city – Page 2 – Globitrotter

Gardens and tea

On our way to Raglan, the little hippie surf town on the west coast, we passed Hamilton. We had not planned to do anything there but as we drove through I saw Hamilton Gardens on the side of the road. It looked like a nice place so I decided to research it a bit. We were going to pass Hamilton again coming back from the coast so we still had a chance to spend some time there.

I googled “what to do in Hamilton” and the Gardens was the first thing on the list. Supposedly the most visited attraction in the area featuring parts inspired from different places in the world. Further down on the list I found Zealong, the only tea estate in New Zealand. As it happens they have a restaurant that offers High Tea. Perfect!

In the morning we arrived at the Hamilton Gardens which surprisingly enough are free considering the work they have done. Most things here in New Zealand are expensive including some of the hikes unfortunately. At the visitor center we picked up a map and the lady at the desk pointed out the most interesting parts. It is a huge garden so it is not likely you would go through the whole thing unless you bring a picnic and spend the entire day there. There are many lawns perfect for picnics so go for it!

We started off in the theme gardens and walked through the Chinese, Japanese, English, modern American, Italian and Maori gardens. They are all lovely and very well done and kept. Further on there was a kitchen garden and a herb garden. After all this it was time for a coffee break. The café was under renovation but they had put a coffee trailer next to it in the mean time.

Japanese garden

Chinese garden

Indian garden

Italian garden

Maori garden

After the break we had energy to keep on going to the rose garden, rhododendron lawn and the green houses. In the green house they had a cactus garden which reminded us very much of Arizona. 🙂 The way back to the parking lot went over the small lake in the center of the gardens where the ducklings were swimming along.

Rose garden

With tired legs after hours of walking we were looking forward to high tea. The Zealong Tea Estate was on the other side of town which was a 20 or so minute drive. As we came closer we saw the long lines of tea plants on the rolling hills and pickers in between them. There was maybe 15 pickers out on the fields working and they moved closer to the restaurant as we were enjoying our high tea. The chinese owner happened to sit at the table next to us and we over heard them discussing the efforts of exporting their tea to China. Obviously they are serious and should be, the tea was excellent.

Zealong Tea Estate

Click the image to see more photos from Hamilton:

Tauranga – Hamilton

Auckland

Finally we arrived in New Zealand. There was a heavy rain welcoming us to this weather unpredictable country. To make us feel even more comfortable our bags arrived about 36 hours after us. Andy was only wearing shorts and being spring here it was a bit cold. We had to do some shopping to survive before we got our stuff.

View from Sky Tower in central Auckland.

We had already booked a few nights in Auckland before we were picking up our rental camper. We did some sightseeing although not so much because we were busy preparing a visa extension application and trying to transfer money from the States (which did not succeed btw due to rigorous restrictions and rules at the American bank. Once you have money at the bank it is almost impossible to use…). However a favorite restaurant was located, some views and yachts admired and parks strolled through. Auckland is a convenient and nice city. Everything is on walking distance or a short bus or ferry ride away. The outdoors seem to be important judging by amount of boats in the several harbors around town.

A yacht to die for.

Albert Park.

Downtown Denver

After a bit more than a week of hiking in the mountains we treated ourselves to a couple of nights in downtown Denver. Last year we also visited Denver but stayed a bit outside of town in a crappy motel. Then I promised myself that next time we come here we will stay in a nice hotel downtown. We both like this city very much, it has everything we were missing in Phoenix. It has a very nice city center with an abundance of restaurants, cafés and shops.

After some research I found a boutique hotel called the Magnolia just one block off the 16th Street pedestrian mall. The hotel is located in an old bank building built in 1910 and they have kept some of its old style. There is a free bus going up and down 16th Street so it is very easy to get to any restaurant or shop of your choice.

Everything we needed was included, breakfast and wifi. Parking was unfortunately additional like any other nice downtown hotel. There was a parking garage just next door which was better deal than using the hotel valet parking. A bonus though was the complimentary wine and beer in the early evening and the late evening milk and cookies (!).

The room was very spacious with a kitchen, living room and bedroom. The bedroom even had a walk-in closet. Basically it was probably bigger than my apartment in Stockholm…

We can warmly recommend this hotel which made our stay in Denver a very enjoyable one. We spent a couple of days just enjoying the hotel and the fact that we could walk to everything we needed.

The vision that became reality

This winter the Phoenix Art Museum has an exhibition about Frank Lloyd Wright, the well known architect who lived and worked partly in Phoenix. He was active in the beginning of the century and made some very famous buildings and homes, the most famous probably Falling Water and the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

The most fascinating thing about this exhibition was that I understood more about Phoenix and where the inspiration for the city structure had come from. A lot of Frank Lloyd Wright’s work has an art deco style which I am very fond of. It is somehow both old and futuristic. I can not help thinking about Fritz Lang’s Metropolis when I see art deco architecture. But the interesting thing I learned at this exhibition was that Lloyd Wright also created a plan for the perfect city, Broadacre City. It was the beginning of the century,cars were not very common but there was a dream of wealth and technically advanced future. Naturally his plan evolved around cars and the idea that everyone should have an acre of land. To make this work the city became very spread out and in order to get around quickly a network of roads were a central part of the planning. Looking at his sketches makes you realize that this is exactly what Phoenix looks like today. This futuristic city that has become reality is as functional and lifeless as the drawings show.

East Phoenix Metro Area from Superstition Ridge

The thought of giving everyone a fair piece of property close to everything they need is of course very nice. But therefore it also lacks the atmosphere that so many other cities do have and make them worth visiting. There is no city center where people spontaneously meet and where you can go shopping, catch a movie, a theater, visit markets, have coffee or dinner with friends and stroll around and do some people watching, all in the same place. Honestly, I have a very hard time to say why anyone should visit Phoenix as a tourist. It is a comfortable city to live in but does not offer a lot to the visitor. Unless the city structure itself makes you want to come and see it with your own eyes. The thing many people visit Phoenix for is the weather, to play golf or other sports when it is too cold in other places. Many baseball teams for example has their spring training in Phoenix which attracts a lot of tourists. Fair enough, the winters here are very comfortable and also my favorite thing about Phoenix.

Coming from a place where public transport is the best way of getting around and having a car is actually more of a hassle than useful, it is difficult to get used to Phoenix. People who grew up here seem to love it though. Many would just get nervous in a city where I feel very comfortable. I guess this is a good thing though, everyone is not the same and there is a place for everybody.

Phoenix downtown escape

A couple of months ago now we decided to givePhoenix Downtown another chance and treat ourselves to a stay at anice hotel. I could already see it in front of me; after strollingaround town we would come back to the hotel in the afternoon withtired feet and legs. The champagne would be already chilled and Andywould run a hot bath were we would enjoy the bubbles. I spent some time looking for a hoteland finally chose the Westin on Van Buren and 1^st Street.

View from the Westin pool area.

The location was perfect since it is just a couple of blocks from ourfavourite restaurant, Sens. It is a quite small Japanese tapas stylerestaurant and definately worth a visit. The reason I picked theWestin was that they have a small suite with a bathroom in the cornerof the building with floor to ceiling windows where you can look outover the city while having a bath. The fact that they had a bar wherewe felt just at home was a bonus. It was quite empty but stillboosted some interesting people watching.

Just what I needed. 🙂

Downtown Phoenix is really not too bad except for the fact that there are no people there. To be a multi million city it feels deserted. If you look closely there are some nice cafés, bars and restaurants but the atmosphere is missing. Sadly.

Nice café behind the Phoenix Art Museum. But where are the guests?

But we did have a good time and got what we expected.

Phoenix – a first impression

Believe it or not, Phoenix is the sixth largest city (population) in the USA. It does look big as you fly in to Sky Harbor which is located more or less in the center of the city and it takes about an hour to drive from one side to the other on the freeway with speed limit 65 miles/h (about 105 km/h). So there is no doubt about it, this is a big city. The city fills up an entire valley which is surrounded by mountains, the Phoenix Metro Area is often called The Valley. There is a network of freeways that ensures easy travel from one area to another and in between the freeways there are major roads with three lanes in each direction. What you learn though is to take the freeway as far as you can since the traffic lights are frequent on the major roads and can slow down you trip considerably.

The very city center has some high rise buildings but otherwise it is quite flat and spread out.

Historic Phoenix downtown.

One thing that surprises me is that there are many empty lots even in the very city center. I guess there is so much land to build on that it is not necessary to build everything in the same place and since everyone is driving everywhere there has been no need to.

This image is taken from Dobbins Lookout on South Mountain. If you click on the image you will see downtown on the left and the airport to the right.

Phoenix seems to have strict rules as to how buildings are allowed to be built. More or less all buildings and houses are beige and flat. Not many buildings have more than two or three stories. The result of this is that it looks the same everywhere all over the city. You can find yourself anywhere and if you drive 5-10 min in either direction you will find a place that looks almost the same. You will find the same stores and the same restaurants. Almost all restaurants here are part of a chain. So you don’t really have to leave your neighborhood because there is nothing new to find on the other side of the fence.

Typical strip mall. You have to drive only a couple of streets to find the next one.

This is what most residential areas look like.

The neighborhoods are often surrounded by walls and the name of the place are written as you drive into the street. The fancy places are also gated.

It seems also that no one does leave their neighborhood very often. There is no city center that is a natural place for people to go, like we (at least Europeans) are used to. Downtown Phoenix does have some tall buildings, museums, shops and restaurants. But people does not seem to go here to hang out. This part of town always feels empty, almost abandoned. Not even after a big baseball game at Chase Field, which is situated in the very center of the city and takes almost 50 000 spectators, do you find more people walking around. The way to do it here is to take your car, go to the place you want to visit, if a museum, restaurant or shop, park as close as you can and when satisfied with your visit go directly with your car to the next place or home.

The only places that seem to attract the masses are the shopping malls. I guess the weather can be partly to blame for this because in the summer you do not want to wander around outdoors. You need to find a place that is air conditioned. But the really hot months are not that many, about as many as the very cold ones in Sweden. The rest of the year is very comfortable to be outside during the day.

One part of town that does have potential is downtown Scottsdale. Here you will find many restaurants and shops. Unfortunately they are mostly souvenir shops or art galleries. So if you are not in the market for presents or particularly interested in art you will still end up at the Scottsdale Fashion Center, the huge mall just a few block away. Also in downtown Scottsdale many of the restaurants are chain restaurants that you will find all over town.

I miss just going downtown, walking around a bit, maybe pop into my favorite shop, have a coffee with friends and just enjoy the atmosphere. The atmosphere in Phoenix though is missing, I am sorry to say. Just the other day though we learned more about Phoenix after a visit to the Phoenix Art Museum. I am now much more intrigued and it all seems to make more sense. But this deserves a separate post. Stay tuned.