Being new to the city, I thought this was quite the beautiful display. It created the perfect background for the Christmas spirit that is completely lacking in some other cities I’ve been to.

If you want to check it out, My understanding is that the lights are on until 9pm nightly (although we were there well past 9 and they were still on). If you’re new to town, the City and County Building is on the corner of 14th St. and Bannock in downtown Denver.

Next weekend, you will have two opportunities to attend the Denver Parade of Lights. This will be held on Friday, November 30th at 8pm and again on Saturday, December 1st at 6pm. The parade will start in front of the City and County Building and will follow the following route:

What a better way to get into the Christmas spirit; especially for those of us who will participate in their first holiday season in this beautiful city.

I’ve also noticed that, unlike Phoenix, Denver is definitely not a land full of parking lots. I have never walked so much in my life and I’m loving it. This concept of driving somewhere, parking on the side of the road and then walking everywhere you need to go is incredible to me. If you have to walk a half mile down the road, that’s normal. In Phoenix, that’s grounds for a rental car. I guess that’s part of why Denver is the fittest city in the country. Oh, for the record, I apologize for bringing that statistic down a touch and I assure you, I’m working on getting in shape so I don’t make you all look bad.

Finally, there’s so much to do in Denver and I’m quite sure I haven’t even scratched the surface. Pretty much on any given night, if there’s something that interests me, it’s going on somewhere. People tend to get stuck in a routine in Phoenix and they’ll end up doing the same thing every night of the week. “Oh, it’s Tuesday? guess we’re heading down to the weekly drum and bass night.” It becomes a scenario where they feel there is no alternative and many times, there is none.

All that said, I’m so happy to be here. I feel like I’m home. I’ll never stop wearing my Cardinals jersey, never stop cheering for the D-Backs, Suns or Coyotes. ASU will always be my team. But aside from sports, Denver has won my heart in a short two months. It’s exciting to see what else I’ll experience from here on out.

Now I know you’ve probably heard of this and possibly even played. Being from Phoenix though, I hadn’t even heard of bar trivia until moving to the Mile High City a couple months ago. Well it’s grabbed hold and held on tight. The thrill of playing for that elusive bar tab … I mean come on, who doesn’t want a chance to drink for free?

I was introduced to bar trivia by my roommates boyfriend. There was an open spot on his team and I’m good for one or two correct answers a night (out of the 70 or so that they ask) so I figured, why not? Ah, great times. I never knew there was so much stuff I had never heard of before. It’s definitely a humbling experience.

Before playing, you must know the rules. The three main rules are: 1) Don’t shout out the answers. It’s no fun if people are yelling them out for everyone to write down. 2) Don’t f*** with the quizmaster and 3) The game is fixed. That’s all you need to know.

Teams can be as few as two and as many as six people. You can sign up on a mailing list to get a bonus question emailed to you every week and if you’re one of the ones who gets it right, you could win a nifty prize at the next event.

So if you’re looking for something to take about two hours out of your life while giving you the chance to win free bar food / alcohol, check out Geeks Who Drink and find a location close to you. Games are available every night except for Friday and are completely free to play (other than the cost of your food and drinks). So get going. Study up. Get those brain cells buzzing so you can kill a couple while trying to remember random facts that you never knew before. Just don’t start Googling things on your cell phone while the quiz is going on. We’ll see you and our evil eyes are quite a force to be reckoned with.

In my browsing of the ‘activities’ section on Denver Craigslist, I came upon a link to a site that has definitely made this transition a lot easier on me.

MEETinDenver is a great site for those of you who might be looking to make some new acquaintances or participate in things with a group of people instead of doing it alone. Now before I go too far, let me get some of the disclaimers out of the way:

This site is completely free. They’re not doing it to make money.
There’s over 4,000 people signed up from Denver so there’s always a wide range of events being hosted.
This is NOT a singles site. In fact, holding singles events is forbidden.

So let me just share a few of my experiences. Now, I’m a pretty outgoing person so it wasn’t hard for me just to jump into things. I saw one day that someone was hosting a dinner at The Cheesecake Factory so I decided to hop on the train and head down there. Two hours later, I had enjoyed an awesome meal and met about 10 people I didn’t know earlier that day. Then came the New Members Night; simply a happy hour at a local bar. I showed up there and the bar was full of people from MiD. Two hours later, I had about 20 new friends.

The events can include almost anything and everything. Some people host hiking events, sporting events (they’ve gotten together so many times for the Rockies playoffs and let me tell you, it’s hard attending those as a Diamondbacks fan but I stick it out), meet-ups at coffee houses, dinners, scavenger hunts, visits to museums … you name it. Once you’ve attended 3 events, you’re welcome to host your own as well. I just hosted my first one last week.

If you’re new to Denver or simply wanting to get out and do things, I highly recommend this site. There are so many great people involved and you’re guaranteed a good time. Hey, it’s better than going to the movies alone on a Friday night, right?

So I’m the new kid. Not just the new kid on Denver Metroblog, but the new kid in town. Having just moved from Phoenix to the Denver area, I have made it my mission to find all of the little secrets that Denver has to offer. In my exploration of downtown, I was introduced (by the one person I know in this city) to a quaint but modern little “hole in the wall” called Gelazzi. As you’re walking down Larimer Street, taking in all of the visual stimulation, it would be quite easy to walk past this storefront and miss it with a blink … or six. But make no mistake, you’ll want to make sure your eyes are open for this one.

Gelazzi serves, as you may have guessed, gelato. Amazing, I know, but it’s true. Oh but they don’t stop there. One of the first things you may notice when you walk in is a wall full of alcohol behind the counter. When you pick up the handy menu at the front of the store, you’ll realize why: Gelatinis. With offerings such as Primo Bacio (Chocolate-Chocolate Chip gelato, Frangelico, Creme de Cacao, Absolut Vodka, Cocoa Powder), to the Caribbean Breeze (Coconut & Orange gelato, Bacardi Rum, Vodka, Grenadine) to the Morte da Cioccolato (Death by Chocolate … I’ll let you experience that one on your own), it’s obvious that this isn’t only a menu for your kids.

If the alcohol content of your dessert is not important to you, Gelazzi still has you covered. They display what must be about 30-35 different flavors of gelato and will let you sample them before you commit yourself. Trust me though, this is a several trip situation. You’ll see so many flavors that you want, you’ll just have to come back another time to try another. Flavors like Chocolate Blueberry, Amaretto and Pistachio. Oh but they don’t only offer the sweetness. They’ve got your fruit covered as well with flavors like Watermelon (that taste’s like a real watermelon … go figure), Grapefruit, Cantaloupe and others. Trust me, it tastes like you’re biting into breakfast.

But wait! There’s more!! (Forgive me, I couldn’t resist). Need some coffee? Gelazzi takes care of you with espresso drinks and espresso cocktails. Tea? Cream Soda? Smoothie? Chai? Wine? Oh yeah, Gelazzi has it all.

Enough about their menu though. I’d be called ignorant if I didn’t bring up the environment they provide. There’s a couple of little booths, a handful of tables, a set of barstools stretched across a tabletop on the wall and the lighting is just right. It’s perfectly moody but enough to make the place lively. Of course, there’s the wonderful tables out front so you can make everyone that walks by jealous with your frozen concoctions. They also offer free Wifi for customers and some great smiles behind the counter.

All in all, Gelazzi is a great addition to any night, whether it be for a drink before dinner, some dessert after or just a refresher while walking around downtown. Now if I could just convince them to make a drink with Captain Morgan, my experience would be complete.

Gelazzi Locations

1411 Larimer St., Denver

128 S. College Ave., Ft. Collins