Top 5 - Observations from Adelaide

I had to visit Adelaide this week for work, which meant that my productivity decreased, while the productivity and employment levels in South Australia both increased.

I had only ever been to Adelaide twice before this, once to play football in 1995 and another time in 2001 when my flight from Hong Kong to Melbourne had engine trouble which forced us to land in Adelaide for 8 hours, so my memories of the place weren't that sharp or favourable.

Incidentally, that 8 hour waiting period was pretty ordinary; we were'nt allowed to leave the airport (as it was an international flight) so they stuck all the passengers in this tiny waiting room - possibly in an attempt to get rid of numbers through Co2 poisoning.

Still, while there are some very nice old buildings around the place, here are my top 5 observations:

5. The Goatee is alive and well - it's like 1993 all over the place in Adelaide, the goatee is still an accepted expression through the medium of facial hair.

4. Queue's - South Australian's really do queue a lot, and very well. Particularly for Busses. It's cute.

3. Taxi's know where they are going - Really, its true. Unlike Melbourne where you can usually only ask a driver to take you to their house with any sense of confidence.

2. Bizarre Service Standards - I was recommended to visit a rather nice restaurant in the city, which was an apparent award winner of some sort. My first waiter asked if I wanted to know the specials, which he was glad I said 'no' to as he then admitted he had forgotten them. The second waiter insisted on speaking Italian in one of the most hilarious accents I'd come across. The third was a lovely and capable American girl, who intrigued me as I was unsure how she found herself in this company. The last was a brash young knock-a-about who loved to say things like "canna potta", rather than "panna cotta". Bizarre.

1. Soccer fields - I'm not sure what is going on in SA, but there seems to be a soccer field for every man, woman and child. Perhaps they are doing the ground work to really make their name as the darling of the Australian Premier League? Surely I will be the one blushing when that day arrives.