It's been a long time since I've been in a city, so I figured I should fulfill my tourist duties and do some sightseeing. I wasn't too enthusiastic, though, since even though Brisbane seems like a nice city, it doesn't have much character. It's kind of like visiting Columbus, Ohio. Nevertheless, I walked to the Town Hall, and took the lift to the top of the clock tower. I imagine the view was spectacular 50 years ago, but now it is surrounded by skyscrapers, so you can't see much. But from the outside you get an interesting contrast of the new towers with the old neo-classical facade.

Then I walked across the river to check out the Museum. I was particularly interested in seeing the German WWI tank. But after going through four floors of exhibits, I couldn't find a tank. Turns out it's hidden outside the back of the museum, behind an inch of glass, so it's hard to see with all the glare. It was still pretty interesting, though. I learned only 20 were made, and this one, "Mephisto," is the only one to survive. Why's it in Brisbane? It was captured by an Australian Unit, mostly from Queensland.

Next up was a walk on Southbank, along the river. The thing to see here is the artificial lagoon. Then I took a ferry across the river and walked through the Botanical Gardens, past Parliament House, then I got bored of the walking tour I was following, so I went back to Queen Street to find food.

I was pretty excited because I found an art house cinema, so I went to see a movie called Samsara, about Buddhist monks in the Himalayas. I chalked it up to research on Nepal. It had some beautiful cinematography, and asked some interesting questions about the religion. It would be interesting to ask a Buddhist what they think about it.