We took the train from Sydney to Canberra, but an early check out time, meant we had a bit of a wait at the Central Train Station in Sydney. It has a lovely cafe called ‘Eternity.’ That is where we chose to wait. We found a table next to three lovely Australian

ladies of a certain age who were finishing their meal and returned my greeting with big smiles and “hellos.” One only can wonder where this encounter might have led if two footloose and fancy-free American gentlemen had arrived 20 minutes earlier. My college pal Duke always said I had a way with the older ladies. Now that I am an older man (scratch the ‘er’) he might be right.

The train was well-appointed, even in the economy section where we had assigned seats in the first row that allowed us access to a small moveable table. There was a cafe care ahead of us just in front of the sold-out first-class car for our four-hour journey. There was a young woman sitting across the aisle from us with a lady who she just me and for four hours she told this very kind woman the story of her life. It was quite a tale, and I was amazed at how patient her new friend was at listening and getting a few words in every once in a while.

Once outside Sydney, the countryside was beautiful. These few shots out the train windows do not do it justice.

Our journey ended in the late afternoon and a cab rid took us to a rather lovely condominium apartment within walking distance of Australia’s Parliament building. Below is a picture of the spire of the building taken from our living room.

Wikipedia describes Canberra this way:  On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies of Australia was achieved. Following a long dispute over whether Sydney or Melbourne should be the national capital,^[14] a compromise was reached: the new capital would be built in New South Wales, so long as it was at least 100 mi (160 km) from Sydney. The capital city was founded and formally named as Canberra in 1913. A blueprint by American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected after an international design contest, and construction commenced in 1913.^[15] Unusual among Australian cities, it is an entirely planned city. The Griffins’ plan featured geometric motifs and was centred on axes aligned with significant topographical landmarks such as Black Mountain, Mount Ainslie, Capital Hill and City Hill. Canberra’s mountainous location makes it the only mainland Australian city where snow-capped mountains can be seen in winter; although snow in the city itself is uncommon. This is me again. The city does have a very modern feel to it. The streets are wide and there is a lot of green space. Its population of about half a million makes it seem both extremely livable and very quiet at most times, except as we found, when there are protests going on near Parliament.

On our first evening, Steve and I took a walk to the National Australian Press Club and saw a delightful Jazz Duo perform. The press club had an excellent 18-year-old Lagavulin and a nice food menu.

We ended the night with a walk to a supermarket to stock up on some basics and luckily found a cab to take us back home for a good night’s sleep. I was going to need it for the next day’s adventures.

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