flashman181

One of the advantages of a long term relationship (as opposed to long distance which is a story for another day) is you don’t have to shave every day. Another almost equally significant benefit is the accumulation of special memories from special places. If we were web browsers we may refer to these as Favourites – we return regularly knowing what to expect but hoping for a few tweaks and upgrades. New experiences are great too but also come with the distinct possibility of let down which you don’t really want when celebrating a significant event.

So a little bit of luxury and a fair slice of decadence were in order for the 10 year celebration. First up? Lodgings. StamfordPlazain Brisbanehas a superb location on the BrisbaneRiverwith the StoryBridgeframed from the suitably panoramic windows of our 7^th floor Superior Suite. 2 pm book in? Ha – we always turn up around midday and invariably squeeze out a couple more hours as room is always ready and we are returning customers! Not this time though – ok not a deal breaker but a slight disappointment. We had a beer at Belgian Café , we found some Sushi in a food court and discoveredBrisbane is nothing likeMelbourne – its more distinctive eating experiences prefer to sleep in on Saturday apparently . Valet parking has allowed us to wander the strangely quite streets ofBrisbane at midday on a Saturday and present ourselves at 1345 to find they now have a room but we suspect it may not have been our original. Did I mention we had the Moet Chandon package organised with said bottle of champers supposedly on ice awaiting to be popped. By now it should be suitably chilled. The room is great and the champers slides down rather easily against the vista of a rather brown but still beautiful river. In keeping with the decadence directive in room massages are booked for 3 pm. Can always be a trick for young players and be all macho and tick the “firm” box for strength of massage especially if the masseuse appears a little on the slight size. Don’t be fooled – the small ones have devised some clever tricks primarily involving pointy elbows. Nothing more embarrassing then asking the dwarf pummelling you to take it down a notch. Tick medium folks.

After the disappointing cancellation of Restaurant 2 booking as previously alluded to we found ourselves chopping and changing our mind about the most suitable replacement. Not a good sign. Eventually settled on Phillip Johnson’s E’cco Bistro giving due gravitas to a well respected chef. It was a pleasant walk from the hotel to the “restaurant” on a clear balmy night with the stars shining and theStoryBridgedominating. Fair share of morons hanging off luxury hotel patios being loud and obnoxious at 1900 hrs though. A good rule of thumb is don’t stay at luxury hotels that have outdoor areas for each unit – only encourages drunken and loutish behaviour. I digress. Walking into the restaurant is underwhelming and you remember now the term “bistro” in the title. Worse still we are stuck at a table near the door and next to Cousin Eddie and Clan of Griswold fame. Those kids could pack it away let me tell ya. The champagne cocktails were small but tasty and the range of breads fine. With age comes common sense and we went straight for mains leaving room for dessert and/or cheeses. From here on in the night picked up considerably. The meals were superb – black angus fillet for moi and lamb loin for CLP. The portions were significant and we could have survived without the extra side dishes we ordered. An appropriate glass of wine and then on to an equally impressive cheese board and we were suitably sated ready for a casual walk home. Watched some footy when awoken by some strange popping sounds – well this is embarrassing I thought. Then the room filled with light and I thought Lord take me now. Luckily it was only a rather impressive fireworks display on theBrisbaneriver against the backdrop of a sparklingStoryBridge.

So a day that had a few hiccups early on ended with a bang and smiles all round – much the same can be said for long term relationships. A full buffet breakfast the next day followed by The Avengers in Gold Class rounded out a great weekend but that is also a story for another day.