The Crystal Palace

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What to do in Albuquerque? For Breaking Bad fans like me it’s simple. Just visit the Crystal Palace.

The Crossroad motel isn’t hard to find. As its name suggests it sits on a crossroad in a rather run down part of the town. My wife didn’t like the place a lot but she too liked the look of the building. It’s easy to see why this motel appeared in a couple of movies.

When we reached the place I parked my car right in front of it which was a big mistake.  The Buick Enclave is neither cool nor old enough to fit the motel. In my favorite shot I hid it behind the old Chevi truck which was the perfect match for the location. As was the old white van. It’s a shame that you can’t rent a cool car from the seventies. I would scarify the luxury of a modern car for the chance to have an interesting subject for my pictures.

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Maybe you recognized the sign of the second shot. It is not free of charge to take a picture of the building. I didn’t until my wife told me that the old lady from the reception already asked us to come in an pay for taking pictures. She was rather unfriendly but that changed right after I have made my payment and she started to chat.

There are many visitors since Breaking Bad. Sometimes too many. I wonder if they scare off some of the guests. You must have to hide something if you drive a white van!

As much as I love Breaking Bad I would never consider to stay here. I don’t want to sound like a snob but the place does’t look inviting. The area looks like a good place but only if you plan to buy cheap drugs. There is massive traffic noise and the motel looks like it has never been refurbished since the day it opened.

But it is a prefect location for pictures and it’s easy to see why they choose it as a set for Breaking Bad. Just make sure that you park your boring car outside of the frame or better bring a car that fits the location.

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