Brisbane - Welcome to Australia!

After 16 hours in the air and 10 in various airports (Kabul, Delhi, Singapore) along the way, we went from here:

to here:

Ok, maybe that picture doesn't mean much to you but it meant a lot to me at the time. Sunshine (of the non-blinding sort), flowers, greenery, thoughtfully designed architecture, fresh seafood, spring...all of that was there to meet us in Brisbane, our first stop during vacation in Australia.

Brisbane doesn't get much press compared to her sibling cities in The Land Down Under but it was the perfect place for us to shake off our jet lag and get re-acquainted with life outside of Afghanistan. We only had three night and two days in this Queensland city but took full advantage of the gorgeously warm spring weather by staying outside. On our first afternoon, we spent the early part walking around the center of the city, near our hotel. After years of vacationing in Europe, it was a little weird to visit Brisbane's oldest church and discover it wasn't even 200 years old. However, thanks to a recent renovation, it was still in beautiful shape. I was pleased to find my favorite saint - St. Christopher - in the windows. St. Christopher is the patron saint of travelers.

We spent a good deal of time along the river. On one side, we explored the City Botanic Gardens, testing the benches and watching all the business-folk take breaks during their work days. We even saw some creepy lizards in there.

A ferry along the Brisbane River brought us to the South Bank Parklands for more exploration (this time with more teenagers and children). The Parklands was created in 1992 to make use of space originally designed for the 1988 World Expo. One of the highlights is the Grand Arbor, a one kilometer arched walkway covered with bougainvilleas and pictured above. The Ferris wheel also made for a lovely distraction in the afternoon. However, the real star of the Parklands was the Street Beach. Made mostly from reclaimed Brisbane River land and surrounded with sand imported from the nearby Moreton Bay, the beach has river views on one side and parkland on the other. Even though it was a workday and the weather was only in the upper 70s, lots of kids were in the water, surrounded by parents with their toes in the sand.

On our last night in Brisbane, we happily met up with a friend's friend for dinner. Trina brought HER friend and our little group had some delicious Thai food as our new Aussie friends gave us suggestions on things to see and do during the rest of our trip. After dinner, Trina was kind enough to throw us in her car and take us to the top of Kangaroo Point Cliffs. From there, we had expanded views of the whole city. Looking around, it seemed like it wasn't just Brisbane, but rather all of Australia, welcoming us.