There was a time when Melbourne was the richest city in the world. With the discovery of gold in the 1850s, Collins Street became a hub of development and the end result is many of the beautiful and historic buildings that line the street today. My friends have poked fun at my tendency to post ‘yet another photo of Collins St’, but it’s hard not to admire.
Every now and then you arrive somewhere that is so completely different from your version of normal that any kind of similarity is hard to draw. Shibu Onsen is one of those places, where it feels like you’ve not only been transported to a different culture, but a different era.
For some, Los Angeles is the gateway to the USA, a necessary stop before moving east to New York… but for others, it is the destination. I fell into the former category, only budgeting for a few days there upon landing in the States for the very first time. Expecting a tacky, traffic-clogged Tinseltown – I was prepared to hate Los Angeles. But I was too quick to judge and an unexpected like blossomed.
