Our
friends Jen and Brian (who you may remember from past OZ visits here and here)
picked us up from the Airport and took us straight to our hotel; thankfully they appreciate
jet lag more than most and didn’t expect a long catch up!
We were
staying in the Brisbane Hilton (My TA review here). Oh my, it’s very posh! There's a beautiful marble
clad foyer which is where their restaurant and bar were found too! Checking in was
lovely and quick as Mike is a Diamond member of the Hilton Honours reward
scheme.
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| Inside the Hilton |
Our room
was and 3x as big as our one back home, with city views, huge bathroom, a desk
and cozy arm chairs.
 |
| Our Hotel view with Brisbane Town Hall in the centre :) |
We were
so pooped, we didn’t fancy going out so we ordered room service. This was my
first time having room service, I was ridiculously excited (small minds!) and
we ordered a classy selection of
pizza, chips and milkshakes!
 |
| Room Service |
With a
very full belly and snuggled in my white fluffy hotel dressing gown we hit the
sack.
On our
first full day in Brisbane we decided to reacquaint ourselves with our
favourite city. We had a wander through the city centre, over the river into
the South Bank. After a couple of ours we headed back to the hotel with jet lag
setting in and Mike (we later found) had a mild case of food poisoning.
After a
nap, Mike’s phone lit up with a message “Pig and Whistle? Now-ish?”. How better
to ease us back into the Brizzy life than dinner at an English pub – irony!
Our message
was from Peter and Renee, who you may also remember for previous visits to
Australia here and here. It had been two years since we’d visited so we had a lot to catch up
on! We’d finished by 8pm and it was still 22 degrees – I could just feel my
limbs thawing out already!
Finally
by day two we were starting to move into the appropriate time zone! After a
lovely complimentary breakfast at the Hilton, and another walk around town, we
headed to Brisbanes’ Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) after hearing about a fascinating exhibition called Falling Back to Earth by Cai Guo-Qiang.
You all
know by now, I’m no expert in art. But I really do not know how to explain Mr
Guo-Qiang’s work other than with the word Epic! There was Heritage; made up of 99
animal replicas all drinking from the same lake. Then there were 99 wolf replicas
all running/flying towards a glass screen called Head On. The symbolism of 99 suggests that
the sequence is not complete leaving room for expectation and questions but you’re
better off looking at my photos that taking my word for it!
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| Heritage |
 |
| Head On |
 |
| Head On |
By late
afternoon we were staving and decided on a “dinner” of pancakes at Brisbanes
24hr Pancake Manor! For the first time in about a decade, I left my camera AND
my mobile at the hotel, so just imagine, three large pancakes, smothered in
berrys, ice cream, marshmallows, chocolate sauce and cream all melting on
top... diet? What diet?
L x
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