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Saturday, January 18, 2020

Uptown Charlotte N.C. & Meeting Carla at Whole Foods Market

Our final day and some sight seeing in Charlotte Uptown too!
It was not far driving from the Hyatt House Charlotte Airport to Uptown.
We had spent several nights in Charlotte previously, with our foster-daughter in 2004 at the Hyatt Regency and with my sister Diny and her significant other at the very same Hyatt House in 2007.
This very crane standing and working there, made our re-entrance to the parking garage complicated!
We did not realize it at the time of exiting through the door that would be SHUT for re-entering from the street for safety reasons...
Charlotte, North Carolina's Uptown is impressive!
Pieter standing next to the sign of Hearst Tower
We both loved this statue near Bank of America, against the blue sky
Again, near Bank of America and same statue
This is Il Grande Disco by Arnaldo Pomodoro, an Italian sculptor.
It sits near the Bank of America since 1974.
There are SIX of the same Pomodoro Sculptures in the world!!
University of Chicago 1968
Milan in front of Banca Populare in the Piazza Meda, 1980
Purchase, NY in the PepsiCo Headquarters' Donald Kendall Sculpture Gardens 1974
Milan at the Theatro Strehler 1972
Darmstadt. Germany part of the monument for Georg Büchner 1973...
Now from the side... the bright sunlight was too harsh for good photos!
A six tons of bronze disc spanning 15 feet in diameter or 4.6 m
Yep, we made us a shady WeFie in the mirrored glass...
As I mentioned early on, the street entrance door to the parking garage was CLOSED due to that crane working in the street... So we walked through the building to the elevator and captured this eagle statue.
Pushing the T for Tryon to get to the parking garage section where our Nissan Murano was waiting...
We were heading by car to Whole Foods Market to find us some healthy lunch to eat.
I would be in for a BIG SURPRISE...
Running into a former student, Carla, that went with me to Japan in July of 2007.
Via link at way bottom of this post, you can see her standing next to me in the 4th photo, on the roof of the YKK research center in Tokyo, Japan. Carla is 2nd from left and I'm the chaperon on the left...
Small world!
Lunch time at Whole Foods Market
Of all 10 days of travel, only 4 times my Nonagenarian could take his nap...!
Whole Foods Market...
Such lovely, sunny weather for driving home!
Short Relive video from this Charlotte Uptown visit from the Hyatt House Airport
Somehow, I've turned off my Relive App while eating lunch at Whole Foods Market so the journey driving home is not on it.
Only 408 km or 254 mile home...
That did bring the total of this Mountain Trip to 3108 km or 1931 mile...

Thanks for your visit and comment!

Related links:
Charlottesville Virginia to Charlotte North Carolina | previous post by me
Skyline Drive & Shenandoah River in Virginia | previous post by me
Monticello Gardens of President Thomas Jefferson and Mulberry Row | previous post by me
Mabry Mill Restaurant and Blue Ridge Parkway | previous post by me

21 comments:

  1. These photos are spectacular!! And thank you for leaving a comment on my “video” post .. is it any wonder you are so loved?!

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    Replies
    1. Dearest Helen,
      Thank you and you are quite welcome, always a joy to hear your voice sweet friend!
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  2. Hello Mariette, When we are travel and are active in the world, coincidences like meeting your old student seem to abound. It seems to be a special reward for being involved. When I lived in Cleveland, I hardly met any of my neighbors in the supermarket that I went to frequently, so even if your friend lived in Charlotte, the odds of running into her were infinitesimally small.
    --Jim

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    1. Dearest Jim,
      Oh, over the decades we've run into friends more often but yes, the chances are like finding a needle in a hay stack really!
      But it is the joy of the day.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

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  3. Enjoyed the pictures of Charlotte. One of our daughters lives there. Matter of fact she is a senior VP in that tallest BOA building.
    I enjoy going to see her, since Charlotte is so very pretty. We usually take walks in Freedom Park. Hope you are having a nice weekend...

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    1. Dearest Janey,
      Oh sure I do recall that your daughter lives there and the last visit's memory is not your fondest one... Not by lack of loving your daughter or the beautiful city though!
      Would love to take such walks as well.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

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  4. Huge tall buildings! Have a nice new week;-)

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    1. Dearest Anne,
      Yes, indeed huge due to this city being the financial district and largest after New York City.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  5. Small world indeed; what a lovely surprise.

    Thanks for sharing these photos. My uncle (Dad's brother) lived in Charlotte, NC for many, many years with his second wife and her kids. He's lived in northern Italy for a long time, though, with his third wife. :-P

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    1. Dearest Kim,
      Wow, that is quite a story about your Dad's brother.
      We too lived and worked in northern Italy, near Venice for about one year but we were together and came back to the USA together...
      Hugs,
      Mariette

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  6. From the title, I thought you met Carla by planning to do so. But you happened to run into each other. It's a small world indeed and what a pleasant surprise :-)
    I enjoyed beautiful photos from Charlotte. I think I've been to Uptown area when I visited NC because some buildings look familiar. Love the photo of the statue against the blue sky.

    Have a wonderful new week, Mariette!

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    Replies
    1. Dearest Tamago,
      No, there was absolutely NO planning and I was oh so surprised when she mentioned my name suddenly... A very pleasant surprise indeed! Fond memories of our trip to Japan together.
      It is quite an impressive city and we wish we had had more time to walk.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

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  7. Liebe Mariette,
    Ihr seid wirklich viel herumgekommen! Das ist bestimmt sehr interessant. Was Dein Mann da wohl denkt, ging mir gerade durch den Kopf ... ob man in der heutigen Zeit noch einmal jung sein möchte bei den modernen Entwicklungen ...

    In meinen alten Blog komme ich kaum noch in die Kommentare, er hat einen Fehler, deshalb hatte ich einen neuen Blog angelegt. Du findest mich nun hier

    https://meinwaldgarten.home.blog

    Ich vermute sogar, dass es an den vielen Labels liegen könnte, das hat mir noch jemand im alten Blog geschrieben und das beobachte ich auch in anderen Browsern. Auch Dein Blog ruckelte eben, es dauerte, bis ich ins Kommentarfeld kam.

    Liebe Grüße
    Sara

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    Replies
    1. Liebe Sara,
      Ja, es war eine herrliche und sehr sonnige Reise!
      Froh das ich es geschafft habe mit meinem Pieter.
      Ja, jung sein in dieser Zeit ist eine Herausforderung aber wir machen ja alle mit.
      Auf deinem PC sind es wahrscheinlich Probleme wegen zu wenig Memory vorhanden, zu viel Fotos vielleicht oder sonst.
      Ganz liebe Grüße,
      Mariette

      Delete
    2. Das freut mich, liebe Mariette.
      Was den PC betrifft, leider nein! 😏 Der ist tip top auf dem neuesten Stand.
      Ich habe wirklich nur mit meinem Gartenblog ein Problem, aber auch bei Deinem Blog mit den ebenfalls sehr vielen Labels ruckelt es. Mein Sohn, der etwas von der Technik versteht, sagte, so viele Label seien nicht vorgesehen. Dann gibt es unweigerlich Probleme. 🤔 Und an dem Punkt war mein Gartenblog nun angelangt. Ich erinnere mich, wie Bloggerinnen schon vor Jahren damit Probleme hatten, der Blog dadurch "zerschossen" wurde. Leider gibt es kein deutschsprachiges Hilfeforum mehr. Daher lasse ich dem Blog nun liegen und blogge nur noch im neuen weiter. Es raubt zu viel Zeit, die ich nicht habe.

      Liebe Grüße ☀️ 🙋🏻‍♀️
      Sara

      Delete
  8. Hoi Mariette,
    Wat een mooie foto's!! Heel indrukwekkend al die hoge gebouwen.
    En wat een prachtige standbeelden. Mooi gefotografeerd ook zo van onderaf met dat gebouw op de achtergrond.

    Groetjes, Marco

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    1. Beste Marco,
      Charlotte was inderdaad een geweldige stad en gigantisch financieel centrum, 2de na New York City.
      Een mooie stop op de weg terug van het mooie Virginia met z'n indrukwekkende treinen.
      Groetjes,
      Mariette

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  9. OH I am so glad you were there and I have been all over Charlotte so everywhere you two were, I (and Bruce) were too. LOVED seeing you down there at the Square, so to speak, where the statues are. It is so pretty in uptown Charlotte. How wonderful to meet an old. friend. One could have said "Fancy meeting you here!"

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    1. Dearest Katie Isabella,
      You certainly have checked out all the beautiful and historical areas of this wonderful city.
      So happy we too finally managed to dot that with lots of sunshine added.
      It was very special for running into Carla!
      Hugs,
      Mariette

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  10. I am thinking you must live about 20 minutes south of me or more as I am just a little less time to Charlotte, NC. I was thinking you got nicer weather than we did when we went back in Dec, but your day was colder by far. Never think to eat at whole foods, but would solve a ton of problems by first we can all choose what we want to eat and two it is self service, so we wouldn't have to wait for our food to come to us.

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    Replies
    1. Dearest Kelleyn,
      Aha, so one more blogger friend living within driving distance...?!
      Whole Foods Market does solve a lot of problems, no wait, you select and you can grab some fresh fruits or yogurt to go, whatever needed. We've done this now for more than a decade. When our German son with his little ones came, they loved it when we were all together in Florida for Disney World. You can even use their microwave, so many options.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete

Thanks for your visit and comment.

Mariette...