Surroundings

When you live somewhere long enough, you tend to take your surroundings for granted. In Brisbane, I never really appreciated the sites and buildings around me. Some of you may be wondering what I am talking about or even scoffing at the idea that Brisbane has anything worth absorbing. I am talking about the things that tourists come to see, the things that non-Brisbanites are impressed by. The Brisbane river, Mt Coot-tha, Southbank, hidden cafes, the Museum, GOMA, etc, etc, etc. When I was at home, I would go 6 months without even looking at a beach, yet others pay thousands of dollars to visit them.

When I first arrived in Munich, I pretty much walked around with my jaw on the ground as I was surrounded by amazing architecture and history. Its the kind of history that I am used to only seeing on the television and movies. To me, 'medieval' was just a fair down at the park where people dressed up like characters from the movie Merlin and pretended to have sword fights and joust. I never really considered that it was once a reality.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to visit a castle which again was something I only ever saw on television. I felt like I was stepping onto the set of a movie as I walked through the grand entrance of the massive walls that surrounded the castle. The closest thing we have in Australia is the rabbit proof fence.

As I travel around, I am still amazed at all things I see. Even riding back into the city is impressive as you go past huge buildings that have been there longer than Australia has been in existence. Despite this, I can't help but feel that the locals have become used to living with these surrounds. Seeing it every day means it just becomes part of the background. The funny thing is, they would probably be impressed by Mt Coot-tha, which in hind-sight, seems a little bit over rated when you compare it to the Alps.