Canberra

When I first arrived in Canberra, I was underwhelmed. All any local in Sydney had to say about the capital city was that it was cold. After arriving at my hotel in the rain, Canberra very quickly looked to me like the Kendall Square of Australia. Government buildings. Office buildings. Restaurants open from 9-5. Everything closed on Sunday. A mall. I felt pretty lonely pretty damn fast.

The first day, I went for a walk and didn't discover much of anything, besides the grocery store. The second day my co-worker and I went for a walk. We ran into a youth hostel to ask what there was to do. We discovered that there was a market every Sunday at the old bus depot. We went. It was....pretty good! We drank Sangria. It was delicious.

That night, we found a local via couchsurfing. He took us out for Thai food. (Australians LOVE thai food). We had good conversation. We made friends with the table next to us. It was a jolly good time- things were looking up. He told us about a couple of events happening this week, one a concert I'm going to tonight.

After 1 and a half days of work, I had a half day. I explored. It was fantastic. The sun was out. The air was brisk. I went to a local cafe that boasted the best coffee in Canberra- and it was the best I'd had in a long time. I also treated myself to an Australian "Lamington". The girls at the cafe recommended it. It's a sponge cake dipped it chocolate and rolled in coconut. Deeee licious.

I strolled. I discovered funky bookshops. I bought my fill of cheap Aussie souvenirs for friends and family. Then I went to the Australian National Museum. I encountered a lot of magic birds (see below) on the walk by the lake there. The museum was great. Really. I haven't learned so much at a museum in a long time. Did you know that there used to be a fence running the entire continent that was built to keep rabbits out of Western Australia? There was. I saw a platypus- dead this time. I learned about the Aboriginal traditions. I went to a rotating movie theater. It was really nice.

So Canberra, it looks like you're more than meets the eye. I'm looking forward to seeing more of you. I guess once I realized you're a quiet, relaxed, small city, there was so much more of you to see.