It’s steep here. Really steep. This “garage” is just down our “street” – technically we live on a “terrace” – Mortimer Terrace. I wouldn’t even walk into that garage, let alone park my car in it, but this is life here. Somebody does. This neighborhood of Wellington where Emily is staying makes past hilly places I have stayed – Certaldo Alto, Arbuckle Driveway, and Maiori on the Amalfi Coast – look as flat as Kansas.
This is the Health App on my iPhone. It is measuring steps, distance, and flights of stairs climbed. This is yesterday. As you can see I worked at the apartment until Noon and then I went downtown to get groceries. That is all. Oh, No, Wait, I also got my favorite street food so far – a Moroccan Tagine Lamb Wrap. But in any case, to get groceries involved 11,000 steps, 4.5 miles, and climbing 24 flights of stairs (after going down 24 flights.) With groceries in a back pack.
It’s just great. I don’t want to take a bus. This is the view from our desk.
If we want to take a walk before or after dinner, we can’t go horizontal. It is either up or down. Here is the Health App showing us going up on our favorite loop. The beginning is 30 flights up and they happen faster than the App makes data points, so just one point. But after 30 stories we get to a really nice view and can catch our breath. Here is the view from that rest stop.
Wellington is locally called “The Best Little Capital in the World.” More on this later.
Seafood is good here, so at the grocery store I bought my first fresh whole squid. The Maori woman fishmonger demonstrated to me how to clean it. We were cracking up the whole time. I also got fresh octopus. I might make it a goal to learn a bit more about fresh seafood in the next 3 weeks. BTW, dinner was great last night.
Emily had a week in Wellington to get organized before her Fulbright started. Did she bar-hop? Nope, she rock-hopped around the harbor.
