City Girl

Country: Australia by Lisette

19-12-2004

As soon as I arrived in Brisbane I fell in love with Brissy, aka BrisVegas. It is a sparkly, lively town with beautiful building, restaurants, and shops. I am excited to be away from the beach and mingle with locals. Time to face the truth and admit I am a city girl!

I went to see the old traditional city hall, the biggest building project in the twenties last century (except for the Sydney Harbour Bridge). Loved seeing the city from Bell Tower. Adored an unplanned shopping afternoon. Enjoyed viewing the Queensland Parliament that took forever to build because they wanted everything imported from the UK.

Queensland is the only state in Australia that does not follow the English political system. The Socialists in Parliament abolished the Senate (Upper House) in 1922. The story tells that the Socialists were trying to develop a free schooling system and free health care. As the Senate consisted mostly of Conservatives it seemed impossible to change the political landscape. The Socialists then concocted a creative attack – they proposed a law to abolish the Senate and get rid of the Conservatives in place.

The Botanical Garden is not worth visiting as a tourist (I’d love it if I were an employee in one of these buildings), especially not after reading a sign “tarantula in this area”. I chose to spend more time in Brisbane’s South Banks. A lively park with a swimming pool, a fake beach and plenty of students wandering around during their Christmas break. Everywhere you go there are festivities, for example there was street theater (“Little Mermaid on Ice” by children), acrobatics, carolling Drag Queens and so much more.