Going To Church

I think Christchurch was my favorite city in New Zealand.  It is very sad about the earthquake.  You can see my picture of the city square and iconic church.  That Church was heavily damaged.

Christchurch has more of a European or English feeling.  There is a huge English style park with a green house and garden.  A river runs through the city and garden and you can take a ride on a punting boat with a gandolier or punter.   There is a also a vintage tram that runs though part of the city.  It is for tourists and costs around $20 to hop on and off.  It is strange as they have the same one in Melbourne and it is free.  You never know what something is going to cost down here.

There are lots of cafes and restaurant throughout the city and by the river.  A number of them are in old stone English style buildings.  The food was very good, I had something like a seafood Paella which was excellent.   I also had Souvlaki at a counter, which is like a Gyro and that was amazing too.

For all the quaintness, I happened to stay in a very modern boutique hotel.  My room was very small and had no window.  There was room under the bed for your luggage and you could turn the bathroom light on in 5 different colors.  I think these very small rooms are a trend.  They are clean and modern and perfect for the modern traveler. 

I also had an excellent foot massage.  There is one famous place there that you can get a Chinese foot massage.



It is a lovely city and my hopes and prayers are with the people for a full recovery.