This is the modern art museum across the street from the park.
They had a wonderful installation outside with a crazy golf course with each hole designed by a local designer. Being a fan of the game and having never seen anything quite as mad as this I had to have a go.
On this one you have to hit the ball onto platform then crank the handle to send it round a series of ramps, slopes and dead ends.I ended up 3 over par, but had a lot of fun. I was liking this city already!
A wedding party making their way into the park, I'm wondering if they're here for the same reason I am?
The sculpture garden is a large open space with an equally large number of art pieces. Some interactive, like this, others not so. There was one piece I was particularly interested in.
This wasn't it!
It was this one, Spoonbridge and Cherry was an installation I saw on a website a couple of years ago and thought if I was ever in Minneapolis I'd have to check it out.
and it was this piece, being one of the most famous pieces of art in the city, that the wedding party had come to pose in front of.
and then another wedding party posed.
and another
but my patience won out and I was able to get some shots without any trace of a wedding in it
This one had the spinal tap inch/foot confusion feeling to it.
Some other pieces around the park.
This one reminded me of an Escher piece, I think the shadow helps.
I wasn't a "fan" of this one.
The bridge from this park over the freeway to Loring Park has a poem along its length.
and its a play on words with crossing over the road.
That's the city's Basilica of St Mary. It was built in 1907 and was the first Roman Catholic Basilica in the U.S.
In Loring Park with downtown in the background. I was going to be headed that way.
A nice bit of art on the Loring Park side of the bridge.
Within the park there is a fenced of play area for dogs. Yep even animals get their open spaces.
Nice old building on the edge of the park.
Another old church with a rather unique spire construction.
Minneapolis goes from climate extremes. From very hot, which I was experiencing, to heavy snowfall in the winter. The city is therefore famous for it's walkways between buildings that allow people to move around the city without facing the weather.
It reminded me of those hamster homes from the 80s
An old school theatre
The Lumber Exchange Building was the first "skyscraper" in the city built in the 1880s.
This is the city's library.
I can't remember what this building was but it looked impressive!
Looking back towards the city. Whilst I was wanting to finish there I was doing one of my wayward sightseeing detours.
Having headed up Hennepin Avenue I was now going to cross it's bridge, which goes over the Mississippi. One of the reasons for walking this route was so I could cross this river into St Pauls.
The river has been very important to the city and they've done a really good job including it within the design of the city.
The our Lady of Lourdes church has nothing to do with Madonna's eldest child.
North of the river there was an art festival of some sort taking place. I took the opportunity to stock up on liquid and listen to some of the bands.
Some bands were better than others. No mosh pit at this one!
The St Pauls side had a really cosmopolitan feel to it.
The river used to power lots of mills along its length. Some still remain.
It certainly looked pretty busy today. The storms had made sure a lot more water was passing downstream, which was expected to cause problems in Idaho.
This is one of the city's main theatres, The Guthrie. I loved the walkway jutting out of its front.
A close up of the walkway.
Some remains of one of the old city mills.
A pano of Mill Ruins Park looking back across the river.
One of the mill ruins, I think they made flour here.
Like the spoonbridge I guess the Mill Ruins defined the city and so has also become a popular location for wedding photos.
Although I thought it would be a bit weird to signify something that's supposed to be eternal by having photographs in front of something ruined.
The metrodome, one of the main sporting venues in the city. I have no idea what the helicopter was about though.
When walking around cities I am always on the lookout for graffiti but Minneapolis didn't have much at all.
I wonder what the service is like here?
No, I have no idea either.
Having given up on his life of celebrity, the muppet frog moved into the refuse business.
I like murals, but not sure about overly religious ones.
This building was quite cool, the side of it (not easy to see here) was actually a blue print of the building's layout. I wondered if it ever got broken into by robbers who learnt the layout by looking at this.
Looking back towards the Metrodome
A rather amusing poster that would likely upset some camps (pun not intended)"Your dad was not a metrosexual...Damn right your dad drank it"
Guess where I am now!
Looking at the Mississippi from the university's bridge.
Looking at the university's bridge from the university's bridge.
Its full of adverts for the various societies within the University, and there were quite a lot. I'd have expected to have seen the "brand yourself" poster in Texas though rather than here.
Downtown is now some way off. I had walked quite a bit huh?
This was the other reason I'd taken such a big detour. This is the Weisman's Art Museum. An amazing looking building designed by Frank Gehry and finished in 1993. I wonder if the design process involved him screwing up a sheet of tin foil.
Yes, when I took this pic I was leaning way out over the side of the bridge!
Back on Campus and the notice board was bit of a mess with just a single advert remaining. I wonder if he removed the competition?With my walking tour of the city over (another 5 miles walk) I headed back to the hotel ready to travel to the next city, Denver. Once again I had to give the taxi driver directions back to the hotel. Not good!
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