any crocodiles between Luxor and Aswan.

The Temple of Kom Ombo – On the evening of our last full day of our cruise down the Nile River, we visited the Temple of Kom Ombo. Although it was not the largest of temple complexes that we saw during our time in Egypt, it was still fascinating. The southern part of the temple is dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek. Although crocodiles are not often found north of the new Aswan dam anymore, they used to prevalent in the area. There is even a Crocodile Museum at the site with crocodile mummies that are quite unique. The northern part of the temple is dedicated to the falcon god Horus and his image can be found on many of the hieroglyphs within the temple.