Thursday, August 04, 2005

Up and Down

Well, I wasn't going to post today, but I thought I should set your mind at ease: I'm safely in Perth. What an adventure it's been so far. I don't have much time before the opera starts (La Traviata- yeah!) but let me fill you in. I arrived on a very empty flight- I think there were about 15 of us on a plane that seats 200-300. The airport was pretty empty in Perth, and, since it was late at night, I decided just to take a cab to my hostel. The cab driver was very nice and called Perth a "peaceful, magnifcent and safe" city. He dropped me off and sped away. Yep, you guess it: the hostel reception was closed. I banged on the door for 20 minutes to no avail. The hostel is on a very quiet residental street, and I had no idea even which direction to start walking. Thankfully, another cab pulled up to drop some people off, and I asked him to take me to a cheap hotel (I wasn't panicing, but I was really tired and just wanted to be in bed). The hotel was on the cheap end, but confortable. Anyway, it turned out there was a miscommunication about my arrival time and they had "forgotten" to email me a passcode to get in the door. He was very nice about it, and supposedly I'm the first one this has ever happened to. The hostel is gorgeous, so I forgive them. It has a big open kitchen, hardwood floors and a fireplace. I spent my first day in Perth shopping. I can't even tell you how exciting it was for me, who hasn't been able to shop for clothes in 6 months, to try on anything I wanted. And the prices were great too! My limitation (and it's a good thing I had one!) was the size of my luggage to take home. I love being in an English speaking, cool country, though all the white people are making me nervous. And lastly, the highlight.... I was walking along and what did I see but a red bullseye! That's right, Perth has a Target. (Carole is so jealous right now :) I was so happy and overwhelmed that I've been there twice and still haven't finished. Talk to you later!

Posted by Kathleen @ 7:00 PM