After having our car dented by a mountain guide backing her Land Cruiser (with hitch) into us (glad we got that extra rental insurance…), we headed for Christchurch in the afternoon and arrived in the early evening at The George (where Hillary Clinton stayed a few weeks ago, along with all her Secret Service detail).
So we had the entire next day to leisurely wander around Christchurch’s city centre – from climbing the cathedral tower to the botanic gardens to the arts district.
We found a Belgian beer pub housed in a historic building. We sat on the back terrace overlooking the peaceful willow-lined banks of the little Avon River where people sat drinking in the sun on their lunch breaks. After enjoying some Chimay and more food than we needed, we glanced inside the pub and saw a sporting event on the tv, and glanced a splash of teal. They definitely don’t wear teal playing cricket. And it’s not a rugby color. Could it be…..it was! The Bears beating the pants off the Dolphins!
Most people in this part of the world find American football boring, but the bartender said he plays with some friends a little on weekends, and is a big fan of Brian Urlacher and Devin Hester! We enjoyed another Chimay and watched the first and part of the second quarters.
We had dinner reservations at a restaurant on the river, about 15 minutes’ walk from the hotel. After a lovely dinner (couldn’t taste anything, though, due to the cold), we figured that a quick walk back and a long rest overnight would cure the cold. We sauntered back..or so we thought. It took us several blocks of interestingly-dressed women on every corner and the Salvation Army soup van to realize we had missed a turn and were wandering north on Manchester Street, which is apparently the seedy side of Christchurch after dark. Nice to know it’s not Disneyland! Ken doesn’t agree, but I thought they were much better looking than the former North Avenue Bridge crowd.
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