Casa Armijo 1st house in Albuquerque

    The Armijo hacienda began as one of the first homes in Albuquerque, but was long ago resurrected as the popular Old Town restaurant, ” La Placita. ”  Haciendas were self contained economically, spiritually, emotionally. Several generations of family lived, worked, sustained themselves in these compounds where they farmed, herded livestock, made clothes and tools, used medicinal plants, entertained themselves at night on back patios under the stars. There were haciendas within yelling distance all the way from Mexico City to Santa Fe, nestled in the Bosque cottonwoods by the Rio Grande. Skirmishes with Indians and bandits were always part of their landscape. In the 1700’s, this would have been a hard but peaceful life, far from the treachery of Europe and Old Politics, the power of the Catholic Church, the restless marching of armies across continents,flags of discovery and conquest planted on beaches around our planet. Having lunch in a La Placita dining room, open ears can almost hear the animated dinner conversations of these early settlers.  Their conversation would not be much more different than ours today with family, friends, community, politics, religion, and gossip the main concerns.  The difference, between then and now, is that then, families lived, ate,worked, and talked together.