Adelaide

When I left Adelaide the first time, I felt the desire to return. In fact, if I'm comparing Australian cities, I think I would be able to most successfully and healthfully sustain my life in Adelaide as opposed to Sydney, but Melbourne seems to be good middle-ground. Anyhow, I arrived in Adelaide on May 15th and Mike was kind enough to pick me up at the airport far too early in the morning. We went to the markets and bought a bunch of produce, drove to Mt. Lofty, but it was too cloudy to really see anything, nice though, and then returned to his house where we made the most delicious stewed apples with cinnamon and sultanas and guacamole! Generally, I don't try cooking anything beyond cous cous and veggie burgers so it was nice to actually create something quite yummy. Stewed apples are a-mazing. Eventually we went out and did things other than peeling apples and avocados. We saw Matt, Mike's housemate Bridget's boyfriend (whew, lots of possession there) play a gig at The Metro (and he sounded a bit like Bill Callahan and Will Oldham, cool!) and then went bowling, but ten-pin bowling as opposed to "lawn bowling." We finished the evening with a game of Scrabble! Spending time with a group of good friends was refreshing because it reminded me of being at home and although they weren't my good friends it was still comforting. I felt like a real person as opposed to merely a student meandering around Australia, in temporary accommodation, and riding in a car once every month or so. I'm finding that hard to articulate. I felt relatively grounded for the weekend.

The following day we went to Hahndorf, a little German town outside of Adelaide (which we reluctantly drove past on our way into Adelaide on the outback trip). It was quaint. We walked around and went to a museum, bought some candies, and returned to observe a fairly violent division one rugby game, which reminded me of my brief encounter with rugby a year ago; we went to a variety of parties, and ended up ultimately at The Metro to see a band: The Stabs. I enjoyed them, kind of Sonic Youth-esque, maybe.

On Sunday, while Mike had band practice, I strolled around the artsy/cultural district. I went to the Art Gallery of South Australia, The Museum of Southern Australia, the State Library, and the Flinders University exhibit. Afterward, I walked through the the Rundle St. markets and the Botanic Gardens. Although it was a bit of a foggy and rainy day, it was pleasant and I always enjoy walking around cities by myself, due to the fact that it's actually quite liberating. That evening we watched Waltz with Bashir, an animated film about the Palestine-Israel conflict, which I found a bit confusing, but maybe worth watching again after reading up on it a bit. We went to a cute cafe and then the Grace Emily, a rather cozy pub.

While at the Art Gallery of South Australia, I saw a wonderful portrait of Colonel William Light that stayed with me due to the fact that it was partially unfinished and in the bottom right-hand corner there was another self-portrait upside down and smaller. It was a little bit eerie. Anyhow, we went to see Colonel Light's statue, pointing over Adelaide, which he designed. A Lamington may or may not have been consumed. And St. Peter's Cathedral was visited; churches are always inviting and warm, at least as buildings. Overall, I enjoyed my time in Adelaide; by far one of the busiest weekends I have experienced in Australia and very pleasant thanks to my new and very kind friend!