Brisbane travel diary

After about eight hours of flight we landed at Brisbane International Airport. An overall comfortable trip, though we couldn't manage to close an eye. We landed on the new continent around nine in the morning and the first thing we made sure to do, after collecting our bags, was check the outside temperature. We were afraid we'd find it cold... mind you, by now we were used to a constant thirty degrees and even a temperature of 22-24 °C would have made us shiver. And so it was, outside it was a gloomy, dreary day with an outside temperature of 22 degrees... it was freezing!!! We didn't wait a moment and rummaged at the bottom of the backpack to retrieve a long-sleeved shirt. As usual the next step was to find accommodation...

and here came the good part! The prices!!! What prices! We were incredulous, stunned, dumbfounded! Used to the cost of living in Southeast Asia, we were confronted with damn Western prices. Fortunately at the airport there was a great choice of lodgings, but despite that we couldn't escape nineteen Australian dollars each per night, in a hostel of course. But do you have even half an idea of how many things you can do with that money in the places we just left? Better not to think about it and keep going!

The nice thing about the hostel we'd chosen was that they came to pick you up at the airport for free... at least that! We were exhausted, we couldn't wait to lay our heads on the pillow and sleep, sleep, sleep. But there were still the usual check-in formalities to deal with. Did you know that here in Australia they speak dramatically fast English? Maybe because it's their mother tongue? Jokes aside, it was the first time during our trip that we found ourselves in an English-speaking country and our macaronic English, which until now had proven more than sufficient, here was full of gaps everywhere. But it's just a matter of habit... so they say and so I hope.

In the end we managed to go to bed and we slept straight through until evening. Once awake, the problem arose of eating something and therefore of having to spend more money. Having left the hostel and done a brief reconnaissance, we opted for an opulent and all things considered cheap Kebab, for the "modest" sum of six dollars each plus a little something to drink.

Back at the hostel shortly after, of course we were no longer sleepy and we spent quite a while chatting about this and that, thus learning that we shared the room with thousands of tiny roommates. Specifically they were little armored insects that, apparently wingless, seemed to appear out of nowhere. They seemed harmless and extremely hostile to being annihilated... it was practically impossible to crush them and when you finally managed, they exploded into a pool of blood that made you wonder where the heck they kept it, given their size.

Having gone to bed very late, we got up the following morning very late to go explore the city by day.

Well, you wouldn't believe it, within half a day we had practically finished visiting the center of Brisbane. In fact it's not very big, though around the city center an extensive hinterland develops. In half a day we had the city in our pocket, it had no more secrets, we were already able to get around without the map. Pleased with this, we headed off again to buy our second Kebab, with which we ate our second Australian dinner. The second day was the turning point... after a brief exploration of some city nooks, we went back home and discovered that the hostel even had a kitchen and that everyone, absolutely everyone, could use it... incredible! Right away the strangest and most succulent recipes began popping into our heads, new horizons opened up, new money-saving alternatives.

But the second day also gave us another big surprise: we had come to Australia also to meet the many Treviso natives who emigrated following the two great Wars that shook our country in years past, and so it was.

We contacted Mr. Giuseppe D'Ambrosi, the president of the Treviso club of Brisbane and he welcomed us with open arms. No sooner said than done, he set up an appointment for the following day.

Happy and content we went to bed, as usual a little late, due to the jet lag still to be absorbed

The next morning bright and early a distinguished gentleman appeared at our door, who spoke Italian. Still half asleep we struggled to understand that it was Mr. Giuseppe, who ordered us to get moving because there were a ton of things to do and see.

The program included breakfast with a real cappuccino, a quick look at the city and then a visit to the Italian club where he promised we would meet a lot of our compatriots.

At the club there were lots of Italians, a few from every region, but the Treviso natives were easy to recognize, hunched over their playing cards, squabbling, cursing and laughing over some point stolen. All people advanced in years, but with great strength of spirit, they proved extremely cordial and affectionate, with a great sense of hospitality. They asked us questions about our Italy and told us about when they were young. It was a truly special experience, at times it felt like being back home in one of those old taverns where the elderly gather to play cards... fabulous

In the evening Mr. Giuseppe drove us back home, telling us that in two days he would take us to see another place, about fifty kilometers from Brisbane, Surfer Paradise, in the Gold Coast. Obviously we couldn't ask for more, we'd already heard about that place, the surfers' paradise, a sort of mecca for all board enthusiasts.

The following day passed with a walk along the Brisbane River (the river that cuts through the city), a quick stop at the city park and a juicy little dinner cooked with our own little hands. The next morning, punctual as usual, Mr. Giuseppe came to pick us up at our hostel and took us to the Gold Coast. During the trip he gave us lots of interesting information about the city, its history and in general about Australia too... this Mr. Giuseppe knows more than the devil!

Surfer Paradise doesn't have much of that wild charm we had imagined, of that eternal challenge between man and his wave... it's actually a modern city, with rows of skyscrapers built along the beach and with thousands of surfers (good and not so good) busy fighting against the force of the sea. Still, it's a lively and vital little town, pleasant to spend a few days in. We took a walk along the beach, consumed a magnificent breakfast-lunch at a little restaurant along the coast, peeked into the many little shops and even treated ourselves to an ice-cold beer in a pub... you couldn't ask for better!

Back home we said goodbye to and thanked Mr. Giuseppe, making him promise that we'd see each other again in Italy, where we would try somehow to repay the kindness he showed us.

The next day we got up and packed our bags because there was another plane waiting for us... next stop Melbourne!