Neither of us slept well last night, and we just didn't feel like riding. We need to get ourselves back in city walking shape, so we parked up at the university and walked.
Here is the new bus barn for the modern street car, or as it is also called, Sunlink. It's a 3.9 mile loop, costing $196M.
This is a grocery store, laundry, and bar down off of 4th avenue. I like the old signs. The one far left is "The Buffet", a bar and package store. Everything you need, nothing you don't.
A courtyard of the Don Martin Apartments. They were designed by Josias Joesler, an architect who was active in the Tucson area in the 1920s. If I ever win the Powerball, I'll be buying one of his homes. Click through to that link and you can see some of his work, beautiful just beautiful. The apartments have been restored, and are now student housing. Personally, I think they're wasted on students, but that's just me.
We walked by the back of Tucson High School and saw these ceramics attached to a wall.
When I was at the U, this hotel went up. At the time you would have thought the world was coming to an end architecturally because it was so tall and towered over everything. There was much controversy over it and the adjoining parking structure.
However, it looks like we've gotten past that. The U is now putting up these mega dorms that tower over everything, blocking the view of the mountains and everything else. They're really hideous.
This a view from Speedway which better conveys how they loom over Tucson, which is not a city of tall buildings.
It was a good walk, and it reinforced the fact that as well as riding, we need to be walking. My walking muscles need a little tune-up.
Sometimes it is good to just slow down and see things from a different perspective. We use our bikes as a way to tour cities. But friends who walk the same city see way more than we do. Oh, well!
ReplyDeleteA trip to Prague sounds exciting!
Thanks for introducing me to Joesler, love that Spanish style!
ReplyDeleteOooh, thanks for pointing out the Joeslers -- LOVE these houses! Of course, we would have to win the lottery as well to ever own one, but I enjoyed looking at the site. Also enjoyed this blog post in general since we've now cycled through that part of Tucson. Interestingly, I fractured my pelvis in a cycling accident about 6 weeks before a big trip to the British Virgin Islands we had booked, so I know of what you speak. We were lucky enough to be able to go seven months later that same year (2005) though. My father, who was an architect and surely knew of Joesler's work, went to Prague and loved it. I still have a postcard he sent me from there. Hope you have a wonderful trip -- and no injuries!
ReplyDeletePrague is a place I have always wanted to go. If you love architecture, it should be especially gratifying.
ReplyDeleteYour photos of the changes on the U of A campus and along Speedway were very interesting to me as I lived just off Speedway for a year in 1983. Looks like many changes have taken place since those days--thirty plus years ago!
I've often thought of going to Prague with my daughter if I suddenly have a surplus of travel funds. My husband doesn't fly. Myself I have trouble with cleaning products and air fresheners in hotels. You'll have to tell me what the hotel smells like in Prague. (I guarantee I'll be the only person to ever ask you that!)
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