City Circle Tram

I decided to clear my mind by taking the day off on Sunday.  I really needed to get away from school and studying because I'd gotten to the point where I wasn't even sleeping because I was so stressed.  I was originally just going to take the morning off, but then the morning turned into the day, and in the end, I'm happy it did.  My morning was slow to start, but I finally got up and dressed and went out into the cold.  The mornings here are getting quite chilly, but I actually like it.  As long as it's dry, I can handle it; it's only really when it starts raining that I find myself miserable.  I set out to get a winter coat, because the one I've got has gotten ratty an is too big for me now.  It was semi-frustrating experience, but I found one that I really liked and I began to wear it right away.
I decided to hop on the free tram, called the City Circle, because that's something that I had yet to do.  It's the only tram that's free and it takes you around the perimeter of the city and past most of the historical and tourist areas.  There's the added bonus of having the narration to go along with it so that you know what you're looking at.  You can get on and off as you please, and a tram comes by a designated stop every 12 minutes.  The only bummer about doing it on the weekend was there were loads of people doing the same thing, so it was a bit overcrowded.
I decided that my first stop would be the Victoria Parliament Building.  I'd run by it before, but I had never stopped to really look at it.  Apparently, though you would never know by just looking at it, the building was never finished.  The 19th century architect that had envisioned the final product never saw that dream realized.

Next up was St. Patrick's Cathedral.  The organ was belting throughout the city and people were going in and out as different church services were beginning and ending.  Going inside, bits and pieces reminded me of MemChu and I was amazed at the beauty of the place.

I then swung by Docklands, which is a newer part of the city and is still under construction.  It sits right along the water and there are many fancy apartment buildings, restaurants, and a shopping center.  I strolled around the shops for a little while, enjoying the cool breeze and eating my sandwich along the way.  I didn't really go inside any of the stores.  Instead I just decided to window shop and see what's out there.  I found my way to the water and the dock after that, again just taking some time to enjoy being outside and letting the wind carry my stressful thoughts away.  Finally back on the tram, I stopped off at the Royal Exhibition Building, where I'll actually be having two of my exams, and then just took my time to walk to the store to do a little grocery shopping.  I didn't stock up for the entire week like I normally do because I'm moving tomorrow and I don't want to have to haul extra food around.

When I got home, I sat on my bed and then next thing I knew, two hours had passed.  I had fallen asleep, which was something that I really needed.  I woke up, made dinner, and just relaxed for the rest of the evening.  It made for a nice end to a stressful week.  I know that these next two weeks are really going to test me and my ability to keep a level head.  There is a lot to get done and I just have to remember to take it one day and one thing at a time.  The one real positive to all this stress is that I just want to release all of that negative energy, and I find myself getting lost in my workouts.  Yesterday I somehow managed to just keep going and going, and then bam...I ran a 10K (6.25 miles).  If anything, this stress is keeping me in shape  :)