Coffee Cup Stain

Melbourne has devoted a greater percentage of its inner city to parks and gardens than any other city in the whole world. So, that’s why I booked a room in a Melbourne Luxury Hotel for part of my whirl-wind tour of all of Australia.

I did a little research before my trip and found out that Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city. It was settled by entrepreneurs, unlike most of Australia. It’s a multi-cultural cosmopolitan city, wonderfully rich with historical and cultural heritage. It’s renowned especially for the fine arts, good living and entertainment. But, and this is the reason I’m going there for a day, is Melbourne is known as the ‘Garden City’. Picturesque botanic gardens and parks. It claims to have the privilege of being ‘the world’s most livable city’.  I haven’t met a city yest that didn’t claim that, but soon enough I’ll be able to tell for myself.

It’s also renown for the Melbourne Film Festival, the AFL grand Final, the Boxing Day Test Cricket, The Spring Racing Carnival and the Heineken Golf Classic. But, wait, there’s more!  The Australian Open Tennis, the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and the International Comedy Festival. I checked the calendar for which festival will be on going when I arrive, and I lucked out, the Formula 1 will be there at the same time I will be. So, besides booking a room, I got tickets to the race too.

I still left enough time, though to explore all the gardens of the entire city. That should take a few days I would think and a few days for the Formula 1, Hmm…seems like I’ll need to book a few extra days. I might even have to move here if I find it pleasant enough. I have a feeling any place that dedicates most of their public land to gardens and parks, is where I want to live.

Since I’m an avid Jane Austen fan, I couldn’t pass up the chance to participate in the Jane Austen Festival in the City of Bath. The first thing I did, after I unpacked at my Bath Hotel, was to make sure that my Jane Austin costume got cleaned and pressed. This will be my first time to attend and I want to make sure everything is perfect. I even made an appointment with a hairdresser not far from the hotel and asked if they knew how to do period hair.  They did and they knew that I was referring to the Jane Austen Festival. How exciting, I thought. The whole city seems to be involved.

The Festival was the brainchild of  David Baldock, the director of the Jane Austen Center. The first Festival started in 2001. I haven’t been able to attend any of them until now, I was studying abroad, but now I’m back in my home in London. Mr. Baldock said the reason he started the Festival was to draw attention to Jane Austen whose works were influenced by the City of Bath. He wanted Austen fans from all over the world to come and be able to immerse and indulge themselves in everything Austen.

Every year the Festival, which is held in September, expands and grows exponentially. More and more people dress in the Regency costumes; celebrating the life and works of Jane Austen. All of Bath, there will be events organized by the Festival and it’s volunteers. I’ve heard that the most spectacular day is on Saturday where the festivities officially open with the Regency Costumed Promenade through the streets of Bath! This year, I’ll be one of the ones promenading in my handmade 18th century attire. We will be led by a Town Crier and accompanied by soldiers and sailors adding even more interest to the parade.

My friends don’t understand my fascination with Jane Austen, but now that doesn’t matter, cause I’ll be amongst new friends who share the same love and obsession as I.

The British village of Norwich, is located in the Norfolk county along the banks of the Wensum River.  This is part of the countryside that is in the Broads of Norfolk, easily assessable by motor boats, canoes or sail boats.  With the only exception being London, the city of Norwich has more churches located within the city limits than any other in the United Kingdom.  One’s Norwich hotel will have guide books and maps that indicate the locations of the historical buildings and structures of significance.  Many who travel to Norwich today, find it to be a bustling center of business interactions and shopping opportunities.  The incredible atmosphere that is created by the cathedrals and the spires add to the winding pathways and the old town squares.  The restaurant and cafe businesses have become populous along with the production of confections, mustard and shoes.  A very interesting mix.  There are also many sites of historical importance, mixed in with museums.

The Norwich Castle is one such museum.  It is one of the most famous historical landmarks of the city, which was built approximately nine hundred years ago.  Throughout the 1500′s it was used as a prison, but became the museum that it is today in 1894.  There is much to be experienced located within the walls of the museum, and serves to intrigue and inspire those of any age.  It is the main museum for the county with a collection that includes archaeological finds and examples from the world of natural history.  The fine art collection includes one of the most extensive collections of the Norwich School oil painters as well as the largest collection of teapots in the world.  The entrance of the Palace is a piece of artwork in its own right, with elaborately carved stone walls.  The museum is equipped with state of the art technology and the computer animated account of the history of the city illustrates the way of daily life as it was so many years ago, from the historical events to the way that Christmas and other holidays were celebrated.  The graffiti on the walls, that was put there during the buildings time as a prison, is still there and is part of the permanent collection on display.