"Travel delights: the unexpected exceeding expectation"
When visiting Australia, many will go Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. A less visited city is the City of Adelaide, and we decided to take a trip by ending our Indian Pacific train ride there instead of Sydney. We did not do much research on the city, but did put together a rough itinerary of visiting the central market, eating the food recommended there by a number of travel websites and taking a look at the casino.
We arrived in Adelaide at about 7am on a wet morning, after our Indian Pacific trip.
The hotel receptionist checked us swiftly into our room and offered free breakfast for us. It was a great start!
Central Market
Unlike some markets in other cities, the central market is bustling with stores selling mainly local produce ( I could not remember if there were any tourist-related stores).
There are fresh fruits stalls, bakeries, fresh seafood stalls
as well as various other shops such as a cafe and ice cream stall.
I enjoyed parsing through the selection of nuts, cereal and the wide array of other grain products that were displayed and prepared for sale in huge tins and sacks in the shops. This is the first time that I've seen them being sold in this manner, with the shops trusting the customers to take only as much as they require.
Chinatown
Chinatown is right beside the Central Market. From my observation, most of the Chinatowns around the world are within the city centre? That's certainly the case for Adelaide.
As you'd expect of a Chinatown, there were many restaurants, small cafes, and groceries stores. After three days of delicious western-style cuisine, we chose one of the Chinese restaurants with roasted meat and chicken. (Somehow, we always select one such meal when we are at an overseas Chinatown ;) ).
Although we were tired from the early arrival into Adelaide, we were happy that the city was easy to get around and not too touristy (although I am also a tourist...)
Evening Stroll
We walked to the main shopping area along and around Rundle Mall. The Rundle Lantern is a colourful attraction that drew us into the Mall and it is 100% powered by sustainable energy.
The mall has interesting art pieces amongst the shops and cafes. One of the first we saw was The Mall's Balls, a 4m tall structure with two large stainless steel spheres balanced one on top of the other.
I was thrilled by the four bronze sculpture pigs we then spotted along the main street. They are known as "A Day Out'.... They were SO CUTE! They are named Truffles, Horatio, Oliver and Augusta.
We strolled along the mall and central markets on all our evenings to enjoy the sights and sounds.
Eat
There is no lack of local and international food offerings, most within walking distance from the city centre. Some of the food that we had:
Local
Simple Korean Mandu for tea break.
Different Seafood cafes for pre-dinner and dinner
Japanese
and more Chinese Food.
Thoughts
Maybe always overlook by others for the bigger cities in Australia, Adelaide is a hidden gem (as described by an ex-fellow-citizen we met. Her family migrated initially to Sydney before moving to Adelaide). I totally agreed with her positive view of the city. Without the over-tourism experienced in other cities, one can experience the way of life as is; with many interesting places and availability of good food.
I would like to visit Kangaroo Island if I have the opportunity to visit Adelaide again.
Information
Hotel : Ibis Style Adelaide
Wikipedia: Adelaide
South Australia : SouthAustralia.Com
When visiting Australia, many will go Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. A less visited city is the City of Adelaide, and we decided to take a trip by ending our Indian Pacific train ride there instead of Sydney. We did not do much research on the city, but did put together a rough itinerary of visiting the central market, eating the food recommended there by a number of travel websites and taking a look at the casino.
We arrived in Adelaide at about 7am on a wet morning, after our Indian Pacific trip.
The hotel receptionist checked us swiftly into our room and offered free breakfast for us. It was a great start!
Central Market
Unlike some markets in other cities, the central market is bustling with stores selling mainly local produce ( I could not remember if there were any tourist-related stores).
There are fresh fruits stalls, bakeries, fresh seafood stalls
as well as various other shops such as a cafe and ice cream stall.
I enjoyed parsing through the selection of nuts, cereal and the wide array of other grain products that were displayed and prepared for sale in huge tins and sacks in the shops. This is the first time that I've seen them being sold in this manner, with the shops trusting the customers to take only as much as they require.
Chinatown
Chinatown is right beside the Central Market. From my observation, most of the Chinatowns around the world are within the city centre? That's certainly the case for Adelaide.
As you'd expect of a Chinatown, there were many restaurants, small cafes, and groceries stores. After three days of delicious western-style cuisine, we chose one of the Chinese restaurants with roasted meat and chicken. (Somehow, we always select one such meal when we are at an overseas Chinatown ;) ).
Although we were tired from the early arrival into Adelaide, we were happy that the city was easy to get around and not too touristy (although I am also a tourist...)
Evening Stroll
We walked to the main shopping area along and around Rundle Mall. The Rundle Lantern is a colourful attraction that drew us into the Mall and it is 100% powered by sustainable energy.
The mall has interesting art pieces amongst the shops and cafes. One of the first we saw was The Mall's Balls, a 4m tall structure with two large stainless steel spheres balanced one on top of the other.
I was thrilled by the four bronze sculpture pigs we then spotted along the main street. They are known as "A Day Out'.... They were SO CUTE! They are named Truffles, Horatio, Oliver and Augusta.
We strolled along the mall and central markets on all our evenings to enjoy the sights and sounds.
Eat
There is no lack of local and international food offerings, most within walking distance from the city centre. Some of the food that we had:
Local
Simple Korean Mandu for tea break.
Different Seafood cafes for pre-dinner and dinner
Japanese
and more Chinese Food.
Thoughts
Maybe always overlook by others for the bigger cities in Australia, Adelaide is a hidden gem (as described by an ex-fellow-citizen we met. Her family migrated initially to Sydney before moving to Adelaide). I totally agreed with her positive view of the city. Without the over-tourism experienced in other cities, one can experience the way of life as is; with many interesting places and availability of good food.
I would like to visit Kangaroo Island if I have the opportunity to visit Adelaide again.
Information
Hotel : Ibis Style Adelaide
Wikipedia: Adelaide
South Australia : SouthAustralia.Com
On the same trip:
Indian Pacific Train Ride:
Perth and Start of Indian Pacific Journey (Day 1)
Adelaide:
A city within a Park - Walking Adelaide Oval, North Terrace and Botanic Garden
Glenelg : Tram trip from Adelaide to the Beach
Perth and Start of Indian Pacific Journey (Day 1)
Kalgoorlie Excursion (Day1 evening)
Breakfast at Rawlinna (Day 2)
The journey and the Nullarbor Plain (Day 2/3)
A city within a Park - Walking Adelaide Oval, North Terrace and Botanic Garden
Glenelg : Tram trip from Adelaide to the Beach