Denver, Colorado.
Still feeling the effects of the jet lag we both woke bright and early here in Denver. On venturing downstairs the smell of starbucks coffee greated us, i mean, i know that where there is life there will be a Starbucks....but in the kitchen....well it was the next best thing, Starbucks coffee beans brewing in the coffee maker!! So coffee number 1, still feeling rather raw at the back of my throat the next move was a bad one...an orange juice to accompany the coffee....quickly dicarded and replaced with water!! Kate gave us the directions and best ways to get into town and at around half 11 we headed into Denver, we decided to walk to check out the neighbourhood and get our bearings trusting that we could then use the bus later if we were tired!! So we headed off to the Capitol building noticable by its majestic looking gold dome. Originally Gold mined from the Rocky Mountains in Colorado it has had to be replaced about once every 30-40 years. All the Gold (only a paper thin layer) that now adourns the dome comes from Florence, Italy.
Inside the Capitol building was stunning, no fee just pass the sercurity guard and metal detectors!! First thing we noticed were screaming children errr!! It is amazing how grand such a building can look without actually being all that old, Gold and copper a common theme throughout the building which could only add to the grandure.
The option was there to go up into the dome of the capitol building we had a 30 minute wait before the next tour.....perfrect oppertuninty to grab lunch. So following a quick snack we headed up into Mr Brown's attic and then on into the dome, unfortunaltly due to loose rubble the outide of the dome was off limits, however with scaffolding due to go up within the next few months it was lucky we came when we did! in the dome we had a tour as such, basically what you can see outside and inside and the history of the gold! The most intersting, well, funny story was that of the eagle that sits proudly on the council and administration building, just across the plazza from the Capitol. The story goes that a previous governor of Colorado (a member of the KKK!!) had a sculptor making an eagle to sit upon the top of the new council and administration building. This sculptor was unfortunatly (in this situation) Jewish, getting no-where with the governer who refused to see him plus knowing that because of his beliefs he would see no payment he requested not to do the sculpture, the governer threatened that if he didn't complete it that the governor would have him killed, finally after being told he dosn't care how the eagle stands upon the top as long as it gets done the sculptor took influence from nature itself. The eagle stands with its wings pointing upwards, this is believed to occur when an eagle is pooping...thus the Eagle is taking a crap on the counil and administrative buildings!!
Denver is also refered to as the Mile High City, this is because at the 13th step leading up to the Captiol building the altitude is exactly 1 mile above sea level...
A pair of intrepid explorers one mile above sea level on the 13th step of the State Capitol.
Leaving the Capitol it was just a short walk to the pedestrianised 16th street mall the main shopping district of downtown Denver with many shops including Starbucks, the Hard Rock Cafe, a Starbucks, Mc Donalds and a bookstore (kind of and American Waterstones) with a Starbucks on the top floor!!!!
Outside a confectioners store we discovered on Denverite obviously feeling a little worse for ware, maybe since America's departure from the World Cup...
Tired and aching we returned home many hours later having not taken the bus home!!! (guess who's writing this section). intending to take Wednesday easy and take in a museum or two and take a walk in the park .
Wednaesday arrived and we set off again for adventure. The walk through the city park was very relaxing and peacefull despite the blazing sunshine and exhausting heat. Our destination the Museum of Nature and Science. Upon arrival we noticed one thing about America that bothered us... thats right both of us, American children are obnoxious little bastards! queue jumping little sods need to learn that you don't reach around Kate to ge to try and park the space shuttle or see you heartbeat on a big screen unless you want to have your chubby, chocolate covered little fingers bitten off. nevertheless the museum offered some spectacular dioramas of the wildlife of North America, they looked so realistic. the precious minerals and Prehistoric exhibit were also absolutely incredible even with the wobblebottomed urchins stalking us like a pack of wild cholesterol molecules!
This movie star has lost a lot of weight since they appeared in the 1993 movie Jurassic Park...
On the top of the museum was the observation deck, offering some of the best available views of Downtown Denver and the Rockies .
A teddy bear related errand took us back to the 16th street mall a long long walk which took us right through the centre of the 'healthcare district' as we called it. Hospitals, plastic surgeons the city mortuary and the cancer centre were all located down here along with the Ronald Mc Donald childrens centre, a kind of hospital/foundation (maybe that's why the little buggers were so fat and greasy!!!! stop feeding them fast food America... keep feeding me though)
these last two days we have walked a good 15 miles with only one injury, a severely stubbed toe including undernail brusing, yummy!!! collapsing into bed on Wednesday night we looked forward to Thursday when Peter would take us up into the mountains for a day of hiking and the best brunch in the whole of Colorado....
the experiences of Mongo and the Boy
Written by
Kate 'Bear Hunter' Davies and Chris 'Ebeneezer' Davies
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