In 1931 Napier was virtually destroyed by an earthquake. This Hawke's Bay city, just 20 minutes from our home for this week, was rebuilt leveraging Art Deco, the architectural influence of the time. On Tuesday we drive into the downtown and pick up a map for a walking tour. There are 75 buildings on the map, and we manage to walk by 54 of them before our feet are tired and the promised afternoon rain begins. Some of our favorite buildings are below and we've posted more on our photo site.
When it is drizzling in an area with ~70 vineyards and wineries what else would one do but to visit some wineries? We choose the Tardale area. First stop is Mission Estate Winery. We enjoy the grounds then decide to have a cheese plate and a glass of wine on the patio.
With some food in our bellies William drives us another 10 minutes down the road to Church Road Winery. James Taylor was in concert on their lawn last weekend playing for a crowd of 5,000. Too bad we missed it! The Cellar Door Manager waits on us and offers tastings of a wide range of their wines. They have an Italian varietal, Marzemino, which we have never tried before and we find quite pleasing. We pick up a bottle of the 2014 vintage.
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