Beautiful Adelaide
After travelling for 35h, 5 plane meals and 3 stopovers, here I am, in Adelaide, where spring is beginning to appear.
I’m marvelously welcomed by a friend, also sensitive to the cause of autism, and who will be part of this report.
I spent my first days understanding and learning about the Australian culture and, of course, trying out new food wonders (Pavlova, mon amour).
On purpose, I didn’t schedule any appointment during my first week, as I wanted to get used to the Australian accent (which is initially quite surprising, I must say).
Adelaide is a wonderful and calm city, where traditional architecture and modern buildings mingle.
Unlike other Australian cities, Adelaide wasn’t built by convicts. From the beginning, it has been a free men city, demanding civil rights and fleeing religious persecutions.
The great number of churches (each more beautiful than the other) explains Adelaide’s surname: "City of Churches."
From its beginning, big green spaces were designed in Adelaide. It’s a very spread out city and it’s very easy to find your way around: streets are geometrical, making the city map look like a checkboard.
Puritan and calm until the mid 1960s, Adelaide is now an unmissable place of art, culture and gastronomy. And the best part is: these wonders are very affordable. Indeed, museums are free! The South Australian Museum is enormous and displays fascinating aboriginal art, the continent’s wildlife and flora, stunning fossil stones, a giant squid (11metres!) comfortably placed in a lift, and it’s even possible to touch the 4,500 billion-year-old Murnpeowie meteorite.
South Australia, Adelaide’s state, is nicknamed “Festival state”, as more than 500 festivals and big events are organised each year. March, also called “Mad March”, is a very special month in Adelaide, as the city hosts about a dozen of art, sport, literature, and cuisine festivals (Adelaide fringe, Adelaide festival of arts, Adelaide oval, Womadelaide etc.).
Full of surprises, Adelaide hosts one of the biggest food markets in the southern hemisphere. This is the best place to discover authentic Australian products, as most of the 80 shopkeepers only sell seasonal and regional products. The facade, built in 1900 is currently undergoing renovation, we’ll have to go back for pictures!
In a few days, I’ll be leaving for Melbourne for my first interview which will start the documentary on autism. I’m really excited about discovering this city, voted “the world’s most pleasant city to live in” for the last 7 years!
