365 Pink Feather Boas All in a Row - Day 262 (Sunday 19 September) : Riding, Walking and a Bridge or 300

It's so nice to sleep in.

In a king-sized bed.

In a luxury hotel.

Snuggling with your boyfriend.

Bliss....

Alas, it can't last but the day proved to be worth getting out of bed for.

First up, was another lovely wander through the streets of Brisbane. In a clear sign you can't go back to where you were, I walked into the Wintergarden to revisit all my old shopping trips there, only to find it, naturally, completely different after 22 years. Of course I knew it would hardly be the same, but some irrational part of me was still a little disappointed.

We also came across a Spiegeltent - tents constructed in the 20s and 30s in Germany to hold various events - in the City Hall plaza, and marvelled once again at the artistry and beauty of the tents, one of which is used at the Sydney Festival every year for concerts.We meandered from there down Queen Street mall, found out JoJos, a restaurant run by Stefan (camp Queensland hairdresser), is still there with pretty much the same logo (see Wintergarden not everything has to change!) before heading across Victoria Bridge again to Southbank, via a billboard promoting Montague apartments, which is my guy's surname. Naturally he must buy there!

Having roamed through it yesterday with my friend Jason, we headed up to Westend to check on my lovely guy's investment apartment - from the outisde at least - before checking out the wonderfully funky, community-based West End Live, which was similar to some of the festivals in Surry Hills & Newtown with an almost hippie flair to it, which as a Far North Coast of NSW boy, I love. They even had a dunny decorated by knitting, a great band performing called Charlie Mayfair, and all sorts of interesting historical exhibits, in a festival thronged by hundred and hundreds of people.

We didn't have to stray far for lunch since my gorgeous guy's friend, Martin, lives close by and we had a delicious, if slightly over priced lunch at Lock and Load, before heading back across to Southbank for a ride in the Brisbane Eye (an enornous ferris wheel type structure that gives you the best views across the City and Southbank) with my long standing, delightful friend Kerry, It was so much fun hearing the commentary on this and that building and feeling like a kid again on what is for all intents and purposes a grown up's carnival ride.

Having seen Brisbane on high, and marvelling at how it had changed since 1988, we grabbed a final coffee and some chips at Southbank before heading across, via the Kurilpa Bridge's quirky, cool archiecture (and the view to it back to the funky Gallery of Modern Art, or GOMA, and Southbank by dusk)...

.....to our hotel one last time for massive chocolate buffet - an open fridge full of chocolate petits fours (including a diving caramel slice and strawberry romanovs to die for), a buffet to make luxury sundaes at, a bench full of chocolate puddings and cakes, and a chocolate fountain that, unlike the Vicar of Dibley, I didn't put my head into (though that would have been so cool!). This was dinner folks and my goodness, it was fantastic!

It was a fitting way to end what had been a wonderful return back to Brisbane. I know I said earlier you can't go back, and expect everything to be exactly the same but you can go back and experience all the newness, and fun of somewhere that you have a long association with, and glory that the place itself, and the friendships with the people you know there, are getting better all the time.