Honeymoon Pit Stop

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Divers ascend the underwaterworld in stages - it's about balancing the pressure in your bodies' airspaces. Reacclimatising. Easing into life on land. We had 36 hours in Brisbane. Our little stopover. Post-paradise and pre-populace, pollution and... parenting! It was about balancing the pressure in our minds' breathing spaces 😊



Brisbane has by all accounts morphed from that pitstop on your way to and from your REAL destination - to an adult city - burgeoning with the sophistication of trendy cafes, modern galleries and cool converted warehouses. Our little layover in the Central Business District was very conveniently located a stone's hurl away from the gorgeous winding Brisbane River with it's ferries, catamarans, sailboats and Story Bridge. Summer hadn't quite arrived yet but the balmy weather drew little flocks of Brisbanites out in the parks and along the river despite the threatening clouds. Spouse went for a run and reported a fabulous route through a mangrove swamp in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens along the river! How cool is that? Complete with mudskippers and crabs in the middle of the city!! Fuggered Foot and I flicked through The Courier-Mail and consoled ourselves sucking on honeycomb dipped in dark Belgian chocolate - it's like gourmet Violet Crumble :D Spouse found it in a little shop along Elizabeth Street.



Dinner that night was booked at Urbane on Mary Street. Boasting a pretty impressive pedigree - the previous chef here had trained at The French Laundry and the current chef recently won Chef Of The Year (ok - in Queensland :b). Stylish, intimate and just-so-friendly, the menu was impressively ambitious. Our Moreton Bay oysters were superb. Our mains - duck, foie gras and ribeye - nicely presented and decently done. Good reds, good desserts and they were just-so-sweet about getting us a cab for me to hobble into...



Sunday, Lazy Sundayyy... Decided to explore the streetmarkets nearby. Riverside Market and the adjoining Eagle Street Market. I LOVE streetmarkets and these didn't disappoint. Sweeeeet setting along the river, casually cool jazz musicians, stalls zig-zagging in little clusters - displays of all manner of artisanal creativity 😊 Saw, touched, inhaled, consumed, revelled in - sizzling hotdogs, pink snow-cones, yards of liquorice, handmade candles, the beaded and bejewelled, old movie posters, wooden totems & didgeridoos, Papunya Tula (Dot Art), akubra hats, uggs, scary metal sculptures, funky kitchen ceramics, delicate christmas baubles, antique toys, lotions, potions, brews, bubbles, earthen pots, fresh flowers, fighting fish in tanks! Endlessly fabulously on and on the markets stretched 😊



We purchased - creamy colourful cupcakes, jars of homemade relish and dips (macadamia mango mustard, spicy tomato, paprika peppers, dukkah), magical salt scrubs and slabs of exotic soaps, stripey cotton table mats and napkins (passed on the matching hammock 😊), Indian beach kaftans, a lapis lazuli egg (for my egg collection), a swirly metal and ball sculpture, a boomerang and balloon rockets (for Sprog). Nope - there were no snowglobes to be found here either 😞



Had really worked up an appetite by now naturally - and Spouse - a thirst for cold beer(s) - so we jumped in a cab to take us the 150 meters up the road to The Belgian Beer Cafe. Cabbies tend not to swear at you even though you're not asking for the airport or the neighbouring town when you're pathetically hobbling along :D The BBC is a temple to beer drinking. YaySpouse! There is ancient sage advice on the walls (see pic) and all worshippers go hither and succumb 😊 😊 It's all gorgeous panelled wood and old bar stools with an adjoining restaurant and a pretty outdoor patio. What it ALSO has is moules et frites! YayMe!! I happily tucked into my moules in white wine and garlic, chunks of bread and frites thrown in. Spouse - all knitted brows - had the excruciating task of picking something from the gargantuan beer menu. He finally settled on... on... uhmmm... well it was icecold and golden!... He was a happy slurry camper 😊



Booty secured. Luggage packed. We boarded our flight back home late last night. Depressurised and ready to resurface. Maybe. Rejuvenated and up for more. Definitely! :D

HangLiPoh
xoxox

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Comments

[Already Spouse]

Cold beer
Hi, The cold beer I had was called Carlton - an excellent Australian beer. It's definitely far superior to Fosters or Castlemaine XXXX which the Aussies export. Already Spouse

[Mariana]

moules n frites in France1
You actually made me miss Brizzie for a moment there! Truly enjoy your posts ... you realize that I've now subscribed to them, don't you? :D And hey, come to France for the REAL moules et frites!! xxx

[Already Spouse]

Cold Aussie Beer @ Belgian Beer Cafe
Hi, I did have an Aussie beer even though it was a Belgian Beer Cafe as I am fond of Aussie beers. Based on my analysis the Aussie beer would have travelled a shorter distance than the Belgian beer and should therefore be fresher :).