Welcome to Brisbane, the Sunny part of Australia! In this article, I’ll be telling you about some of the fun facts related to this city, so buckle up, and let’s ride!
First up, Brisbane is home to the largest City Hall in Australia. First opening its doors in 1930, the building is spread across two acres of land! When they finally finished building it, the only construction that was bigger, was the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Just to give you an idea of how big the building is, you can have 1500 guests when hosting at the City Hall! Oh and if you’re outside, every fifteen minutes you’ll be able to hear the sound of the clocks chiming.
Here’s another cool fact. If you’ve been staying at the CBD, you’ll notice the streets have some pretty familiar names. There’s Albert Street, Annie Street, George Street… Yup, you’ve got it, all the streets in and around the CBD are named after British Royalty. Those streets running from North East to South West of the CBD are named after female royals, while the intersected streets are named after the males.
Obviously, Australia and the US are firm allies, however, that wasn’t always the case. During WW2, Brisbane hosted around 80,000 US Soldiers. For some reason the Yanks and the Aussies didn’t get along, and tensions began to rise. This all came to a head on the 26th of November, 1942, when a riot broke out between the two sides. Hundreds were wounded, and one Australian soldier was killed. The riot was finally quelled the next day.
Well… after that cheery note, let’s talk about Lamingtons! Did you know they were invented in Brisbane? If you’re unfamiliar, a lamington is pretty much a part of Australian culture. Made by covering a sponge cake in chocolate and coconut seeds, they are absolutely delicious. Though I’d advise you to go to a bakery instead of getting them from a supermarket – the fresh taste is exquisite. Here’s the thing though, the true story of how the chef to Lord Lamington (The governor of Queensland for whom this desert was named after) ever came up with the idea in the first place! There are two theories. One, that the chef was in a rush, gathered the ingredients together, and named it after his boss. Others still say it was an accident. Apparently a piece of sponge cake just dropped into a bowl of chocolate, and the chef loved the taste so much, he decided to just keep it and recreate the recipe.
The last fact I’d like to share is that the weather is some of the best you’ll see anywhere (except maybe Florida). Even during the winter, you’re more likely to stay home because it’s too hot. Brisbane is home to an average of 300 days of sun and sunny days per ear! Perfect for the tourists!