CHRISTMAS IN ADELAIDE

After our mini-break on Hindmarsh Island we headed back to Adelaide for Christmas. Susan discovered a perfectly located hotel a couple of years ago which has two-bed room apartments -  the Watson Art Hotel in Walkerville. It's five minutes' drive from Sebastian's home, close to a supermarket, shops and cafes, not too far from the city, with a decent length swimming pool and it's full of the work of indigenous artist Tommy Watson.

Christmas Eve was spent wrapping presents (all agreed to in advance so no one gets something they don't want but we still make the effort of making them look decorative) at Sebastian's home. 

Christmas Day was spent having the traditional (invited by Betty decades ago) croissants for breakfast before heading to the Stamford in Glenelg for their buffet lunch. The aspect, looking out to the Glenelg pier as people played cricket on the grass, was delightful although the meal somewhat disappoint. They ran out of turkey before we'd even got to that course. How is that even possible? 

Boxing Day lunch was much better. We spent an enjoyable time with our friend Kathie who produced a delicious cold collation for us. Next stop was Norword for the next tradition - a movie. We chose Wicked: for Good. An alternative was Wake Up Dead Man but we'd cheated and watched that on Netflix a few nights earlier.

Is it ok to confess that I was disappointed by the third in the Knife’s Out series? I’m clearly in a minority because the score on Rotten Tomatoes is 92%. It lacked the quirkiness and wit of the previous two films. Yes, there were clever references to contemporary culture - the podcaster who never puts his phone down, the Trump-like leader who abuses everyone, the message that we should be embracing rather excluding people, the writer who has disappeared into the internet conspiracy world - but a murder mystery when even the Catholic Church comes out looking good doesn’t quite do it for me. Yes, Josh O’Connor looks sweet with his batty ears; yes, Daniel Craig’s accent is a little more settled and his hair a  little more attractive; yes, Glenn Close plays the old maid well….but none of that was enough to make it a riveting film. I’m rather glad I watched it on the home screen where I could stop, refill my wine glass, stop, find some chocolate to eat, stop and have a conversation, rather than sitting in the dark for two and half hours.

As for part two of Wicked, in some ways the best thing about Wicked:for Good is the cleverness of its title. Because we knew the story, there were no surprises and because we knew the cinematic look, there were no surprises there either. So one had to rely on the performances to keep you enthralled. I thought Ariane Grande’s performance was rather thin but that may be because there weren’t as many chances for her to be witty and physically funny this time. Cynthia Erivo was strong as Elphaba and when the two of them were saying their farewells, it was quite moving. The issue with the scarecrow being brainless isn’t dealt with and because the reveal about Fiyero was left to the end, the impact of Elphaba's action to save him wasn’t clear. In other words, I wasn’t as wowed as with Part 1 but it was still an enjoyable afternoon in comfortable recliner chairs. 

Our final full day in Adelaide was spent with visits to the Museum with the impressive annual exhibition of nature photographs and an equally interesting exhibtion of ten years of Tarnanthi, the annual indigenous art fair in Adelaide at the art gallery. 

In other words, our Christmas in South Australia was a great combination of family, exploring the country/water, with some engaging cultural experiences in the mix. My preferred range of activities on holiday.