Barrio Viejo

Tucson Surprises

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Similar to running into an old friend that I didn’t realize I missed, Tucson continues to surprise me. A few years ago after Tucson came onto my radar, I joined a few Facebook groups focused on the city. I figured it would give me a little insight into the culture, pluses and minuses and some secrets, too. I do this for any city I’m visiting if it is remotely a possibility as “the place”. As expected, some comments are negative but mostly the tidbits have been positive. As I am exploring, I find Tucson has a lot to love about it and I am enjoying discovering its nooks and crannies.

Tucson is clean. There is no garbage littering the downtown area or any other place I’ve explored so far. I found a dog park last night and even that was spotless. It is impressive.

Food is important here and I sense a certain amount of pride with the offerings at the various restaurants I’ve visited. I found a fantastic market called Time Market. It has fresh grocery items but also an attached cafe and bakery offering morning pastries, pizzas, salads and sandwiches. Artisan bread comes out of the oven at 7 a.m. and I suspect it is worth getting up for! My croissant was delicious.

Next to the Tucson Museum of Art is the Presidio neighborhood. Since the museum was not open when I arrived, I walked the hood. It was another charming, historical area with some stunning homes – not ostentatious or large – but instead with character and details worth observing.

I visited the Tucson Museum of Art, which although is small, has an impressive collection of varied art. The collections include ancient Americas, contemporary Latin American, Indigenous, Latin American Folk Art and Modern Art. The size of the museum makes all of this digestible and three other buildings outside the courtyard add more to see.

I then walked about 13 minutes to Barrio Viejo and along the way this beautiful plaza appeared! I also landed on an ice skating rink with holiday music and kids skating and smiling. Wandering is the best way to be surprised.

As I headed to my short-term rental I stopped at University of Arizona to check out the turtle pond. I found it, but no turtles, just large goldfish.

Tucson offers so much variety and beauty. Tonight I will attend an opening at the Etherton Gallery. Today is my fifth day in Tucson and she has been generous with her gifts of warmth, beauty and accessibility.

First Day in Tucson

Posted on by Seniye Groff

It’s December 3rd and the weather is a sunny, mild 62 degrees (but actually feels warmer in the sun). The sweltering days of Tucson’s 100 degree plus temperatures are over and so I can see the allure of a winter home here. I decided to check out the multiple neighborhoods on my list to see. Tucson is easy to navigate with it’s wide, grid streets. One thing I notice immediately is how clean everywhere I go is with not a speck of trash anywhere. It’s impressive. The second thing I observe is murals are plentiful and tell the story of the rich culture in Tucson.

I start at Barrio Viejo. This is a neighborhood of post Civil War adobe and brick homes. They are small, simple and gorgeous. This neighborhood is walkable and right next to downtown.

I then see Menlo Park/Mercado San Agustin and the MSA Annex. This is another cool area that is a new development but built to look old and fits in nicely to the Tucson aesthetic.

I also drove to the Sam Hughes neighborhood, Blenman-Elm and West University areas. Beautiful, historical homes that I love.

Lunch was then in order so I stopped at Boca Tacos. I tried three tacos, a boca ball and a salsa flight which included a garbanzo bean option, basil black bean and an avocado version. They were all excellent.