Can(brrrrrr)a

Last night after hanging out in the lounge I just went back to my room.  The TV got boring so I decided not to waste away in front of it.  To my surprise, I am in a room with seven other guys!  I thought I was alone, but finally another girl came in to help offset all the testosterone.  All the guys are really nice and we ended up talking for a couple of hours before getting to sleep.  There are two older gentlemen from India who actually have been living in the hostel for a couple of years.  They live in Sydney and come here for work during the week.  Another guy is from England and he's here to start school.  One from Germany who studied in Perth, moved to Miami and now is back in Australia, and one from Texas.  The last guy is from Melbourne but is moving up here for work and the girl is from Canada. 

I got up this morning and went for a short run before coming back to shower and make breakfast.  I'm heading out for my day of exploration in Canberra.  It's very different from Melbourne and I'm excited to see what I can discover.

Later:  It's 4:30pm now, which makes it seven hours since I left this morning.  I set off on the recommended tour route and most definitely got lost and completely turned around.  I strayed off track for about an hour before I finally made it to the Australia War Memorial.  The street leading up to it, ANZAC Parade, is lined with mini memorials on both sides.  They are really nicely crafted and a great way to honor those fighting for their country.  At the end of the street, the actual memorial is this grandiose building that pretty much details the stories of Australian soldiers.  I spent a good chunk of time in there just walking around and taking everything in.  I'm not really a history buff but I do enjoy a good museum.

Once I got out of there and made my way down the long parkway, I began the circle around Lake Burley Griffin.  I stopped for a few photos at Blundells' Cottage, which was actually closed today, before finding a bench across from the National Carillion to eat my lunch.

After a phone call to my mom I made my way to the National Gallery (art...not my thing and kind of boring so I didn't stay very long) and the High Court of Australia.  I got to go inside the largest courtroom in the country and received more information than I really cared to from the elderly guide in the room.  He's passionate so I'll praise him for that.

Finally after all of that I made it to the Parliament and Old Parliament buildings.  You had to pay to explore the old one so I opted out of that.  The new one is really modern and nice and I had a good time walking around there.  I really wanted to see the Prime Minister but the House of Representatives was in session and she was in attendance there.  I bought some postcards and sent them off before heading outside for some last pictures and then the long walk back to my room.  On the way home I found a Parliament badge in the street so now I have to find a way to return it.  Or maybe that's my ticket to the PM...though unfortunately I look nothing like the dude in the picture.

Later I went to dinner at a Chipotle looking restaurant but was kind of disappointed.  Not satisfied, I went to a cafe and got a fancy coffee drink before heading back to the hostel where I met up with the group of guys from my room plus two others Canada (we just decided life would be easier if we called each other by where we're from, so was have Texas, California, Germany and London) met and invited along.  Germany, Canada, Texas and London all had wine from a bag before heading out but we finally made it to the Uni Bar.  After checking out the bar we went up to the fourth floor where the dancing was.  It was a really fun, long night (we didn't get back until 2:30am) and I discovered that all of the American-loving Australians are just in hiding in Melbourne.  They were out and about in Canberra and I describe my night as getting preyed on like a piece of meat.  It was kind of funny because every time I turned around someone else was there and at one point I ended up over the shoulder of a really big Samoan man (like a sack of potatoes).  I knew nothing bad would happen to me because I was with my comrades from the hostel.  It was an interesting "cultural" experience, but it's been a long time since I've gotten out and I had a good time.