Adelaide

I had a more active day than yesterday. I still didn't do a heck of a lot but I did wander around downtown Adelaide and found parts of the city I haven't seen before. To get from Glenelg to Adelaide you can take a tram for $4 each way. When Alan and I were first here 7 years ago it was an old fashioned one car tram. Unfortunately and fortunately, now it is a modern three car tram that looks more like a train. It carries more people and was certainly being heavily used but I miss the nostalgia of the old-fashioned tram.

I got off the tram at the Rundle Mall stop. Rundle Mall is a pedestrian street that is about 8 blocks long and has lots and lots of shops. I wandered through a few of them and didn't really find anything to buy. Within Rundle Mall are a couple of traditional shopping arcades. I always like wandering through them because it is kind of like stepping back in time. Here is are a couple of shots from one of the arcades:

As a side note, I went into a couple of bookstores since I finished my book yesterday. Holy cow are books expensive here! A simple crime novel that is a small paperback would typically run you about $7 in the US - here they were $20 each. I really need something new to read but couldn't stomach spending more than twice what I would spend in the US. Most of the books that are here in Australia are actually published here so the cost isn't due to importing them. Who knows...

After doing a bit of shopping I decided to wander a couple of streets over. I ended up walking through the festival and arts area that is right on the river. It is really nicely done and there is some great outdoor art there as well. It is Father's Day here today so there were quite a few families out picnicking on the lawn and out on paddle boats on the river.

Right near this area is the Railway Station. I figured it was just the old rail station building and wasn't in use. To my surprise, it is still a functioning rail station. Here are pictures of the building as well as the clock within the station:

From the railway station I stopped in to the South Australian Museum. There was free entry today since it was Father's Day. It was an interesting museum but it was such a nice day outside that I didn't spend too much time inside. I did a bit more shopping to pick up some groceries for the hotel room and some local chocolates for Alan and I to enjoy when we are in Hawaii in a few weeks.

I headed back to the hotel in Glenelg on the return tram. I realized that in order to eat the salad I bought at the grocery store I needed a fork so headed back out to the local grocery store. On the way back from what was supposed to be a quick trip I got pulled into the local bookstore. Thank goodness for local bookstores! Their normal prices were the same as the other shops in Adelaide, however, they had two great big sale tables and I found a new book for $5.95. I also found some greeting cards that were on sale (these are also insanely priced in Singapore). I'll start reading the new book tonight and if I like it may go back and get a couple of the other books from the same author.