Wellington...Round One

After their extreme fun-times in "Wanga-Vegas," we went on Southward to our favorite Kiwi city...Wellington! By now you're probably familiar with the sights. We, of course, took them up the Cable Car...Quick, are we in San Francisco or Welly? Hard to tell sometimes! (Also, that's Molly's purse hanging in front of Patrick...just an optical illusion. He doesn't carry a purse. Not that there's anything wrong with that...)




Here are Maura and Lauren demonstrating the angle of the seats on the Cable Car...built at an angle because the car is always on a slope going up or down the hill. (This is a restored version in the museum and is therefore flat. Please also note the super creepy cable car conductor mannequin behind them! Worse than clowns!!)

Atop the Cable Car await the Wellington Botanic Gardens. Every Kiwi city has one, they're all free because everything grows here. So you ride the Cable Car up and then walk down through the Botanic Gardens. Here's just a slice of what you can see -- the hydrangeas were still in full force!

On the way to another delicious dinner on Cuba Street, we stopped in the Civic Square to see the "Giant Fern Ball," - I'm sure this has another name and a fair amount of artistic significance, but in truth, that's really what it is. (Still cool, by the way!) Actually, it turns out, if you google "Fern Ball Wellington," it has many deeper meanings. You can read one take here. Maura, Lauren and Molly are pictured below.

And, of course, the dots!! Patrick and I actually went back later and saw the Polka-Dots exhibit at the City Gallery, by the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Interestingly, while the exterior here appears fairly whimsical, some of her other work is actually a bit dark. (Imagine...polka-dots being dark and brooding? She pulls it off!)

Here are Patrick, Maura, Lauren and John posing for the requisit polka-dot picture. We walked to dinner to prepare for yet another delicious meal at Scopa. This is where Patrick and I fell in love with the pumpkin ravioli...and we fall in love with something new every time we go! This night John enjoyed some fantastic mussels and the wood-fired pizzas were all around delish...I got the pumpkin ravioli...again.