The holiday of awesome begins

Friendly Qatar Airlines ferried our incredibly excited butts from Melbourne to Paris via a small stop over in Doha airport.

Left Melbourne around 22:00, landed in Doha around 06:30 and it was already 32 degrees. Lucky they had all air conditioners turned up to 11, even on the bus. So much so that everything was wet with condensation. It was icky and cool. We should arrive in Paris early afternoon.

The flights over were not so bad, although the last couple of hours were the hardest. The person that was sitting next to me on the 14 hour leg moved seats so GB and I had a 3 seater to ourselves - but stupidly the arm rests didn't go all the up so you couldn't really take advantage of the extra space. The service on Qatar seemed ok, certainly nothing to complain about - if you don't include the stupidity of the other passengers. Doha airport is small and I am now dreading the 6hr layover we have there. Might have to see if we can pay to get into the good bit of it. Doha from what we could see flying over and from the airport looked incredible. Sand everywhere, buildings grouped into compounds - just amazing.

15:00 arrived in Paris. Had a passport check but no customs to go through. The airport seemed huge but not as busy as I expected. I also think that perhaps I was in a bit of an adrenaline fog from the sheer joy I was feeling of being there at last.

Paris airport > Train to Gare de Nord > on foot to the Hotel Flor Rivolli

Our Hotel is in a fantastic location, room is small and accessed via a narrow spiral staircase that I am sure will be responsible for one of us ended up in a neck brace.
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Last night after we had showers we headed to the Pompidou Centre and had a drink on the rooftop terrace bar. It was amazing. Very romantic! The view is said to be the best in Paris. I could see Notre Dame, the Effiel Tower light show and all the way to the Sacre Cour.

On the way there we happened by Saint Merry, where they were having an art show, it was quite amazing, we want to try and find it again today to check out some of the paintings in daylight.

We then walked up to check out the Lourve at night. I think both GB and I are a little overwhelmed sometimes when we realise the stone walls we are touching are older than anything we have touched before. I must say that the evening paints a very different picture of Paris. They know how to light their buildings to make them look magnificent. Even streets that looked a bit dodgy in daylight all of a sudden look fun.

Tim Burton Expo

GB and I went to the Tim Burton exibition last night. Twas fun. You couldn't take photos inside the expo - so here are a few from my phone from Fed Square :)

Scattered. It is the only way to describe my brain of late. I have quite the obessional mind and I would like to start using this for good instead of teenage crushes and buying into someone elses created world. If I am not obsessing over our impending holiday of AWESOME, then it is about the dog that I want. Sometimes I even spend hours looking for exactly the right name for my yet unborn puppy.

So this is where I find myself. I am 15kgs lighter than at the begining of the year. I know that GB and I are sorted for whizz and bang. I developed an interest in the best looking dog that I have ever seen. Calyph. He is going to sire me my new best friend. I have come to an understanding about my family. My twin and I are spending more time with each other and are slightly co-dependent. And I learnt that I can actually achieve goals that I set.

With that in mind I want to start on a new project. More on this later.

Perth

It is nice when your job allows you to visit places you have never been before, then you realise that you are there to work and you have very little spare time to play tourist. The evenings and lunch breaks become all important.

I arrived Sunday afternoon in time for the Zoo to be closed and my plans dashed. So in desperation for some other fun event I noticed on twitter Matt Preston recommended a food venue to Rove. I think 'why not' and I plug the name of the venue into my phone and off I trot to walk the 7km journey to check out the West End Deli. By the time I reach it, it is 18:35 on a Sunday evening. It closed at 12noon. I turn around and head back to my hotel room. I figure it provided me with a destination when I needed it and allowed me to experience a walking tour of the city. I also spotted the Museum and Art Gallery and noted locations for a lunch time visit.

On my way back I ventured into what I later discovered was Northbridge. Northbridge is the restaurant and club area where the young ones flock to on a Friday night. It's the location of lots of big but mediocre looking restaurants, I haven't seen one that looks posh in all my adventures since I arrived but I could just be looking in the wrong place. Northbridge also has a pool hall. It was outside this pool hall that I was threatened by a lady who seemed to be quite straight and not drug affected until she said "You will pay for what you have done, you and your family!" it was uttered like a curse. Then her and her male friend (accomplice) followed me along the street. When I stopped they stopped, when I crossed the road they crossed. It was quite unnerving. Actually I was scared and it was the first time that I stopped to think that I had no idea if there were areas that were not safe to walk of a night time in this City. I managed to get back to hotel unaccosted (boring I know!) and spent a lazy night in my king size bed.

Monday lunch hour was spent at Perth Museum and the Art Gallery. I didn't have much time so it was just a quick look through. A preferable way to spend a lunch break - I don't know why I don't do it more in Melbourne.

After work I decided to head out to Fremantle. It was about 20 mins on the train from the City. On the train line to Freo all the train stations look modern and clean. I think I perhaps was the only person on the train to think such a thing or be interseted in my surroundings. It is so easy to spot the tourist among the commuters. I had the spark of curiousity, surrounded by people whose souls had been sucked out of their eye sockets by the daily grind.

Fremantle had a lovely laid back relaxed feel to it. Lots of big sandstone buildings and very much a holiday harbour vibe.

A must visit was the Little Creatures Brewery along the pier. It was impressive and set up for atmosphere and fun. I wasn't too keen on the price of beer though. Not sure how the westerners can afford to go out drinking without taking out a personal loan or remortgaging their house. Insane prices!

Tuesday rocks around and another sun shiny day in Perth. For my lunch break I decided to hike up to Kings Park. And it was worth it. I was insanely jealous of all the people laying about in groups relaxing in the sun and portraying the life fantastic of the carefree.

The park contains the War Memorial and Eternal Flame, the Botanical Gardens and a structure called the DNA tower, which I didn't get to because I ran out of time :(

The park is very well looked after and has many lookout points to view the city and surrounds. Also thebest looking grass I have seen in my entire life!

To end my last full working day we had a team dinner at a cafe right on Trigg Beach. This is what greeted me when I arrived. A specatular sunset. My iphone camera does not do it justice, it was simply breathtaking.

I ate chilli prawns and soaked up the view of the Indian Ocean and my last WA sunset for some time.

Did someone say Hofbrauhaus?

It all started with this:

Then there was some of this:

Which resulted in:

Numbers

58 Days until we leave on our European adventure. Excited is an understatement.

15 kilos weightloss since mid April 2010.

116 days until I turn 35 (I am a bit scared of this one - to me it represents middle age eek).

7.5 hours until we will gather at the Hofbrauhaus for GB's group birthday dinner.

11 levels of excited and happy that I am feeling lately.

2 days until I head off to Perth for the first time.

0 girl crushes currently experiencing - I need a new bad ass female hero to emerge into my world of escape and fantasy

GB turns 28!

The geek turned 28 yesterday and to celebrate we headed to Maze Grill (Gordon Ramsay's Melbourne restaurant).


The food was good, the service was great and we even got a tour of the kitchen!

I tried soft shell crabs for the first time and had the most expensive steak I have ever eaten.

GB was forgiving that our waiter Scotty wasn't a beer drinker and couldn't get into the recommendation game with him on that front, but he did give us some good wine advice. Everyone was very courteous and leant an indulgent air to the evening.

Happy baked bean

I find myself in the best headspace I have been in for quite some time. I am feeling a lot happier. The combination of exercise, weightloss, enjoying the house/area that I live and our trip of awesome coming up is all contributing.

I have so much to say that I can't even get out what I want. Will try again later.