Just down the road from the hostel was the Denver art museum which I paid a visit to to try and get a little more culture. The gallery itself was very large, consisting of a four-story building connecting to a seven-story one. Although the gallery as a whole was not my complete cup of tea, there was a few very good sections. The English art exhibit included the very famous painting of Edward VI as a child (the one that whenever a history programme talks about him, they show). The other piece I loved was an interactive one, in which you got to walk and play about in. It was essentially a bouncy castle but with bean bags instead of air. You could easily fall asleep in there as anywhere you fell became a comfy bed. After seeing some more great Asian art, I left the museum and headed back to my favourite haunt- 16th street.
I managed a Skype chat with my parents and grandparents using the wifi in Starbucks, but it is what happened next which was the most exciting part. I was sitting listening to my NFL podcasts, when I turned around to see standing near me, 4 cops carrying a variety of weapons including an M4 Carbine, and a SPAZ assault shotgun. They confront a man sitting a few chairs away and arrest him. One of the officers goes to the guys jacket and pulls out a 5ft rusty steel sword. I didn't break sweat and just carried on listening to the podcast, knowing that if the guy did try anything, I would have just legged it through the exit next to me. Only in America I guess.
After the little excitement I headed down the road to what I thought was a Da Vinci museum. Although this turned out to be incorrect, what was there instead was probably even more interesting- it was the first day of a new Michelangelo exhibit. Inside the large warehouse were a number of sculptures by the great man. What was special about these sculptures were that they were the official moulds made by the Florentine University which had until this point, never left Italy. They were identical copies of the original works, something that people normally have to travel to Florence and queue for hours to see. The first sculpture I saw was the first Pieta. Quite simply, it was the most impressive piece of art I have ever seen first-hand. The sculpture was so real that reality looked fake. It was beyond belief. I just stood there for about 20 minutes just looking at that one piece. If not quite as impressive, the other sculptures were also exceptional. There was also a chance to see some copies of his most famous paintings, including the Sistine Chapel. Despite his famous quote (along the lines of) "If you saw how much work I put in, you would not call it genius," if the world ever sees an artistic talent like his again soon, I would be very surprised.
I also managed to make a quick visit to one of the US Mints, where they print the paper money for much of America. I even got a souvenir of hundreds of shredded dollars in a bag.
Because I was again alone in the evening I decided to catch another movie- this time 'Mud', the story of two Arkansas boys helping out a runaway murderer, played by Matthew McConaughey. It was an excellent, excellent film. The acting superb and the characters compelling. Its films like this that make me sorry that Matthew devoted a lot of his career to high-budget, low-quality films. I definitely advise you to go see it whilst you can.
I managed a Skype chat with my parents and grandparents using the wifi in Starbucks, but it is what happened next which was the most exciting part. I was sitting listening to my NFL podcasts, when I turned around to see standing near me, 4 cops carrying a variety of weapons including an M4 Carbine, and a SPAZ assault shotgun. They confront a man sitting a few chairs away and arrest him. One of the officers goes to the guys jacket and pulls out a 5ft rusty steel sword. I didn't break sweat and just carried on listening to the podcast, knowing that if the guy did try anything, I would have just legged it through the exit next to me. Only in America I guess.
After the little excitement I headed down the road to what I thought was a Da Vinci museum. Although this turned out to be incorrect, what was there instead was probably even more interesting- it was the first day of a new Michelangelo exhibit. Inside the large warehouse were a number of sculptures by the great man. What was special about these sculptures were that they were the official moulds made by the Florentine University which had until this point, never left Italy. They were identical copies of the original works, something that people normally have to travel to Florence and queue for hours to see. The first sculpture I saw was the first Pieta. Quite simply, it was the most impressive piece of art I have ever seen first-hand. The sculpture was so real that reality looked fake. It was beyond belief. I just stood there for about 20 minutes just looking at that one piece. If not quite as impressive, the other sculptures were also exceptional. There was also a chance to see some copies of his most famous paintings, including the Sistine Chapel. Despite his famous quote (along the lines of) "If you saw how much work I put in, you would not call it genius," if the world ever sees an artistic talent like his again soon, I would be very surprised.
I also managed to make a quick visit to one of the US Mints, where they print the paper money for much of America. I even got a souvenir of hundreds of shredded dollars in a bag.
Because I was again alone in the evening I decided to catch another movie- this time 'Mud', the story of two Arkansas boys helping out a runaway murderer, played by Matthew McConaughey. It was an excellent, excellent film. The acting superb and the characters compelling. Its films like this that make me sorry that Matthew devoted a lot of his career to high-budget, low-quality films. I definitely advise you to go see it whilst you can.
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