catch you up on our trip so far

Paul, Myles and I left Brisbane early Wednesday morning to start our family holiday in Tuscany.

Three years of planning for the 4 families enjoying this event.

We may not look excited, but then we were at the airport 5 hours before departure.

Finally in our seats. We're trialling Emerates this time.

It's interesting seeing the safety demo in Arabic.

Singapore Changi airport is all about the orchids.

And in Dubai it was all about Ramadan

More adventures next time.

visit near Western Queensland

Some weeks ago I was required to travel to Chinchilla and Tara in close 

Western Qld for work.

It's a 1&1/2 hour drive to Toowoomba. We had morning tea here.

another hour to Dalby where we filled up with petrol..

And then another hour's drive to Chinchilla.   Cotton drifts along the roadside

from the cotton fields

Lunch in the main street of Chinchilla, a quick meeting a the hospital

Then a trip to the town's premier Saddlery.

I haven't seen this selection of boots since we visited Texas.

A fabulous choice of shirts for the cowgirls around town.

It was back in the car then for our final leg of the trip to Tara, just another hour down the road.

Dinner at the pub; we went with the steak.

Before retiring to the boudoir for the night. 

If you're ever in Tara, I can recommend the Tara Spa 

Motel Apartments.

They're pet friendly. You can even take your fish on holiday. Every amenity and they can make new friends. (The resident fish are in this giant bowl. Even fish food is provided)  

The main street was a little quiet the next morning at 9.00 am when we drove to our series of meetings at the School.

consider the art of interactive gaming

On Mother's Day, Nick and I visited the Powerhouse in Brisbane. As opposed to the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney that Paul and I visited on the preceding Sunday.

Brisbane's version is very cool and as a re purposed space is highly successful; providing gallery space, performance space, architectural interest, historical nostalgia and good eating/drinking areas.

It doesn't take itself too seriously. See sign below.

The artistic event being presented was all about Interactive gaming. Flashbacks anyone?

Much of it went over my head, but there were themes that were consistent.

...and lovely.

Thought provoking.

 

Esoteric

And in some cases.... mundane....?

 We re aligned ourselves with the current universe, and strolled around New 

Farm park and along the river. 

visit the Gowings hotel in Sydney

As I mentioned previously, the QT hotel, renovated over the old mensware store Gowings in Sydney is a treat to visit.

I enjoyed breakfast here, but was so impressed that I had to drag Paul in to show it off.

My breakfast setting

She welcomes you as you arrive to the bistro and bar.

And in the lobby of the reception area, lots of lovely things to look at.

Note the pineapple in the beer bottle.

Their floral presentations were superb.

Next time we visit Sydney....

show you some shoes

Paul and I were in Sydney last weekend. He'd been there for work all week, so I invited myself along.

I had lots of plans, but the main one was to visit the Powerhouse Museum, which was holding a 'Shoe retrospective'. Isn't it great when things on your wish list eventuate?

So,here's some sharing of how it presented.

The lights were dim and full attention paid to shoe preservation.

Shoes going back to the 1600s

Men and women's, all sizes and other cultures mentioned.

... And the moderns

Catherine Martin, costume designer and wife to Director Baz Luhrmann has donated over 50 pairs of her custom made shoes to the exhibition. She's petite in real life, but her shoe size is quite large.

These gorgeous mannequins were in the foyer of the QT hotel in Market St. It was developed on the old Gowings Men Store, so called on vintage nostalgia as it's decor.

More about it another time.

wonder which is better?

In the blogging stratosphere, is it better to post more frequently with less content or less frequently with more content?

Or shall I just do what I jolly well please?

Anyhoo, the men of the house have decided to do the 'BBC100 books to read before you die' list. Amazon have just announced their list as well in case you're interested.

So far, Paul's ahead of the game. A whiff of competition and he's onboard. I was happy to supply a good number of the titiles from the home library and a family whip around provided many more.

 

Urra per libri as they say in Italy.

laugh and laugh

A funny for today