Hi there folks. Our trip started on Monday 27^th May with a comfortable mid-morning car journey to London Heathrow, courtesy of Titan Travel. We jetted off around 4.30 pm on British Airways to Denver, a flight of around 9 hours 40 minutes, passed by various complimentary drinks, snacks and movies. On landing in Denver, with a backdrop of the Rockies, we queued for an hour to get through immigration and then met up with our tour manager and group.  We had a half-hour drive through the dusk, to reach the city of Denver and our hotel, the Sheraton Downtown.  After navigating the vast marble halls and corridors of this conference hotel, we found our room about 9.30 pm local time (7 hours behind UK time, equivalent to 4.30am!). A quick sortie into the local precinct revealed most cafes to be closed, even Starbucks, so after a quick drink, we were glad to retire for the night.

Tuesday dawned warm and sunny. A hearty breakfast buffet in the hotel made up for the deficiencies of the evening before. Our morning coach tour took us around the Lower Downtown area (LoDo) and to the State Capitol building. Famed for its dome coated in gold leaf, the roof is currently swathed in scaffolding and white polythene undergoing renovation. The famous ‘mile high’ altitude of this city is measured at the thirteenth step at the front of the building.  We had a short visit around this area, marked with various national monuments.

From the steps of the Capitol Building

 Then we headed out of town west towards Golden (site of the 19^th century gold rush) in the foothills of the Rockies. We noted various geological and landform features of interest en route. Our destination was Lookout Mountain, a natural viewpoint and site of the burial in 1917 of ‘Buffalo’ Bill Cody, who spent the last years of his life here. The town of Cody, in Wyoming, is still trying to claim back his body!

In the afternoon we took the free electric bus down the adjacent 16^th Street Mall. This is a tree-lined pedestrian precinct of shops, bars and restaurants leading north-west to the South Platte River on which the city was founded. Here we found pleasant parks, walkways and cycle trails.

After a welcome siesta in our room (jetlag beginning to register), we sauntered out to dinner at Maggiano’s, a nearby atmospheric Italian restaurant (can’t face those 12 ounce steaks yet!). Thus finished a pleasant day in Denver, a modern, clean and stylish city. Tomorrow we depart at 8 am!