Brisbane!!!

After the past week or soaking up the sun and experiencing the great, and not so great, outdoors, it was kinda perfect timing that I hit Brisbane. I love urban environments the same as nature and Brisbane hit the spot. The only downside was the less than stellar hostel I stayed in. It was kinda dirty, but close to everything, but I was being lazy and didn't want to find anything else. Plus, it had amazing views of downtown Brisbane on the roofdeck so I stayed.

When I got there I was pleasantly informed the Gallery of Modern Art was holding an Andy Warhol exhibit! Most of the Warhol collection was on loan from the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA (holla!) and I found it a bit odd that in all my travels to Pittsburgh I never once visited the Andy Warhol Museum, but now had a chance to see the collection in Brisbane. Does this strike anyone else as being odd?!? It was a great exhibit and it started off my blissful trip to this nifty city.

Brisbane isn't huge and even though it's the capital of Queensland, there isn't anything you MUST do while there. The city center is filled with the usual skyscrapers, cafes, bars and whatnot, but I still managed to find some places to check out. Meanwhile, back at the ranch (hostel), Tom and Ade from my sailing trip were staying there too and we met up to take in the sights of the city together. Yeah! We visited the Botanical Gardens, clocktower, Brisbane Museum, which had a rather morbid exhibit on the mental hospital facility that surrounds the area. So, Brisbane is full of loony tunes...just kidding. We also were really happy to happen upon a food court that sold half price hot meals ($3.80!) after 3pm so we bought a few and kept them in the hostel fridge to same some cash. You need to find little gems like that every now and then!

Later on, we tried to get into the casino, but were denied due to various clothing violations (flip flops, board shorts, hats) so the three of us got all gussied up that night and headed back to the casino to maybe hit it big. I'll admit I was secretly dreaming of hitting the jackpot and transferring my backpack to the nearest penthouse. Sadly, I lost $6 on roulette, while Ade won $15. The casino was very nice and really upscale, but rather small. Also, no free drinks! That's blasphemy!

All in all, you need about 2 days in Brisbane if you are tight on time, maybe another day or so if you want to check out more restaurants/bars in the outer suburbs. My third day was spent at...well, you'll just have to wait and find out!