"Sin is In" in Brissy.

Finally... the man has set us free!! With both of us having the same two consecutive days off of work, we hit the road for a quick trip to Brisbane (known by the typical Aussie short slang as Brissy). We have been trying to get to there ever since Marissa saw that "Chicago" was playing at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in the city. Despite the local travel agent's offer to use his car if we took him with us (quote: "Do you have a driver's license? Great. I really want to see the show. We can take my car, but you have to drive because I have a car but not a valid license." ?!?) we decided to book a Greyhound bus to make the 2 hour trip down the coast. Then, like all great travel plans, we found out our friend Lance was going right past Brissy on his way to Surfer's Paradise the same day and coming home the same time we needed to. So we cancelled our bus and took him up on his offer of a ride at 9am. We should have predicted what happened the next day... as we made these plans with him while drinking after work the night before. After incessantly calling him for an hour and a half in the morning, Lance got out of bed and we were off! We arrived on the outskirts of the city with the address of our hostel, and then sh&t hit the fan. Lance's GPS system short circuited, absolutely nobody at the gas station even knew where the west end of the city was, let alone how to get there, and I'm pretty sure that the girl we talked to at the hostel couldn't have located the continent of Australia on a map. Finally a man who used to be a limo driver gave us directions and we were on our way.... right into the middle of the most hectic maze of poorly planned one way streets and dead ends I have ever experienced in a city. Brisbane makes driving in Hamilton feel like a stress free trip down a straight country road.

So we finally arrived at our hostel, managed a lightning fast change of outfits, and were on the shuttle to the city centre. We strolled around the shops on Queen St (picture of me with the "balls") and checked out the beautiful Treasury Casino, which is housed in the city's historic former treasury building (pic of us on the steps). We then strolled along the river (where we encountered random ninjas wandering around... apparently for a movie shoot!) and spent some time relaxing by the city's lagoon (can you find Mars in the photo?). Next it was onto the Performing Arts Centre to pick up our theatre tickets... you can take the girls out of the city... but eventually they will return :) After being cautious with our money and trying not to have expensive meals since we arrived in Noosa, we went all out for dinner at the just-opened Fifth Element restaurant in Brisbane's trendy Southbank area. The place was really cool... a huge list of strange cocktails (see pic of us testing a few out!) and food that is made to match the drinks, not the other way around as most restaurants usually do. After the cocktails and 2 of the 5 yummy tapas we ordered, we moved on to the pièce de résistance that had Fifth Element getting great write-ups: The wine machines. You get a card and go into the wine area, where a sommelier takes you through all of the wines that are available. Then you put your card in, select whether you want a taste, 1/2 glass, or full glass... and out comes your wine choice perfectly preserved. Dangerous! Thankfully we had to leave soon after to get to the play, or we may have ended up having to stay and wash dishes to work off our card balance!

The all-Aussie production of Chicago was FANTASTIC. The NYC/Toronto theatre girls were impressed (Yes, I am trying to channel Liza in the picture). The cast, staging, and trademark Fosse choreography were very well done and entertaining. Well worth the trip to Brissy. (Yes, mom/auntie, after purchasing the cheapest tickets, we moved to much better seats after intermission, just as we've been taught!!) Since it was a Tuesday and not much nightlife was going on, we went back to Fifth Elemnent for two delicious desserts and to chill with the staff that we had made friends with because we're chatty Canadians!

We then headed back to our hostel, where neither of our keys worked for the room. We had to wake up our roommates, and a young sleepy french guy in his tighty-whiteys eventually got annoyed and opened the door. (funny story - the next day we saw 2 of the girls from our room walking out of the hostel near our place in Noosa! Small world... especially if you're a backpacker.)

Sweet road trip... and now back to work... for a little while at least :)