🔺 Albuquerque 🔺 A City Built at the Crossroads

Just got back from Santa Fe to ABQ—but this time, we skipped the highway and took the “backdoor” route recommended by a friend: the Turquoise Trail! 🛣️💎 This less-traveled scenic drive is dotted with artist studios, quirky towns, and installations. We passed through Madrid—a cute little ghost town-turned-art hub—and even though many studios were closed, it still gave off major Santa Fe vibes. Next stop: the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center 🏺❤️. Although compact, it tells powerful stories through Pueblo dance, farming traditions, and lifeways. The exhibition beautifully illustrates the symbiotic relationship between Indigenous communities and the land—past, present, and future. Highly recommend! But the biggest surprise was the Albuquerque Museum 🏛️👏! We squeezed it in last-minute and ended up wishing we had hours more. Seven galleries + a sculpture garden + a special exhibit called Vivarium where artists blur the lines between human and animal 🐺🎨. So thought-provoking! We also loved Old Town—spent hours wandering adobe-lined streets, and I even scored a dreamcatcher with a wolf head and a traditional pipe from a local Indigenous artisan. The shop owner, dressed in full Pueblo attire, shyly but warmly let me take a photo with him (he even pulled my boyfriend in for moral support 😂). Of course, no ABQ trip is complete without a Breaking Bad nod—we stopped by a fan shop and snagged a fridge magnet with Walt’s driver’s license 🧊🚗. Oh, and I bought two berets in a lovely hat shop. At checkout, the grandma proudly said: “It’s made in Canada!” 👒🇨🇦 Now I’m bringing them back to their homeland, lol. We missed the famous red chile ribs at El Pinto but ended up trying a grass-fed tomahawk pork chop instead—and wow. I rarely order pork, but this was a game-changer! 🐖✨ #BucketList #TravelDiary #Albuquerque #NewMexico #BreakingBad #PuebloCulture #ArtLovers #RoadTrip #USATravel