Mile High

Colorado! Yong and Lindsey came to pick us up from the airport (which was great, were not excited to try navigate multiple buses with cumbersome luggage). Arrived at their lovely place where Jeremy and Hagino were staying too. They were off to have big, backcountry adventures in Yellowstone National Park the following morning but was very cool to see them for the evening.

The weekend we arrived there was the Underground Music Showcase happening in Yong's neighbourhood. It was a pretty big deal. Walked the couple of blocks to where it was all taking place (in every pub, restaurant, carpark and even a church in the area) but most of the bands were just finishing up for the evening (found out much later that there was a late show at the movie theatre just around the corner). Enjoyed wandering around to see what was going on though and got a soft taco which was a first for me.

Sunday was pretty much filled with UMS action, after a sleep in (finally!) and very lazy start. Saw a bunch of bands/artists across a whole range of styles and sounds, from folk to dance to melancholy musings interspersed with almost stand-up-comic banter. Saw: Bela Karoli, Tyler Potts aka Buddy Holiday, Nathaneal Rateliff (/+ The Wheel), Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, a little of Treeverb and the start of A Shoreline Dream before we started falling asleep and decided we'd best go home. Yong and Lindsey saw some of the bands too and in between we grabbed some pizza slices from Famous Pizza.

We got a sleep in again on Monday! Bliss! Then took the bus the 16 blocks to downtown. Walked through the 16th St pedestrian mall, which Dunedin should totally emulate with George St. The shopping was pretty standard but the atmosphere was great. Loads of buskers and pianos in the mall i think anyone could sit down and have a play on. The only traffic allowed, besides cross traffic, are the free, quiet (hybrid) mall buses.

The mall ends around the Market St station (central bus terminal, underground and unobtrusive) where you're now in LoDo - lower downtown, the historic district of Denver, which started out as a gold rush town. Got quite excited at my first view of the Rockies. Walked around LoDo a bit and stopped for a late lunch at The Market, Yong's wonderful suggestion.

Walked around some more, trying to stick to the shady spots, and found the Hyatt. On the 27th floor there is a bar with a panoramic view of the city, surrounding plains and mountains! Beautiful, though you need a strong stomach for their express elevators. Worse than any ride at Kings Island.

Caught the bus back to Yong's again and had a quiet evening. Got acquainted with an iPad. More specifically some pretty cool games on Yong's one. Totally addicting.