A Sejour in Adelaide and Feeling Salty in Red October

Does life get any better than sitting in a gorgeous hotel room (with a complimentary mini-bar might I add), with a view over the centre of the city, and having a cup of instant coffee that hits that sweet spot?

I think not.

On the airplane over to Adelaide, I left my earphones and iPad in a bag I chucked on the other side of the plane due to there being no overhead space. So for 3 hours, I was stuck with only my phone.

During the whole trip, the sun was shining onto a literal ocean of clouds, but when we were nearing Adelaide, we broke through the surface, and the sight of the valleys and farmland was magical.

The pathetic picture I took doesn’t do it justice in the least. It was a gorgeous sight as if we entered a fairyland realm.

Rolling hills, dark green trees standing out from the teal landscape. Wahhh it was a 'sit back and just cannot believe how lucky I am' moment.

The past three days have consisted of lazy mornings at the hotel's buffet breakfast, walking up and down Rundle Mall (the equivalent of Brisbane's Queen Street), eating great food and a sprinkle of finals study here and there.

See exhibit A for some gorgeous Adelaide CBD sights:

Scenes from the convention centre, cathedral and surrounds:

Hi hi :)

Scenes from the beautiful botanic gardens:

Exhibit B with some delicious Adelaide eats:

The gin I tried at the hotel bar was astonishingly tasty. Strawberry, mint and lemonade with a splash of some local gin. Heavenly...

And this cute little street concludes our story of 10 parts at Andre's Cucina - from an empty restaurant and stomach to boxes of leftovers and the crawl home with a food baby from the most flavorful Italian fine dining experience I've ever had. Especially considering it was in Adelaide! I seriously forgot that we were on the south coast of Australia and not on the Mediterranean.

This was us stumbling upon a wine tasting experience centre in the middle of our stroll in the botanic gardens. Highly unexpected, but greatly enjoyed.

On the last night in Adelaide, mum and I decided to be spontaneous. We decided to go to Red October - a highly praised Russian bar and restaurant which was precisely 30 steps from our hotel, found in a little alleyway behind it with a whole host of other modern-looking restos.

If you're gonna choose either traditional or modern Russian, just do one of them right. Not a mediocre mix.

Whether it was the restaurant's atmosphere itself, or karma slapping me back in the face, as I walked out I tripped quite spectacularly. If I didn’t chuck my other leg out to save myself from falling, I would have face planted, rolled out a few meters off the sidewalk and onto the street.

And that concludes our little work trip to Adelaide.

I didn't expect much of this tiny city, but surprisingly I truly loved it, and would definitely come back for a round 2 (with an added trip to Barossa Valley, if you don't mind me adding).