Wednesday 7 May 2025

We arrived in Denver yesterday after a very early morning departure to Orlando Airport, in a shared Uber with Kathy and Mac. Then we discovered that flying first class with United does not get you lounge access. The on board service is sort of fake, with food and beverage – woo hoo, free in first class! It’s no better than Jetstar in zoo class. Do you board first? No. I don’t know why I am complaining. It’s been like this on US carriers forever. The only good thing is the leg room and big (but old and certainly sat in by very large bottoms for a few years), seats.

Denver seems to be a nice city but it is raining and cold. Everyone is apologizing, as it’s not supposed to be like this. We don’t care. A comfy room and a little nap for Lady P and Flashy rugs up and heads out for a walk. He finds a nearby bar. A bit dodgy from the outside but OK for a retreat from the drizzle and cold. Only 6 TV’s, so not a sports bar.

They call Denver ‘the mile high city.’ I don’t think it’s a reference to sex in the airline toilet at 5,000 feet but the fact that Denver is exactly a mile in altitude ASL – 5,280 feet. A walk downtown took us to a pizza joint for a thin, Parmesan crust pepperoni. Actually, pretty good.

The Tru by Hilton Hotel is our overnight before we do a three night pet sit here. So, after the included breakfast and some admin we booked a 2.5 hr food walking tour. We’ve done these in lots of cities, usually with Viatour and they all have been excellent. This one was very good as well. We started with an excellent slice of Napoletana pizza at Marco’s. Then to an Argentinean empanada at a little kitchen around the corner. It was cold on the street but no rain. The town is very flat and walking is easy. The third stop was for a small bowl of chilli at a sports bar opposite the ballpark and then into a very flash bar for some fusion food. This was a corn bread base with spicy wagyu sort of taco. Lastly, the dessert was at Union Station and consisted of a pretty good imitation of the Portuguese custard tart.

A guided walking tour gives you a good appreciation of the lay of the land and time to enjoy the architecture as well. Denver is a well laid out and clean city; clearly, some early wealth evident in the many elaborately decorated, brick buildings. Coors baseball park was a stunning brick and steel construction that was built in the 1990’s but with 1930’s exposed steel work, fitting in with the surrounding repurposed warehouses that are now apartment buildings.

Late in the day, Nina our host, picked us up  from the hotel and drove us through the leafy suburbs to our pet sit. It is a stunning, split level home with great kitchen and two friendly cats. After dinner, our hosts asked if we would drive them to the station in the morning in return for the use of their Prius. The 5.00 am rise and drive was well worth a car for three days.

Deep dish, thin crust.
Empanada with chimichurri sauce.
Outside the ballpark.
The famous Coors Stadium.
Artwork in the hotel foyer.
Laneway dining. Crowds down a bit.


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