I've had a few days in Canberra now, so I'll give my first impressions.
It's definitely different than any city I've ever been in before. It's a planned city, which you would think would make it orderly and easy to get around in, but that is far from the case. It is one of the most confusing cities I've ever had to drive in (more on driving later). However, it must be well planned because traffic doesn't seem to be bad at all. It's a very welcome change from Tucson, which had the worst traffic planning of any city I've ever lived in.
I walked around all day on Sunday (still without a camera, unfortunately) and it's a pretty great outdoor city, and I think it will be an amazing city to go running in once the weather gets a little bit nicer. There is a lake running through the center of the whole city with a path along both sides - there were lots of joggers, walkers, and dogs when I was there. There are parks everywhere as well; they call the city the "Bush Capitol" because so much of it is green. It's pretty awesome.
The weather has been pretty cold and rainy, but I guess that's typical for this time of year. The first day I got here really reminded me of Seattle - low overcast and drizzly with temps in the 50's. The next day (the day I walked around) reminded me most of a late fall day in Colorado Springs - cool, crisp, and sunny. It was really nice. Unfortunately the last two days have been back to Seattle weather again, with lots of fog in the morning and low overcast in the afternoons. I like it though, I haven't been in weather like this for... 4 years?
The city is also extremely clean and immaculate. I've only seen a few neighborhoods so far but it is easily the cleanest city I've ever seen. No litter, no graffiti, nothing. It's actually quite... utopian.
It's also the Nation's Capital, which is striking after just visiting Washington DC a few months ago. The apartment I'm staying right now is walking distance to Parliament, and you can walk or drive right up to it with no problem or traffic. Rik drove me around and showed me the equivalent of the Pentagon, which was a bunch of buildings on the other side of the lake. It's strange to have these really important buildings in a city smaller than Reno.
Very interesting!
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