Colorado: Downtown Denver

Today I visited the Colorado state capitol and the Denver Art Museum. The capitol was gilded and ornate. Most of its initial architecture used marble and (apparently rare) red agate from local quarries. Back when it was built, it was actually cheaper to import marble from Italy than to cart marble across the nearby mountains, so the building was finished in Italian marble. Neat!

The house and senate were not in session, so it was a quiet day within. Portraits of every U.S. president and polished brass fixtures adorned the place. They even used Civil War cannonballs as bannister ornaments. Who would believe it?

Apparently, the capitol's height above sea level was measured to be a mile, but through time, surveyors have disagreed regarding precisely where on the capitol steps that the marker should be placed, so today, there are three markers, each claiming to be a mile above sea level.

The Denver Art Museum was sprawling but it really looked as if they had a hard time using all of their space. Many of the exhibits were very spread out, and there was no rhyme or reason to how exhibits we're juxtaposed: Native art next to 20th century chair design? I didn't see a connection, but perhaps you do.

Had a nice picnic yesterday and going out again tonight. Tomorrow, I head for New Mexico.